Article Study: A Measure of Concern

Simcoe County District School Board is currently offering a number of leadership opportunities for interested staff. One of these opportunities is an article study series, with a focus on instructional leadership. We are using a number of formats to facilitate discussion of a series of articles. For this article, we will be using a blog format. Visit this this blog anytime between now and March 19. Use the “comment” feature at the bottom of the page by clicking where it shows the number of comments in orange (see picture below). This will allow you to make a comment. Use this feature to answer the posted questions.



Be sure to check back through the week to see what others have posted and reply to their posts. Anyone is welcome to participate and add to the conversation!

Article Link
A Measure of Concern

Article Summary
Every educational leader has likely faced challenges at some point when trying to support change practices. Staff are often at different stages of understanding and implementation, and this variance can present challenges to productive collaboration related to school improvement.

Traditionally, teacher voice in professional learning may have been thought about as teacher preference, and may have looked like a school administrator giving choices for topics or pathways of professional learning. However, the ways that leaders respond to voice can either move the school community forward with depth and focus, or can cause teams to go a mile wide and an inch deep when attempting to respond to a wide range of opinions on staff.

Based on this premise, the “Stages of Concern” framework is a developmental progression of seven stages that describe the feelings and motivations a teacher might have about a change in practice as it is implemented. School leaders can use this model to support school improvement planning while working to investigate and reframe the concepts of “voice and choice” in terms of “readiness and concern”.

Previously, instructional leaders may have thought of these concerns as people being “negative” or “resistant”. This model changes that perspective. Through the Stages of Concern, leaders are encouraged to discuss and address concerns rather than trying to silence the voices that seem to challenge the change that is being implemented. The Stages of Concern framework honours individual concerns as a valid part of the change process, where voiced concerns become “assessment for learning” and “assessment as learning” information for the instructional leader, informing the ways in which they support the people they work with. It then allows leaders to differentiate and plan targeted professional learning to meet the self-identified needs of teachers, all the while, honouring voice and building relationships.

Questions

1- How does the “Stages of Concern” model make you rethink the concept of “resistance”?

2- Considering your current job embedded context, how might the “Stages of Concern” model support your practice related to instructional leadership? What are some specific “takeaways” that you want to try?

3- After reading this article, what are some questions that you have? Participants are encouraged to provide feedback on questions that are posted.

Reference

Holloway, K. (2003). A measure of concern: Research based program aids innovation by addressing teacher concerns. National Staff Development Council Tools for Schools.

Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/docs/tools-for-learning-schools/tools2-03.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Collective Efficacy Book Study- Chapter 5

This week, we are concluding our book study with a face-to-face meeting and celebration of our work!

Chapter 5
Leaders Utilize a Collaborative Inquiry Framework to Organize Actions

Chapter Summary

“Leaders should be doing, and should be seen doing, that which they expect or require others to do” (p. 76)

Chapter 5 outlines a collaborative leadership inquiry four-stage model of plan, act, observe, asses. The chapter delves into each of the four components using a lens of leadership to share some best practices, tools and ideas around how this model might be best facilitated in order to enhance collective efficacy within a school.

Questions 

Q1- Based on the information in this chapter as well as your own professional experience, how might you go about determining a meaningful focus for leadership inquiry?

Q2- What coaching, mentoring and facilitation skills might support you in your leadership work related to the topics in this book?

Q3- What is your biggest takeaway from this book?

Q4- What is the one thing that you might commit to doing differently as a result of reading this book?

Q5- As you reflect on the format of this book study, what worked well for you? What did not work well? What suggestions do you have for future book study formats and content?

Collective Efficacy Book Study- Chapter 4

This week, our group has chosen a collaborative Google Slides format for our book study conversation. Instructions for this format are as follows.

• Link to Chapter 4 Book Study via Google Slides
• Participants should visit the Google slide deck between Nov. 22-28th, read the questions and use a blank slide to share your responses 
• Feel free to add slides and comment on each other’s ideas. 
• We encourage you to use words or even pictures...be creative!
• Be sure to check back through the week to see what others have posted and reply to their posts.
• SCDSB staff will have access to the link. Non-SCDSB staff who would like to participate can comment on this post and provide their email address to be added.

Chapter 4
Enhancing Collective Efficacy Through Professional Protocols 

Chapter Summary

“When educators engage in continuous learning, student learning is improved” (p. 51). Research has identified seven characteristics of professional learning. 

Effective professional learning is...

• Ongoing 
• Reinforces meaningful collaboration
• Grounded in educator practice
• Involves reflection based on evidence of student outcomes
• Increases teacher influence
• Builds capacity for leadership
• Taps into sources of efficacy

This chapter also outlines several learning structures that enhance collective efficacy. These include:

• Teacher networks
• Collaborative teacher inquiry
• Peer coaching through a cycle of co-planning, co-teaching, co-analysis and co-reflection

Lastly, several efficacy enhancing protocols are outlined as guidelines to help focus and deepen conversations.

Questions 

Q1- Reflecting upon your current work environment, how might you apply one of the efficacy enhancing protocols discussed in this chapter to foster greater collective efficacy within a team that you currently working with?

Q2- Donohoo focuses her discussion on teacher professional learning . How can this knowledge be provided to professional learning for administrators? What are some of the learning structures that have worked for you OR what are some learning structures that you would like to see?

Q3- “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.” What are some of your “failed” learning experiences that you have organized or led as an administrator or leader? Why do you feel they failed? What did you try afterwards or what might you do next time?

Q4- In the book, we read that leaders of professional learning must capitalize on social persuasion as well as teachers’ emotional reactions to tasks. As a leader, how can you apply this to the learning in your school?

Q5- What has been the most powerful professional learning experience in your career in education? What were the conditions that made this experience so impactful?

Collective Efficacy Book Study- Chapter 3

This week, our group has chosen a Twitter chat format for our book study conversation. Instructions for this format are as follows:

• If you do not have one already, create a twitter account
• Follow @A_J_Golding and @jmerkleyjoanne
• Log in on Thursday November 15th at 4:30
• Alison will be posting the questions, watch her feed. A new question will be posted approximately every 10 minutes
• Questions will be posted as Q1 (Question 1), Q2 (Question 2) etc. 
• To keep it easy to follow, participants should reply by starting their post with A1 (Answer 1, corresponding with Question 1) etc. 
• Use the hashtag #scdsbCE with every post you make. This way, you can click on the hashtag, then click on “latest” at the top of the feed so you can view all of your colleagues posts and replies in order. 
• Feel free to respond to each others’ posts as well as to the questions by using the “reply feature” but make sure you still use the #scdsbCE hashtag

Chapter 3- Fostering Collective Teacher Efficacy

Chapter Summary

“Fostering collective teacher efficacy to realize increased student achievement involves creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration, empowering teachers, establishing goals and high expectations, and helping educators interpret results and provide feedback.” (p. 35) 

In this chapter, six enabling conditions for fostering collective teacher efficacy are shared. These include:

• Advanced teachers influence
• Goal consensus
• Teachers’ knowledge about one another’s work
• Cohesive staff 
• Responsiveness of leadership 
• Effective systems of intervention

Questions 

Q1- One of the enabling conditions for fostering collective teacher efficacy is when teachers have opportunities to learn about each other’s’ work. What opportunities can school leaders create for their teachers to learn collaboratively? 

Q2- Leaders can support the conditions for efficacy by developing a culture where teachers each have a role in achieving a shared purpose as part of a larger team. How might leaders increase this sense of interdependence between teachers? 

Q3- Responsiveness calls for leaders to address situations that prevent the team from carrying out their duties effectively. How might school leaders respond to these situations in ways in which the team feels supported? 

Q4- When teachers feel empowered as part of a decision making process, they become more invested, believe in their ability to successfully carry out those decisions and collective efficacy increases. How can school leaders create a culture where teachers are involved in decision making?

Q5- What are some ways that leaders can provide feedback and create opportunities for peer feedback and self-reflection with school teams about their impact on student learning in order to set direction and next steps?

Collective Efficacy Book Study- Chapter 2

This week, our group has chosen a blog format for our book study conversation. Instructions for this format are as follows:

Visit this post anytime between November 8th and November 14th. Use the “comment” feature at the bottom of the page by clicking where it shows the number of comments in orange (see picture below). This will allow you to make a comment. Use this feature to answer the posted questions. Be sure to check back through the week to see what others have posted and reply to their posts.



Although this is the only week we will be using the blog to conduct our study, questions will be posted on the blog every week for reference.

Chapter 2- Consequences of Collective Teacher Efficacy

Chapter Summary

“When a sense of collective efficacy is present, staffs maintain a school environments in which students feel good about themselves. They also engage in more productive behaviours that support positive student outcomes.” (p. 13)

Positive consequences of collective teacher efficacy discussed in this chapter include:

• Putting forth greater effort and persistence, especially aimed toward students experiencing difficulty 
• Trying new teaching approaches based on effective pedagogy
• Conveying high expectations to students 
• Fostering learner autonomy (student-centered teaching) 
• Decreasing disruptive behaviour
• Increased commitment 
• Enhanced parent involvement 

Questions 

Q1- “When teachers expect their students to perform at high levels, they do” (p. 15). How can school leaders help cultivate the belief that students in their school can meet high expectations?

-Q2- “When efficacy is high, teachers are more accepting of change and more likely to try new teaching approaches” (p. 15).  What are some actions taken by school leaders that you think would create these conditions conditions?

Q3- “Student centred classrooms move the focus from teaching to learning” (p. 21).. How can school leaders help create the conditions where students have responsibility in some of the decisions made regarding their learning and the implementation of those decisions?

Q4- Learner autonomy, where teachers share responsibility for solving classroom problems with their students, is said to go hand in hand with a sense of intrinsic motivation.  Along with teachers fostering this condition in their classrooms, school leaders can also facilitate opportunities for shared problem solving with their students and staff. What are some ways that school leaders might do this?

Q5- How can school leaders invite parental involvement, paying particular attention to parents from marginalized populations or those who may be less comfortable interacting in a school setting?

Collective Efficacy Book Study- Chapter 1

As part of  our ongoing learning, some of the leaders within the Simcoe County District School Board are embarking on a book study on "Collective Efficacy: How Educators' Beliefs Impact Student Learning" by Jenni Donohoo.

Meeting face to face for our initial and final meetings covering Chapters 1 and 5, our group has decided to "meet" virtually for Chapters 2, 3 and 4, trying a different format each week.  Week 2's meeting will be via responses on a blog post, week 3 will be collaboration via twitter chat and week 4 will be through a collaborative Google slide deck.  At our final meeting, we will discuss our experiences with the different formats and share ideas about other formats that we might try with the intent of setting direction for future book studies.  Although we will be "meeting" via a different format each week, I will post our weekly questions here for easy reference and so that others' might follow along and join in with our learning.

Happy reading!

Chapter 1- Collective Teacher Efficacy 

Chapter Summary

“Amazing things happen when a school staff shares the belief that they are able to achieve collective goals and overcome challenges to impact student achievement” (p. 1). Collective teacher efficacy can be defined as teachers’ shared belief in their ability to reach all students to positively influence achievement outcomes. In Chapter 1, Donohoo shares research that indicates collective teacher efficacy outranks every other influence on student achievement, including socioeconomic status, prior achievement, home environment and parental involvement. Donohoo goes on to identify four sources that shape collective efficacy beliefs; mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and affective states.

Connection to other research:

John Hattie (Visible Learning), Peter Dewitt (Collaborative Leadership), Stephen Covey (Seven Habits…)

Questions 

• What is the role of leadership, both formal and informal, in fostering collective teacher efficacy within our schools? 
• According to Donohoo, the most powerful source of collective teacher efficacy are “mastery experiences”, defined as teams experiencing success and attributing those successes to causes within their control. Share some examples of where you see this happening in your school.
• The second most powerful source of collective efficacy is “vicarious experiences”. This is when teachers see colleagues facing similar challenges to their own overcoming those challenges and as a result feel that they too can overcome those obstacles. What are some ways that we can tap into creating vicarious experiences for our staff members? 
• What role might school climate play with respect to collective teacher efficacy (or vice versa)? 
• If we all have “an emotional bank account,” based on deposits and withdrawals what behaviours and actions of a leader serve as deposits. Which act as withdrawals? How does impact collective efficacy?