1. TEACHER STUDY GROUPS? What is a teacher study group? A
teacher study group is when teachers come together collectively to
share their ideas and experiences. Teacher study groups can be a
form of professional development because it is a part of a
continuous process to gain new knowledge and skills. Teacher study
groups are developed to create a comfortable homespace where
teachers collaborate with the purpose of helping one another.
Participants in the groups will focus on students, their practice
and bigger educational issues they may not understand.
2. HOW TO FORM THESE STUDY GROUPS? 1. School leaders can
organize these study groups by putting together teachers by grade
level or subject. 2. Groups should be allowed to meet once a week
or every other week. 3. Each study group should have a group leader
or facilitator to plan where meetings will take place and to lay
out what each meeting will focus on that day. The facilitator
should be well trained in professional development to ensure the
study group is effective. 4. Facilitator should observe other
teacher study groups to see how they are conducted.
3. BENEFITS Teacher study groups are very beneficial for
teachers, administrators and students. Student achievement is the
primary focus of each group. Each teacher in the group is learning
to become more effective to ensure the success of his/her students.
Administrators or school leaders are promoting more positive and
effective professional development through these learning groups
because teachers are learning from one another. Administrators also
create community sense of belonging and increasing student
success.
4. BENEFITS CONTD These groups equip teachers with basic
qualitative research knowledge and skills to conduct participatory
action research. Teachers can share lesson planning ideas or
specific classroom activities during weekly meetings or discuss the
positive and negative parts of a project for the other educators to
learn from.
5. ROLES WITHIN THE STUDY GROUP Each study group should have
leader. Everyone in the group should be involved and present
research they have gathered. Plan out what is to be discussed at
each meeting so time is not wasted and chaos minimized. Principal
or school leaders should receive reports and feedback from each
meeting.
6. WHAT TEACHERS AND EXPERTS ARE SAYING ABOUT STUDY GROUPS.. A
first grade teacher said, Teacher Study Groups gave us the
opportunity to work and share with other teachers. The topics we
covered were exactly what I needed to be doing on a daily basis.
Dr. Sharon Vaughn says, During the Teacher Study Group, teachers
will acquire knowledge and skills that they will use repeatedly.
The Teacher Study Group process allows teachers to develop lessons
that incorporate instructional practices with a strong research
base; they learn 'how' to effectively teach. Ingram, Louis, and
Schroeder (2004) report that teachers are more likely to collect
and use data systematically when working as a group.
7. CONCLUSION Research has proven that teachers who collaborate
are much more effective than teachers that dont. In order for
teacher study groups to be effective, everyone must be willing to
learn, listen and share. It is a continuous process but it is worth
it all in the end.