December 1998 Real-World Experiences Can Revitalize Teaching
I nterested in cultivating professional development opportunities outside the school? A good place to start is with Teachers Learning in the Community: A Field Guide, the latest offering from the "Connections: Linking Work and Learning" series from the Laboratory’s Education and Work program.
Local businesses, industries, and nonprofit organizations can be powerful partners for teachers, sparking ideas for integrated curricula and lending fresh perspective on what students need to know to be prepared for a competitive, global market. With a new perspective on the world of work, teachers can bring enhanced curriculum to the classroom and create instruction that reflects issues in life outside school.
"Lessons related to real issues in the community often have greater meaning to students than ‘textbook’ ones," stress authors Leslie Haynes and Dionisia Morales.
Research shows that when students see a connection between the classroom, the workplace, and the fulfillment of their goals, learning becomes more stimulating and interesting. Teachers can help students make this connection by drawing from their professional development experiences and infusing classroom instruction with work-related examples.
Teachers Learning in the Community describes the benefits of workplace professional development, explains the nuts and bolts of recruiting employers, provides practical tools for implementing a successful effort, and suggests ways teachers can use what they learn in the community to enhance what they do in the classroom.
The guide outlines four professional development activities to give teachers some ideas on where to start:
- Job Shadow—A three- to eight-hour experience during which teachers interview employers and observe while they perform their daily routines
- Internship—A period of two to 12 weeks in which a teacher completes a project or collection of tasks at the workplace and produces an action plan for curriculum enhancement
- Telementoring (Electronic Communications)—An ongoing e-mail relationship between a teacher and an employer, designed to define the connection between school and work and to develop integrated projects and curriculum
- Learning Site Analysis—A 45- to 60-minute structured conversation between a teacher and an employer about the skills required at the workplace and how they can apply to academics
These activities are just a sampling of the ways community-based professional development can be structured. The guide describes each activity in detail, explains its purpose, provides step-by-step instructions, and outlines the roles and responsibilities of both teacher and employer. Strategies for ensuring that activities are beneficial for everyone involved—students, teachers, employers, schools, and communities—are also included.
"The product presents some ways for teachers to connect community experiences with their classroom instruction," notes Andrea Baker, NWREL senior associate and coordinator of product development for the "Connections" series. "It offers choices, not a one-size-fits-all approach."
Packed with concrete examples, the guide shares ideas from teachers who are successfully integrating professional development activities and classroom instruction. One such example describes how a fine-arts teacher who established a telementoring relationship with an intensive-care nurse used the remodeling of a hospital waiting room as a class project. Students researched the effects of light, color, and music on people undergoing stress, and incorporated their findings into ideas for the remodel.
Teachers Learning in the Community also addresses the details that are often sources of concern to those new to professional development, such as how to balance schedules to find time for the activities, and how to keep records and document the experience once it is underway. To help, camera-ready copies of useful forms are provided for duplicating, including a detailed form for conducting a learning site analysis; a job shadow guide for teachers; a daily journal, weekly log, action plan, and set of interview questions for internships; a teacher application; a participation form for community contacts; evaluation forms; and a workplace assessment form. The job shadow and internship forms were "test driven" by teachers in the field to ensure that they are both relevant and user-friendly.
Anyone involved in workplace professional development will find a valuable, flexible resource in the guide, which can be adapted to suit many different roles.
"People need a way to structure their experiences," says Haynes. "The information is provided in a form that can be used for various settings—a university, a school, a private industry council, or a company."
More information on specific topics such as employer recruitment, job shadowing, and learning site analysis can be found in other products in the series. To order Teachers Learning in the Community: A Field Guide or other "Connections" products, go to the Document Order Form.
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