Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
FOCUS
Flip the script on change
By Thomas R. Guskey
Categories: Change management, Evaluation & impact, OutcomesApril 2020
Vol 41, No. 2
Teaching is a demanding profession. Teachers dedicate themselves to having all their students learn well and take pride in seeing their students’ learning success. But what happens when students don’t succeed? How do teachers explain students not learning well or not reaching expected levels of achievement? ''Experience shapes teachers’ attitudes and beliefs (not the other way around).'' @tguskey #LearnFwdTLP Share on X In a recent research column for The Learning Professional, Elizabeth Foster (2019) reviewed a study that considered this issue. Margaret Evans and her colleagues (Evans, Teasdale, Gannon-Slater, La Londe, Crenshaw, Greene, & Schwandt, 2019) investigated teachers’ perceptions of student achievement data. Their study focused on the work of six grade-level teams of teachers (grades 3-5) who met biweekly to discuss various examples of
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References
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Evans, M., Teasdale, R.M., Gannon-Slater, N., La Londe, P.G., Crenshaw, H.L., Greene, J.C., & Schwandt, T.A. (2019). How did that happen? Teachers’ explanations for low test scores. Teachers College Record, 121(2), 1-40.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.
Foster, E. (2019). Study examines teachers’ perceptions of student achievement data. The Learning Professional, 40(3), 20-23.
Guskey, T.R. (1986). Staff development and the process of teacher change. Educational Researcher, 15(5), 5-12.
Guskey, T.R. (1989). Attitude and perceptual change in teachers. International Journal of Educational Research, 13(4), 439-453.
Guskey, T.R. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 8(3/4), 381-391.
Guskey, T.R. (2007). Multiple sources of evidence: An analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions of various indicators of student learning. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 26(1), 19-27.
Guskey, T.R. (2018, September 9). How can we improve professional inquiry? Education Week Blog. https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2018/09/how_can_we_improve_professional_inquiry.html
Hargreaves, A. (2005). Educational change takes ages: Life, career, and generational factors in teachers’ emotional responses to educational change. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(8), 967-983.
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Thomas R. Guskey, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education, University of Kentucky. He is a longtime member of Learning Forward, best known for his work on teacher change and on planning, implementing, and evaluating effective professional learning. Contact him by email at guskey@uky.edu, on X at @tguskey, or at www.tguskey.com.
Categories: Change management, Evaluation & impact, Outcomes
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