Sharing Expertise: a New Professional Development Model?
By Ania Driscoll-Lind and Jennifer Towleh 23-Oct-13
The American School in London’s visiting teachers, enjoying a few Tunisian extracurriculars (photo: ASL). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In international schools, we strive to stay up to date with current research in best practice and invest in ongoing professional development. Delivering on-site professional development has certainly been effective in building the learning community at The American School in London (ASL). Yet working in international schools, which are frequently remote from each other, can become insular. As a result, schools often reinvent the wheel instead of seeking out assistance from another school that may have valuable expertise to share. International schools around the world were shocked to receive the news in September 2012 that the American Cooperative School of Tunis (ACST) was looted following an attack on the nearby U.S. embassy. One entire building, which housed six elementary classrooms and the elementary library, was lost to a fire. Along with schools around the world, ASL began fund-raising to support rebuilding the library and replacing the 12,000 books lost. In mid-March 2013 ASL also sent three teachers to Tunis, to provide two days of professional development on science learning. ASL Lower School Principal Julie Ryan was supportive of the initiative: “ASL was delighted to continue our support of ACST through this professional development effort. Our teachers saw first-hand how the September riots had affected ACST. It is easy to become isolated in our international school world, and this was a reminder that we should all be visiting and sharing more!” The schedule included teacher workshops, model lessons, and meetings with grade-level teams. The Grade 2 model lesson immersed students in learning about the properties of substances, the design process and key physical science concepts. To prepare for the Grade 4 lesson, teacher Danielle Bedard read Go with the Flow: Making Models of Streams by Josey Baker to her students. The model lesson culminated with students gaining an understanding of how pollution can spread and contaminate the groundwater. There were also meetings with each grade level, to discuss their current science program as well as strategies and resources for how to integrate more literacy. The workshops and model lessons were well received, and the teachers and administration were extremely appreciative. “The visit by the three teachers from ASL was a wonderful professional development experience for us,” said ACST Elementary Principal Lesley Tait. “Everyone is so appreciative of this amazing gift. We valued the teachers’ time and expertise, which was given so generously.” The benefits of on-site professional development cannot be underestimated! The two schools continue to share resources and expertise, and build a cross-cutting professional learning community.
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