Quality teacher or quality teaching?
If I had the time, this is one of the articles I would translate into Hebrew for my colleagues.
I can’t get my hands on the book by Lucy Calkins (2003) called The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Writing, I can’t understand why not. Anyway, Ray quotes Calkins from page 3 of that book:
“Decades of work in the teaching of writing have convinced me that wise methods of teaching usually do not emerge ex nihilo from a single gifted and talented teacher. Wise methods of teaching do not come from our genes alone but from our communities of practice” (p. 100).
This of course connects with the discussion between Parr and Bellis in “Responding to the forum: A professional conversation” (2005). .
In this article Graham Parr cites Etienne Wenger (1998) in order to explain that it is almost impossible to isolate the professional knowledge of any particular teacher. “Our knowing-even of the most unexceptional kind-is always too big,too rich, too ancient, and too connected for us to be the source of it individually” (p. 41).
Parr continues to argue for the evaluation of “quality teaching” and not the search for the “quality teacher” (p. 42).
“A focus on the quality teaching … believes in the value of the collective before the individual. It begins by appreciating that the richest teaching and learning happens in collaborative, nuanced and multifarious dynamics” (p. 42).
All of these remarks certainly reflect the way I view myself and my own professional knowledge. Often S, an experienced teacher at my school, compliments me on my ideas, my plans or the way I handle different situations. I always remark that much of my success is based in the significant learning I did as a young, and not so young teacher, working alongside her. “You taught me that” I answer and usually she is surprised.
Ray describes the work of Lisa, a first grade teacher and remarks:
“Lisa’s ever-evolving sense of values as a teacher of writing has developed inside a larger community of practice as she has read professionally, interacted with colleagues, and learned from her own experience” (p. 100).
Ray presents a long list of reasons why Cauley, a first grade pupil, is doing well in writing. One of those reasons is that Cauley’s teacher, Lisa, has spent a good deal of time and effort reflecting on the pupil “as a writer” (p. 105).
Lisa, Cauley’s teacher, uses her own writing experience in her teaching. Just as she uses quotations about writing by famous writers, she also illustrates a certain point by telling something that has happened to her as a writer. (p. 108)
Ray, K. W. (2004). Why Cauley writes well: A close look at what a difference good teaching can make. Language Arts, 82(2), 100-109. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/pubs/journals/la
Bellis, N., & Parr, G. (2005). Responding to the forum: a professional conversation. Idiom, 41(2), 39-45. Retrieved from http://search.informit.com.au
