Part 12 - What About Professional Autonomy
In her final statements, Karen Seashore Louis asks: “What about teacher professional autonomy?” First, teachers have to identify the problem and to become problem finders. Then they have to identify who has the problem and who will work on it. The next step is to begin to connect the people around problems of practice in the school, developing a network that brings people together to support each other and reducing the number of isolates in the school. “If you clip a couple of these threads, the whole will still hang together.” Although there is no simple answer, the denser the networks and the more PCOLT there is, the more likely that there will be support for teachers in this incredibly demanding work and an ability to manage this very complex environment. It is imperative to develop trusting relationships in the community, both internally and externally: this will allow teachers to take the kinds of risks that most people are afraid of taking.
Think about:
- Think of three things you plan to do to improve teacher professional autonomy as a result of Karen Seashore Louis’ presentation.
To comment on this posting or to join the discussion, click ‘Comments’ or ‘Read More’ below…
