Growing Teachers: Partnerships in Staff Development
Elizabeth Jones
Just as young children learn about the world around them by playing its scripts, teachers learn about teaching and learning by playing a teacher's script, observing what happens and discussing all of the possibilities with other teachers. This book applies a constructivist model to staff development, describing staff development activities that were open in design and that defined philosophy and process but not outcomes. Each of the stories told in the book involved a partnership between one or more early childhood programs and some other agency or individual working with teaching staff to facilitate growth. Following an introduction by Elizabeth Jones exploring how teachers construct knowledge about teaching and how "growing" teachers differs from training them, the chapters in the book are the following: (1) "Telling Our Stories: The CDA Process in Native American Head Start" (C. David Beers); (2) "Moving Out of Silence: The CDA Process with Alaska Native Teachers" (Kathrin Greenough); (3) "Catching Teachers 'Being Good': Using Observation To Communicate" (Margie Carter); (4) "Teachers Talking to Each Other: The Pasadena Partnership Project" (Elizabeth Jones, Joyce Robinson, Diedra Miler, Richard Cohen, and Gretchen Reynolds); (5) "Change Making in a Primary School: Soledad, California" (Jane Meade-Roberts, Elizabeth Jones, and Joan Hillard); (6) "Co-Creating Primary Curriculum: Boulder Valley Schools" (Maja Apelman); (7) "Teachers as Observers of Play: Involving Teachers in Action Research" (Barbara Creaser); (8) "I'll Visit Your Class, You Visit Mine: Experienced Teachers as Mentors" (Lisa Poelle); and (9) "Looking Back: What We've Learned about Partnerships" (Elizabeth Jones).
Elizabeth Jones. Growing Teachers: Partnerships in Staff Development (1993). National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC]: Washington, DC.
(151 pages).
Language: English
Reading Level: Average
Formats Available: Printed Material
(Available from NAECY, also available online, click on "full text" button)
National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC]
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Languages Available: English
Intended User Audience:
The primary target audience is intended to be beginning child care workers and preschool teachers with little college experience. The students are typically employed as child care workers
or preschool teachers while receiving additional training. They primarily have an introductory level of experience
with the concepts that the material is presenting. Many speak English as a second language. The primary language of most of the students who have used the material to date is usually Spanish or a Native American language such as Navajo, Jicarillo Apache, Hopi, etc., However, the Child Development Training Consortium Tool Kit (of which Growing Teachers is a part) is intended for use with students who speak English as a second language and have other primary languages as well. The students are typically from low income or poverty communities and are often the first from their family who are attending college.
Product Development:
The producers of the Tool Kit material are all CDA (Child Development Associate) trainers at the community college/college level with a high level of experience in providing field-based training to CDA students.
Their cultural backgrounds are European American and Hispanic American. A large amount of input from students went into the development of the videos and print material, and the students have primarily Hispanic and Native American cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Product Evaluation:
No formal field testing of the completed Tool Kit has occurred, although the material was developed over the course of several years with input from students and trainers. Each of the consortium
members have primarily a Native American or Hispanic student body as previously mentioned.
Product Dissemination:
There were 75 Tool Kits produced and disseminated to consortium members in New Mexico and Arizona. Some copies of the material have been informally disseminated to other states as well.
The book Growing Teachers is the element of the Tool Kit with much wider dissemination, both in number and geographically, since it is published and sold through NAEYC and was a 1992-93 comprehensive membership benefit for NAEYC members.
Review #1
About the reviewer:
The reviewer is originally from a Native American reservation in the
Southwest. She is currently an administrator for an early childhood
intervention program operated by an Indian tribe. This program
coordinates closely with the Head Start programs and early
intervention providers, as well as the state pre-school programs.
The program has also helped to establish a Parent Training and
Information Center which serves Native American families; therefore,
much of her interest lies with parent involvement and collaboration
with professionals. Many of the children are from rural and remote
reservation areas and are from lower SES backgrounds.
Audience:
The book Growing Teachers: Partnerships in Staff Development is written to be used as a resource for trainers who are providing professional development for child care workers and preschool teachers. The book includes nine chapters that take an approach to “growing teachers” versus training teachers. The book is intended for use by professional development programs that use facilitators to promote professional growth in students through methods of storytelling, observation, modeling and mentoring.
The book has chapters focusing on a variety of ethnic and cultural groups and features programs throughout the country that are based on using a “facilitator” to improve the quality of teachers working with young children. A chapter is designated to growing teachers through the Child Development Associates (CDA) process in Southwest Indian settings, and another chapter is devoted to Alaska Native Head Start programs. Other chapters feature “growing teachers” in predominately Latino pre-school community programs in California. The information is clearly intended for use by professional development training programs in providing approaches to trainers, to consultants, and to facilitators of training of child care providers, Head Start staff, and pre-school teachers.
Strengths of the Material:
The material is well organized into nine chapters that have Sections that include "Notes from the Storyteller," "Building a Partnership," "Staff Development or Teacher Strategies," "Empowering Teachers," "What was taught, what was learned, and what are the implications?" The table of contents provides for easy reference by the reader to review specific sections of interest. Each chapter is presented in two-column format and provides very interesting “storytelling” sections that are real examples or quotes from the participants featured in that project.
The book is one of several documents developed to address the issues related to the following: a) How can community colleges promote effective learning on the part of “at-risk” adult students in early childhood education programs? b) How can the practical lessons of everyday experience with young children and their families be shared, expanded, and applied to the quality improvement of the early childhood profession? and c) How can the capacity to respond to the needs of low income, rural families with young children be strengthened?
Each chapter includes “entries” or boxes of information that highlight the key points from the chapter. This is helpful to the reader in recapitulating what was learned from that chapter. The book emphasizes partnering with other programs through interaction, in-services, workshops, and mentoring relationships. Through these interactions, teachers are encouraged to talk with each other about children, curriculum, and strategies for growth and change.
Each chapter concludes with suggestions for further information, other suggested readings and references, as well as the address for contacting the author. The book is unique in that it approaches staff development of teachers from a different perspective. In the introduction and throughout the book, the message to trainers, consultants, and facilitators is that “Growing teachers is different from training them.” The approach is also based on utilizing facilitators who were independent of the system; therefore, they are free to encourage teachers’ thinking rather than evaluating their performance. This approach provides excellent examples of how this can work in early childhood settings throughout the country. The book features photographs throughout the chapters that are appropriate to diverse cultures and the early childhood field. Overall, this is a very professional document. The booklet has many strengths and continues to be available through NAEYC.
Limitations of the Material:
A limitation of the material is that it does not address working with children with developmental delays. The examples or stories provided were not situations related to children with disabilities. The book suggests that the approach of using an outside facilitator works best in training teachers. Many programs do not have the resources to hire or contract with a facilitator independent of the program. While the book acknowledges this factor, additional information is lacking in the chapters on how agencies can address training needs of their staff given existing staffing patterns of the agency.
Adaptations:
The book provides an excellent approach to teacher training programs by using a storytelling, observation, partnering approach by an outside facilitator. Each chapter presents how this approach can work in American Indian Head Start, child care, and other pre-school settings. One chapter focuses specifically on the CDA approach for training Head Start teachers and discusses the mandates of the Head Start Act and Performance Standards. With changes in the credentialing requirements of the Head Start Act for teachers, it would be appropriate for trainers, facilitators, and consultants to adapt these sections to reference the changes in legislation. This is necessary to assure that accurate information is being provided in the discussion with students. It would also be recommended that the trainer incorporate examples of working with children with disabilities.
Generalizability:
The book can be used in teacher training programs throughout the country, such as Head Start programs, child care, and pre-school programs serving young children. The basis of the book “Growing Teachers” is one that all early childhood training programs should adopt as the underlying premise for their training programs. The book includes a large amount of input from students and features many of their stories. It is very helpful to know that these students are primarily from Hispanic and Native American cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The photographs featured in the chapters are appropriate and include children and teachers from diverse backgrounds. The book is appropriate for use by trainers in working with people from diverse backgrounds and individuals that work in a variety of settings (i.e., Head Start, child care, preschools).
Recommendations:
The book is an excellent resource for early childhood teacher training programs to use in training teachers employed by Head Start, child care, and pre-school programs. Although the book is available through NAEYC, it would be appropriate to request that the document be available through the database to reach a wider number of people.
Producer's Response:
The reviewers have raised helpful questions. In our thinking, an "external" facilitator need not, and often should not, be external to the agency or to the culture of the community. The important factor is line authority: If the facilitator is also responsible for evaluating staff performance, it is harder to establish trust with staff. An evaluator's first obligation is to the agency, rather than as advocate for individual staff members. It is crucial to recognize this power differential, just as it is crucial to recognize the power differential between an external trainer with high professional status and the staff in a low SES program. Facilitation builds on strengths rather than seeking out weaknesses.
"Training" typically presents expert knowledge to staff, who are seen as less knowledgeable than the trainer. "Facilitation" as illustrated in this book seeks to build on the collaborative and individual knowledge of staff and community. The facilitator is also a learner; learning is a collaborative process. Gaining mutual respect and building a culturally responsive relationship requires an outsider to listen, observe, and ask genuine questions. If this is to happen, there must be a long-term connection, and facilitators must be individuals not invested in transmitting all that they already know.
A correction: One of the reviews states, "A chapter is designated to growing teachers through the CDA process in American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs." There are two chapters, one set in the Southwest and one in Alaska. [Editor’s note: The error in the review has been corrected.]
Review #2
About the reviewer:
The reviewer has worked for over 20 years with culturally and
linguistically diverse children and their families in urban,
suburban, and rural settings. She has worked directly with Latinos
in California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. She has examined
model inclusive early childhood programs and their cultural
responsiveness for Native Americans in New Mexico. She currently
works with students and families from the Middle East and Pacific
Rim. She has a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in
special education with an emphasis on multicultural early childhood
special education.
Audience:
The primary audience for this text is facilitators, staff development trainers, and administrators who wish to support EC/ECSE programs through partnerships with other early childhood programs or agencies. However, selected chapters describing specific EC/ECSE partnership classrooms (Native American and Native Alaskan Head Start, urban and rural) may provide an excellent resource for those individuals working in similar settings.
These materials were developed for individuals residing in the United States for whom English is the first language or who are proficient in English. This text is not written with a specific geographic region or a cultural or linguistic group in mind; it is written for the purpose of describing a model partnership using external and independent facilitators to encourage and extend teachers' thinking.
Strengths of the Material:
The purpose of this text is to describe a partnership model of staff development in early childhood programs. In presenting individual teacher's stories about serving highly culturally and linguistically diverse young children, cultural responsiveness in diverse settings is described. This text describes a constructivist model of staff development. Its strength is found in its rich first person descriptions of a variety of partnership staff development models in various early childhood settings. Individual teachers’ or caregivers’ stories are present in eight chapters. Stories include descriptions of teachers earning their Child Development Associate credential (CDA) credential in Native American and Native Alaskan Head Start programs, an in-depth description and strategy for ameliorating a high turnover rate of program staff, a college and school district partnership developing a system for defusing tensions between partners, a bilingual grant fostering a partnership in public school kindergarten program, self-selected teachers in partnership with university faculty developing a developmentally appropriate program, and teachers as co-investigators using collaborative inquiry for staff development.
In addition, to the rich participants' stories, the text describes the successes and challenges of developing partnerships for staff development. The discussion of the partnerships is described in cultural framework -- individualized to collective within the overall context of DAP. Of particular note is the examination of the roles of facilitator and administrator and where these roles may be most effective in supporting the program's goals.
Theoretical understandings and legislative underpinnings of EC programming were briefly presented in a clear and concise manner at the beginning of the text and reviewed in the conclusion in light of the teachers’ stories and the implications for EC staff development. The reader will find the highlighted boxes throughout the text provide a summary of the keys concepts discussed and information about particular agencies' funding and policies. Photos throughout the text reflect culturally diverse teachers and young children.
Limitations of the Material:
Teachers serving children with special needs or children in inclusive programs are not addressed in this text.
Adaptations:
The partnership model and its variations offer a different understanding of staff development: that an external facilitator is necessary to problem-solve, increase teacher motivation, and guide best practice. While the partnership model is an exciting and dynamic alternative to in-service training and traditional supervision, many early childhood programs are unable to create the partnership model for multiple reasons including geographic location, fiscal concerns, and lack of qualified facilitators. My experience is the most successful partnership model of staff development and more effectively implemented is the collective model. Such a model can be easily implemented within the current national structure or state guidelines (CDA advising, NAEYC accreditation, state frameworks). The collectivist model can best be described as the individual understood in the context of social relationships (e.g., the family, the organization, and the community)and is less differentiated as a self in contrast with others. "We" is more important than "I." The United States is an "I" (individualist) society. Most trainers naturally frame their work from this perspective.
The author of Growing Teachers suggests and supports an external facilitator coming into the school site (collectivist group) to present training. An adaptation would be training by a member of the collective group, or an extended member of the collective group, as opposed to an external trainer. There are significant and valid arguments for either external or internal trainers. A point not clearly addressed by the author is how the external trainer enters a collective group (school) and gains respect and builds a culturally responsive relationship with the trainees. (The author’s model provides training over a period of time.) For example, an external trainer enters a very low SES school in West Virginia or a Native American school in rural New Mexico or South Dakota. How does power and cultural responsiveness play itself out? While external training (knowledge) is a positive model, respecting the "collective" group is equally important.
Generalizability:
This material can be utilized in various early childhood settings. To utilize this material the trainer must be comfortable and proficient in English. Early childhood program administrators, trainers, supervisors, facilitators, preschool service providers, teachers, and preservice students will find not only the partnership model of staff development of value, but the stories that demonstrate the model are human and present a realistic description of EC classrooms.
The effective implementation of an adaptation of any partnership model is based on the assumption that an administrator, trainer, or facilitator values what the teacher or caregiver brings to the program and trusts in their ability to self-direct their professional growth. I would recommend that the author or those wishing to adapt this model to their program consider the following: (1) add more graphics to include more intergenerational and culturally diverse children and teachers, (2) provide more information about the collective culture and how an external facilitator's culture will impact the communication, and (3) include methods (outcomes) to evaluate the success of the model.
Recommendations:
While respectful and responsive to specific cultural groups, the content is overall culturally neutral with little direct reference to issues of culture or language. I would recommend this text to individuals with responsibilities in staff development. The concept of nurturing and training teachers through the use of an external facilitator asks the reader to begin to view their program from an outsider’s perspective in identifying teachers needs and supports.
Producer's Response:
The reviewers have raised helpful questions. In our thinking, an "external" facilitator need not, and often should not, be external to the agency or to the culture of the community. The important factor is line authority: If the facilitator is also responsible for evaluating staff performance, it is harder to establish trust with staff. An evaluator's first obligation is to the agency, rather than as advocate for individual staff members. It is crucial to recognize this power differential, just as it is crucial to recognize the power differential between an external trainer with high professional status and the staff in a low SES program. Facilitation builds on strengths rather than seeking out weaknesses.
"Training" typically presents expert knowledge to staff, who are seen as less knowledgeable than the trainer. "Facilitation" as illustrated in this book seeks to build on the collaborative and individual knowledge of staff and community. The facilitator is also a learner; learning is a collaborative process. Gaining mutual respect and building a culturally responsive relationship requires an outsider to listen, observe, and ask genuine questions. If this is to happen, there must be a long-term connection, and the facilitators must be individuals not invested in transmitting all that they already know.
A correction: One of the reviews states, "A chapter is designated to growing teachers through the CDA process in American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs." There are two chapters, one set in the Southwest and one in Alaska. [Editor’s note: The error in the review has been corrected.]
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