Sorry for sending that posting to all--that was intended as a private
note--but I'll follow up with some examples of what I mean. I believe
there are some powerful professional development models that support
teacher development that can indeed have a good impact on teaching, one
that we're seeing enacted and localized here in Silicon Valley.
At SRI, we're evaluating a federally-funded Technology Innovation Challenge
Grant that engages teachers and students in learning about project-based
learning supported by multimedia. The model is a mentoring model, so it
has some life beyond the cycle of grants--which are indeed a problematic
feature of the way we fund educational initiatives. There are some 150
teachers involved in the project throughout the Bay Area, which despite its
resources in technology, has low spending levels per pupil in education,
due to California tax law passed by voters some years ago.
Still--we're seeing exciting things going on these classrooms. Teachers
are engaging in more student-centered instruction focused about long-term
projects that kids themselves design; students are directing classroom
discussion more, and teachers are taking on a much more facilitative role;
and students are presenting their work to audiences in the community which
involves linking them to the broader world on issues that concern them.
I think these are reasons to have some hope, and I also believe it's
important for us to actively seek out examples of where schools are
working. Perhaps it's not possible to engineer "copies" of settings like
Silicon Valley, but it's certainly possible to expand local models where
they're working by giving them additional resources and skillful assistance.
There's another 2c from my end....
Bill
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Bill Penuel, PhD
Research Social Scientist
Center for Technology in Learning
SRI International
333 Ravenswood Avenue, Mailstop BS116
Menlo Park, CA 94025
tel: 650-859-5001
fax: 650-859-4605
Check out our websites at:
http://www.cilt.org
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