Re: Re(2): Discourse structures & Confused in California

Cindy O'Donnell-Allen (cindyoa who-is-at ou.edu)
Thu, 15 Jan 1998 19:17:07

At 11:05 AM 1/15/98 -0800, you wrote:
>At 5:29 PM 1/14/98, Phillip Allen White wrote:
>
>> teachers aren't very much supported when they seek to lessen the
>>weight of the grindingly narrow, and open up learning into more broadly
>>defined visions.
>>
>>phillip
>
>
>what, in your opinion, would have to change, in your specific place of
>practice, for teachers to organize more support, and for learning to open
>up...?
>diane

Hello, all,

I'm a self-identified lurker (untroubled by the sinister connotations) from
a couple of semesters back who's resubscribing. I'm also a parttime h.s.
teacher and full-time doctoral student/research assistant, so I have my
practice in the morning and my theory in the afternoon, I guess you could
say. Having a foot firmly planted in both worlds certainly makes the posts
here interesting.

In response to Phillip's and Diane's questions, I'm thinking about the
staff development meeting I'll be enduring tomorrow morning. In my twelve
years in secondary public schools, I find it more troubling every day that
teachers have very little, if any, say in their own learning as it is
conceived by those who organize professional development. I can think of
very few times that our faculty has been asked to identify our learning
needs or those of our students so that we can match them with professional
development opportunities. Instead, professional days are scheduled and
planned by administrators as "training" (that word is frequently used) in
what teachers need to know, which usually involves the educational buzzword
en vogue about 5 years back.

When teachers have such little say in what they "learn" or how they are
"trained," is it any surprise that an inquiry orientation is seldom found
in classrooms either? If learning is to truly take place for teacher or
students, I think it must begin with their questions, problems, interests,
and concerns, and that those in institutional positions of power (e.g.,
administrators or teachers) would find systematic wasy to help learners
meet their own needs.

As a member of a teacher research group, I think teacher research is one
(only one, not THE one) powerful answer to the question Diane poses.

- Cindy
Cindy O'Donnell-Allen
University of Oklahoma
College of Education
Dept. of Instructional Leadership & Academic Curriculum
820 Van Vleet Oval
Norman, OK 73019-0260
W: (405)325-3533