Upon starting this course, it quickly became clear that reflection and collaboration would be strong themes. I felt that I was an effective reflector and collaborator, but wasn't aware of the research behind the different ways to do so. I often felt that I reflected internally on my own practices to make them better, but wasn't always sharing my thoughts with others. I learned that reflecting alone can be self-validating, but reflecting with others helps us not to perpetuate only our own thoughts (York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, & Montie, 2006, p.107). This is powerful, because our thoughts alone aren't enough to make the most effective change in our practice. We must collaborate and work together to strengthen our teaching practices. This confirmed for me the need to have more PLC and collaboration time with other educators in our building. As Barr (2006) said, "Shifting from a culture of doing to a culture of learning and doing, however, is not easily accomplished," (p. 3). I found that working with a partner to collaborate and coach in this course was powerful in that we were able to help one another reflect and adjust according to our student's unique needs. Being able to plan, observe, and reflect with the same partner helped make the experience stronger than if I had done it on my own.
As I researched and read the assigned chapters throughout this course, I was made aware of the elements that can make the reflection and collaboration process more difficult: trust and time. In order to make collaboration feel comfortable for both parties, both members must come into the process with an open-mind, eager to learn. Barr (2006) says, "Trust...is more readily fostered. Trust and safety are always issues when interacting with others, especially when revealing one's questions and thinking," (p. 108). In order to gain each others' trust, it is important that both members clarify, listen, expand thinking, and coach one another. This helps to increase effectiveness (York-Barr et al., 2006, p. 110). In order to have these meaningful coaching sessions, we must be given the time to do so. As Berg (2010) stated, "When teachers do experience evaluation, supervision, and relicensure as supportive of their professional learning, they find growth-oriented feedback and opportunities for reflection can do more than help them improve their practice; it can have a profound effect on their sense of commitment and efficacy levels," (p. 196). Realizing and understanding the strong research to support these claims will be extremely useful as I move into administration and make sure my staff is getting adequate time to create partnerships and reflect.
I also felt that I grew in the area of researching the importance of having a positive schoolwide behavior plan, as I wrote about in my final paper. Having a schoolwide system in place goes hand-in-hand with collaboration and reflection. Not all schools have the same needs, and educators must be prepared to critique and cater their school's system in order to meet the unique needs of their students. Just as schools recognize the importance of early intervention in schools in regards to academics, using a schoolwide behavior system can be a preventative measure that can be used as early intervention as well, which compliments RTI (Tillary, 2010). I now have a deeper understanding of the importance of these systems and why they are so successful in schools. According to Scott (2003), “Schoolwide application of PBS has demonstrated success with approximately 85%-90% of a school’s student population,” (p. 2). If an entire school can have that positive of an impact by implementing a schoolwide behavior system, I believe one should be enforced, no matter the student population. Often times educators see these schoolwide systems enforced at needy schools, such as Title 1, but all schools can benefit from a clear, structured system. I hope I can continue to encourage this in my building as our small research team continues to study and determine the importance in our own school.
In large, my learning this quarter was very valuable to my current and future positions in education. I learned some new strategies and techniques in terms of collaborating and coaching, as well as the important research behind reflective practices. I am eager continue implementing these new learnings as I move forward in this program and my career. As a result of this, I plan to continue researching best practices and sharing them with my colleagues as we learn together. I hope I can help them to understand the importance of working together, as well as advocating for the time we need to do so. I hope that this will help to better myself, my colleagues, and most importantly, the students I work with every day.
References
Berg, J. H. (2010, June). Constructing a Clear Path to Accomplished
Teaching. TheoryInto Practice, 49(3), 193-202. doi:10.1080/00405841.2010.487754
Scott, T. S. (2003, September). Making Behavior Intervention Planning decisions in a
Schoolwide System of Positive Behavior Support. Focus On Exceptional Children,
36(1), 1-19. Retrieved November 25, 2016, from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.
ezproxy.spu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2b7c73ea-3785-4988-90e7
b0bd27af2bcd@sessionmgr107&vid=0&hid=118
Tillery, A. D., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., & Collins, A. S. (2010, April). General Education
Teachers' Perceptions of Behavior Management and Intervention Strategies.
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12(2), 86-102. Retrieved from
http://pbi.sagepub.com.ezproxy.spu.edu/content/12/2/86.full.pdf
York-Barr, J., Sommers, W.A., Ghere, G.S., & Montie, J. (2006). Reflective practice to
improve schools: An action guide for educators (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin Press.
Artifacts
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