Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
FEATURE ARTICLE
Know How? Show How.
Experienced teachers share best practices through Ontario program
By Learning Forward
Categories: Teacher leadershipApril 2014
In 2006, the Ontario Ministry of Education partnered with the Ontario Teachers’ Federation to explore these questions: What would authentic professional learning look like for experienced teachers? How might experienced teachers be engaged and inspired to learn from and with each other? How could classroom practice become deprivatized and shared beyond the four walls of individual classrooms? How might this type of intentional sharing of knowledge and practice foster teacher leadership? While the province introduced a New Teacher Induction Program, both the Ministry of Education and the Ontario Teachers’ Federation also wanted to address the professional learning needs of teachers beyond their first few years in the classroom. Some of these experienced teachers would pursue traditional formal leadership paths, such as becoming a principal, but
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“Every day in classrooms, there are miracles happening. Absolute miracles. Teachers are doing fantastic things. And the teacher in the classroom next door has no idea about the miraculous things that the teacher next to him or her is doing. The teacher in the next school doesn’t know it, and the teacher in the next district certainly doesn’t know it. How do we take those miracles and share them?”
A teacher in the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program
Scope of Teacher Learning and Leadership Program
In the 2013-14 school year, 110 projects are being implemented across Ontario.
More than 600 projects have been funded since the program’s inception in 2007.
Typical projects involve the collaboration of two to five teachers and an average $15,000 project budget.
Frequent learning themes include: Differentiated instruction, literacy, integrating technology, student assessment, math literacy, students with special needs, gender-based learning, French (core & immersion), media literacy, and the arts.
Many project teams share and document their learning via social media and Web 2.0 tools. Here are examples from past projects:
Tap Into Teen Minds: https://tapintoteenminds.com.
Inquiry-Based Learning: https://inquiry-based.com.
21st-Century Poetry: www.tbcdsb.on.ca/projects/TLLP/Home.html.
A searchable archive of all projects is available at: www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/search.asp.
For more information about the Teacher Learning and Leadership program, visit www.ehdu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/tllp.html.
A comparison of traditional professional learning and the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program
| Traditional professional learning | Teacher Learning and Leadership Program |
| Outside-in reform. | Inside-out transformation. |
| Top-down planning. | Collegial involvement in planning. |
| System-centered. | Student-centered. |
| Goals for learning are determined by others. | Teachers determine their own learning goals. |
| Knowledge consumption by individuals. | Knowledge construction by collaborative teams. |
Ontario At a Glance
- Ontario is Canada’s most populous province with 12.8 million residents.
- More than 2 million students attend 5,000 schools in its publicly funded education system.
- The system has 72 school boards that represent four sectors: 31 English public, 29 English Catholic, four French public, and eight French Catholic.
- In addition, there are 11 school authorities, consisting of four geographically isolated boards, six hospital-based school authorities, and the Provincial Schools Authority.
- Boards are spread across both urban and rural areas, with schools ranging in size from small (less than 100 students) to very large (more than 2,000 students).
- The Ontario Teachers’ Federation represents all teachers (about 150,000) in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. The teacher federation has four affiliate organizations.
- 27% of Ontario’s school-age children are born outside of Canada, while 20% identify themselves as members of a visible minority.
Walking Through A Teacher Learning And Leadership Program Project
| AwarenessSeptember to October 2013
School board and teacher federation promote the program to experienced teachers. |
| Application and review processNovember 2013 to February 2014
Interested teachers submit application to the director of education of their school board. Board-level program committee reviews applications and submits two recommended proposals to the Ministry of Education. Committee comprised of ministry and teacher federation staff reviews submitted projects and notifies selected applicants. |
| Orientation and professional learning for teamsMay 2014
Teacher federation and ministry implement professional learning to assist new project teams in developing leadership, sharing, and project management skills. |
| Project implementationSeptember 2014 to June 2015
Teacher-led project teams implement program learning and sharing activities at the school and district level. Ministry and teacher federation staff provide ongoing communication and support for implementation. Participants engage in an online community of practice: https://mentoringmoments.ning.com. |
| ReportingJune to July 2015
Teacher participants submit final report to their school board. School board submits the teacher participant final report and board final report to Ministry of Education. |
| Sharing and celebration for program teamsNovember 2015
Teacher federation and ministry hold Sharing the Learning Summit where project teams celebrate and share their learning with colleagues from across the province. |
| Extended sharing and learning across OntarioNovember 2015 and beyond
Previous project teams may continue to share their learning across their districts and the province with funds provided by the ministry. Through the Provincial Knowledge Exchange, school boards can apply for ministry funding to access innovative and effective practices from participating teacher leaders across Ontario. |
References
Campbell, C., Lieberman, A., & Yashkina A. (2013). The Teacher Learning and Leadership Program: A research report to the Ontario Teachers’ Federation. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Ontario Teachers’ Federation.
Hargreaves, A. (2011, November). Teacher leadership and educational change: The fourth way. Available at www.otffeo.on.ca/en/learning/teacher-learning-and-leadership-program.
Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.
Categories: Teacher leadership
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