Teacher professional development is essential to efforts to improve our schools. This article maps the terrain of research on this important topic. It first provides an overview of what we have learned as a field, about effective professional development programs and their impact on teacher learning. It then suggests some important directions and strategies for extending our knowledge into new territory of questions not yet explored.

Professional Development and Teacher Learning: Mapping the Terrain

The author suggests that we apply recent research knowledge to improve our conceptualization, measures, and methodology for studying the effects of teachers’ professional development on teachers and students. She makes the case that there is a research consensus to support the use of a set of core features and a common conceptual framework in professional development impact studies. She urges us to move away from automatic biases either for or against observation, interviews, or surveys in such studies. She argues that the use of a common conceptual framework would elevate the quality of professional development studies and subsequently the general understanding of how best to shape and implement teacher learning opportunities for the maximum benefit of both teachers and students.

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Improving Impact Studies of Teachers’ Professional Development: Toward Better Conceptualizations and Measures

The education and research communities are abuzz with new (or at least re-discovered) ideas about the nature of cognition and learning. Terms like \"situated cognition,\" \"distributed cognition,\" and \"communities of practice\" fill the air. Recent dialogue in Educational Researcher (Anderson, Reder, & Simon, 1996,1997; Greeno, 1997) typifies this discussion. Some have argued that the shifts in world view that these discussions represent are even more fundamental than the now-historical shift from behaviorist to cognitive views of learning (Shuell, 1986). These new ideas about the nature of knowledge, thinking, and learning—which are becoming known as the \"situative perspective\" (Greeno, 1997; Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996)—are interacting with, and sometimes fueling, current reform movements in education. Most discussions of these ideas and their implications for educational practice have been cast primarily in terms of students. Scholars and policymakers have considered, for example, how to help students develop deep understandings of subject matter, situate students' learning in meaningful contexts, and create learning communities in which teachers and students engage in rich discourse about important ideas (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989; National Education Goals Panel, 1991; National Research Council, 1993).

What Do New Views of Knowledge and Thinking Have to Say About Research on Teacher Learning

Meanwhile, the authors' antidote to the American sicknessa quest for democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditionshas contributed to a vigorous scholarly and popular debate. Attention has been focused on forms of social organization, be it civil society, democratic communitarianism, or associative democracy, that can humanize the market and the administrative state. In their new Introduction the authors relate the argument of their book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country's future. With this new edition one of the most influential books of recent times takes on a new immediacy.\

Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life

This paper was written to stimulate discussions and debate about what a professional learning continuum from initial preparation through the early years of teaching could be like. Drawing on a broad base of literature, the author proposes a framework for thinking about a curriculum for teacher learning over time. The paper also considers the fit (or misfit) between conventional approaches to teacher preparation, induction and professional development and the challenges of learning to teach in reform-minded ways and offers examples of promising programs and practices at each of these stages. The paper is organized around three questions: (a) What are the central tasks of teacher preparation, new teacher induction, and early professional development? (b) How well do conventional arrangements address these central tasks? (c) What are some promising programs and practices at each stage in the learning to teach continuum that promote standards-based teaching and enable teachers to become active participants in school reform?

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From Preparation to Practice: Designing a Continuum to Strengthen and Sustain Teaching

Toward a Theory of Teacher Community

In the company of colleagues: An interim report on the development of a community of teacher learners

In this paper, the researchers draw on their experience with a professional development project to propose a model for studying the formation and development of teacher community. The project described brought together 22 English and social studies teachers, as well as a Special Educator and an ESL teacher, from an urban high school for a period of 2 1/2 years. The teachers met twice a month to read together in the field of history and literature and to work on an interdisciplinary curriculum. This detailed account of the first 18 months of the project sheds new light on definitions of professional community, its stages of development, and the challenges that confront community in the workplace of high schools. One of the challenges consists of the need to negotiate an "essential tension" at the heart of teachers' professional community. Among this group of teachers, many felt that the primary reason to meet was to improve classroom practices and student learning, while others were more interested in the potential for continuing intellectual development in the subjects they taught. The researchers--who deliberately built the essential tension into the project--claim that these two views must both be respected in any successful attempt to create and sustain intellectual community in the workplace. The Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. researchers also describe the challenges of maintaining diverse perspectives within a community and how familiar fault lines--both in society and in school--threaten the pursuit of community. The paper includes a model of the markers of community formation--as manifested in participants' talk and actions--and concludes with a discussion of why teachers must continue to care about professional communities. (Contains 33 notes, 109 references, 2 figures, and a table of data.) (Author/SR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers? U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Renewer, ?no improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI This document nas been reproduced as received from tne person or organization originating it. Minor changes nave been made to improve reproduction ouality Points of view or opinions stated in this document 00 not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy An Occasional Paper co-sponsored by Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy and Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA) by Pamela Grossman Stanford University Sam Wineburg Stephen Woolworth University of Washington

What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers? An Occasional Paper.

On-line media forums have become common vehicles to promote discussion about particular issues or events. This essay addresses the degree to which the anonymity of such computer-mediated communication affects the level and tone of discourse when sensitive or volatile local issues are the focus of discussion. Nearly 300 postings to a web forum that was established by a newspaper in response to a brutal murder that took place in the community are examined. Results show that the forum was dominated by individuals harshly critical of the assailants, their families, and various civic institutions. Vitriol,racistdenunciations,andcallsforsevereretributiontookprecedenceoverattemptstounderstand why the event took place or to express sympathy for the victim. Forums of this nature appear to do little to promote understanding or encourage positive dialogue. It is recommended that methods designed to elevate the level of discourse be considered when establishing forums related to local issues that elicit strong emotion.

Stephen Woolworth

Papers

Toward a Theory of Teacher Community

In the company of colleagues: An interim report on the development of a community of teacher learners

What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers? An Occasional Paper.

“Destroy the scum, and then neuter their families:” the web forum as a vehicle for community discourse?