Description
Book SynopsisThe purpose of this book is to change the conversation about teacher induction, preparation, and development and how we create effective teachers. Our national discussion about how to create effective teachers needs to move away from how higher education can do a better job preparing our teachers and move toward how our local schools can do a better job inducting, preparing, and developing our teachers over a full career. There are two interconnected and irrefutable reasons for this. First, school culture supersedes all rational strategies for teacher development, and, second, teachers learn to teach in the schools where they work, not in higher education or any of the alternative routes which the ineffectiveness of higher education teacher preparation have caused to emerge. With the affirmation of these postulates, this book clarifies that teachers are at their best when they are working together in collaborative cultures where teacher thinking and decision-making lead schools in cont
Trade ReviewDr. Waters is becoming a prolific writer on teacher preparation and teacher learning. His thought provoking works will force one to think differently about how new teachers are trained and how established teachers continue to learn about their craft. In his latest work, Teachers at Their Best, Dr. Waters continues his discourse on how teacher learning is best when situated in collaborative cultures and not as a result of side show ‘professional development’ or courses taken on the campuses of higher education. By providing important recent research on the power of cultural learning on teacher development, Dr. Waters hits another homerun! -- Edward Yergalonis, Professional Development School pioneer and former principal of Rahway High School and Superintendent of the Rahway Public Schools, New Jersey
Teachers at Their Best is a definite read for educators considering the impact teachers can have on school reform efforts. The author reminds readers that teachers know what to do, and if placed in schools that are redesigned to meet their needs, schools can overcome most of the structural obstacles impeding student success. This book is designed to inspire readers to create communities of practice that are “intentionally developmental cultures” where all teachers are destined to become effective teachers. -- JoAnne Ferrara, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Teacher Education and Professor
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Part One: Connecting the Old and the New in Teacher Learning Chapter One: Not Higher Education, A New School Model Chapter Two: The Emergence of Teacher as Learner-Collaborator-Leaders Chapter Three: An Intentionally Developmental Organization Chapter Four: School Culture, Human Development, and Teacher Development Chapter Five: The Primacy of Culture and the Promise of Professional Learning Communities Part Two: The Promise of Professional Development Schools Chapter Six: Professional Development Schools Interrupted Chapter Seven: Professional Development Schools Foreshadow a New School Model Chapter Eight: The Path to a New School Model: Teacher Development through School Development Part Three: Community and Authenticity Chapter Nine: Community and Authenticity Drive Learning Chapter Ten: Authenticating Student and Teacher Development by Examining Learning Engagement References About the Author
