Professional Development Approaches That Work
As with the preceding discussion on changing
teacher roles, the ideas presented here focus on ways professional development
can support programs that
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Outcomes from recent NCRVE research elaborates on a number of the professional development strategies that have proven successful in preparing teachers for these roles. This research offers a number of suggestions for improving teaching and learning in high schools and community colleges where educational reform is being implemented. As with the preceding discussion on changing teacher roles, the ideas presented here focus on ways professional development can support programs that integrate academic and vocational education or that emphasize school-to-work transition.
Integration
There
are a number of ways educators may be assisted in organizing and implementing
integration in their schools (Finch, Schmidt, & Faulkner, 1992). Since
integration's impact is generally greater when it is implemented across entire
schools, these suggestions relate more closely to whole-school integration. The
first two sections, "Professional teams" and "Teachers teaching teachers," are
particularly applicable to high schools, but also contain some relevance for
community colleges. The final section, "Community college strategies," draws
directly from reports of practices at community colleges (Grubb, Badway, Bell,
& Kraskouskas, 1996; Illinois Task Force on Academic/Occupational
Integration, 1997).
PROFESSIONAL TEAMS
Unquestionably, the high school principal as well as other school administrators and counselors can make the difference between integration's success and failure. One way of helping teachers with the integration process is to assist them in forming professional teams. Building teams is important because it enables teachers to collaborate across teaching areas. In doing so, it strengthens both academic and vocational instruction.
There are several ways to build teacher teams. One strategy is to form self-directed integration committees that can evolve into teams. The committees generally include school representatives from both academic and vocational teaching areas who are already motivated to help with these changes. Their job is to determine how to bring more real-world relevance to academic content and how to weave increased academic content into vocational courses. They must also find effective ways to "sell" integration efforts to their colleagues so that other teachers eventually embrace their enthusiasm for reform and become more active participants in the process.
By using creative scheduling so that all teachers on a team have common planning times, administration can make it possible for teams to meet during the week and work on interdisciplinary curricula. Administrators are also critical in arranging for potential teams of educators to attend professional meetings.
For several years, a principal of a suburban high school in the southeastern U.S. has encouraged a team-building approach among her faculty. In recent years the student body had undergone a significant shift in demographics, with a majority of the students now coming from poor families. Teachers found that the traditional teaching methods they had used in the past were no longer working. Therefore, the principal said, they were highly receptive to new ideas. She summarizes the process they followed:
Our team members attended a conference sponsored by the Southern Regional Education Board [High] Schools That Work Consortium. Following the conference, the team held a two-week work session at the school to write applied curriculum. The charge I gave the team was for them to come up with significant integration activities they could implement. Their work convinced other teachers the integration effort was worth the work. Eventually, almost all the teachers in the high school were working together to implement integrated curriculum and instruction for their students.
In order for team building to work, teachers must be empowered to make decisions about integration. Although it is still not the predominant view, some administrators are recognizing that opportunities must be provided for teachers to help direct the integration process. Reflecting this belief, one school administrator said:
When we first received the grant for our vocational and English teachers to work together, we tried to stay out of the implementation stage as much as possible and to make the cooperative efforts ones that were owned by the teachers.
TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS (TTT)
A powerful way of linking professional development with team building is through teachers teaching other teachers. In this approach, teachers from within or outside the school provide school faculty with applied, integration-related professional development experiences.
Receiving professional development from experienced, knowledgeable teachers who work in the same school or school district contrasts sharply with traditional "inservice days." TTT is most beneficial when joint teams of vocational and academic teachers conduct workshops for other teachers in their own school. In the workshops, the teachers are able to demonstrate their teamwork and collaboration across subject matter areas. In this way they model what others should do in their teaching.
However, TTT can be a very powerful development approach when used more informally on a day-to-day basis. For example, at Salem (Virginia) High School, Helen Hinkle, English, and Richard Broder, science and math, spent one to two classroom periods weekly for the 1997-98 school year working with vocational teachers in auto service, auto body, and industrial mechanics helping develop students' technical writing and applied math skills (Salem High School, 1998). As part of the writing skill development, students developed and practiced descriptive and instructional writing techniques. For an evaluation, Ms. Hinkle followed the directions written by each of the students. They quickly discovered if their applied writing skills were adequate enough for others to understand in applied settings. "What a great way to evaluate!" exclaimed assistant principal Betsy McClearn.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE STRATEGIES
Community colleges serve an adult clientele and to a great degree are organized more like four-year colleges than secondary education institutions. Additionally, the large number of mature adults who attend community colleges after having had full-time employment experience contributes to an atmosphere where students are more motivated to learn. The following professional development strategies were gleaned from research reports on successful practices at community colleges, and so are particularly applicable to these settings (Grubb et al., 1996; Illinois Task Force on Academic/Occupational Integration, 1997). They are intended to help community college officials assist faculty members in establishing integrated curricula, courses, and teaching.
Such efforts often begin with the community college president, who may establish a vision for professional development in consultation with a broad cross-section of people including faculty, support staff, students, former students, and representatives from business and industry. Frequently a committee comprised primarily of faculty members working with one or two administrators then oversees the next stage to determine what strategies and programs are needed to implement this vision.
The following six strategies have been shown to be useful in changing community college teaching and learning practices.
An application of several of these strategies may be seen at Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) in Fayetteville, North Carolina (Grubb, et al., 1996, p. 5). At FTCC, four teams of six faculty members were formed, drawing from math, science, English, and social science, as well as two different occupational areas. Team members consisted of faculty who were judged to be most receptive to the notion of interdisciplinary teaching in the community college. The integrated teams designed 50 curriculum integration guides for 16 technical courses. This curriculum planning activity enabled FTCC to move ahead rapidly with innovation by drawing from faculty who were most positive about the value of interdisciplinary teaching.
School-to-Work
Settings
The
professional development activities described below have been used at high
schools and community and technical colleges. Their purpose is:
GAINING WORK EXPERIENCE AND VISITING THE WORKPLACE
These two activities have long been recognized by vocational teachers as practical ways to learn about and keep abreast of what goes on in work settings. Exposure to the workplace can be gained through job shadowing, summer internships or jobs, and formal visitations. Often these are organized into a "back-to-industry" program that is run collaboratively by the schools, various businesses and industries, and the community. Sometimes the program is spearheaded by a local chamber of commerce or business/ industry consortium.
Teachers tend to be very enthusiastic about their experiences with these programs. A high school science teacher who participated in a back-to-industry program internship commented:
I do a lot more experiments now--hands-on stuff--because the kids can't realize what goes on in the workplace just by getting information out of a book. I also teach them to be more resourceful, to seek out more on their own instead of me being the main giver of information, because that is one thing they are going to have to do [once they enter the workplace].
INTERACTING WITH WORKPLACE REPRESENTATIVES
Teachers can gain greater insight into what goes on in the workplace through their contacts with workplace employees. Interactions can range from formal activities such as partnerships and advisory committee groups to informal activities such as casual conversations between teachers and employers. Traditionally, vocational teachers have been the ones that make and maintain contact with people in the workplace. However, in contemporary school settings all teachers can benefit from interaction with workplace representatives. A case in point is a business representative who has had extensive involvement with teachers in a local high school. He believes that interacting with people in the world of work is valuable for all teachers.
Teachers can gain a great deal by observing business representatives in a committee meeting, because they think about things in a totally different way than an academic. The teachers sitting in the meeting pick up on that objective-driven thinking process. I know it's a learning experience for us, which means it has to be the other way, too.
Increased contact with business people can prepare teachers for a future time when they will need to ask employees to speak to students in their classes, or will attempt to convince employers to provide internships for their students. When teachers are unable to interact effectively with business people, they are likely to miss out on potential opportunities for collaboration.