The 4 B's

IDEAS

The 4 B's

How to adapt other people's practices and make them stick

By Andrew Hargreaves and Michael O’Connor

June 2019

Vol. 40, No. 3

When we learn about an educational intervention that is inspiring, innovative, or appears effective, we often think our next step is obvious: Take it back to our schools or systems and replicate it. We may be so enchanted by the content of what we’ve encountered that we just charge ahead, forgetting all the other things we know about the necessary conditions for change, especially when we adopt an idea from elsewhere. That’s when many problems begin. A practice that is seemingly perfect in someone else’s class or school can become a shadow of itself if you try to adopt it exactly as is, without considering your context. Professional learning communities, instructional rounds, learning walks, data teams, peer review, lesson study, and improvement science — you

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Authors

Andy Hargreaves and Michael O'Connor

Andy Hargreaves (hargrean@bc.edu) is research professor at Boston College and visiting professor at University of Ottawa, Canada. Michael T. O’Connor (moconn29@providence.edu) is director of the Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers at Providence College.

Additional Reading

Datnow, A. & Park, V. (2018). Professional collaboration with purpose: Teacher learning towards equitable and excellent schools. New York, NY: Routledge.
DeWitt, P.M. (2016). Collaborative leadership: Six influences that matter most. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hargreaves, A. & O’Connor, M.T. (2018). Solidarity with solidity: The case for collaborative professionalism. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(1), 20-24.
Quintero, E. (2017). Teaching in context: The social side of education reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Schleifer, D., Rinehart, C., & Yanisch, T. (2017). Teacher collaboration in perspective: A guide to research. New York, NY: Public Agenda.

References

Cimini, T. & Howard, B. (2017, November 29). School desk diaries: Buddy benches or bully benches? WGBH News: All Things Considered. Available at www.wgbh.org/news/2017/11/29/news/school-desk-diaries-buddy-benches-or-bully-benches.

Hargreaves, A. & O’Connor, M.T. (2018). Collaborative professionalism: When teaching together means learning for all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Hargreaves, A. & O’Connor, M.T. (2017). Collaborative professionalism. World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), An Initiative of Qatar Foundation. Available at www.wise-qatar.org/2017-wise-research-collaborative-professionalism.

Hargreaves, A., Parsley, D., & Cox, E.K. (2015). Designing rural school improvement networks: Aspirations and actualities. Peabody Journal of Education, 90(2), 306-321.