If Knowledge is Power, and the development of realistic assessment of the school’s status and the development of an action plan can have immediate results on improving school and student performance, then, knowledge may also be a powerful catalyst for faculty and professional learning.

Learning Teams, comprised of teachers who naturally work together daily, provide a learning process that may redefine the teacher’s job description: Teaching goes beyond “what I do in my classroom” to include “sharing my discoveries of what works with my colleagues—and learning from them.” Group learning and group sharing, embraced by collegial relationships alluded to in Module 1: Leading Change (Continuous Improvement), accelerate discovery and reinforce the Action Goals. Indeed, the axiom that Knowledge is Power translates; in this case, to knowledge is the power to improve education for students and faculty alike.

The introduction of new ideas, concepts, or strategies is not always without resistance and can create 'cognitive dissonance' or disarray between colleagues. To keep the process of building knowledge vital, the Leadership Team should be prepared to facilitate the resolution of this dissonance. Resolution is best found in Learning Team discussions—rather than through a speaker’s presentation, video, or packaged staff development kit. Furthermore, group discussion aids in the assimilation of the information and the resulting application to the classroom.

Consider the research of Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers (1988). They found that too many leaders believed that teacher behavior could be changed by workshops. Training in workshops can be a powerful catalyst for change, but only if it is accompanied by modeling, practice with feedback, and on-site follow-up. As Joyce and Showers found, (worksheet/handout—Relationship Between Levels of Impact and Components of Learning) workshops are 90% ineffective if they stand-alone. When the workshops include presentation of theory, modeling of desired behaviors, low-risk practice with constructive feedback, and the critical component of on-site follow-up (through coaching, peer visits, or study teams), such training can be 90% effective in its transfer to the classroom. This research is a strong argument for the establishment of Learning Teams in a school and for the use of those teams as the vehicle for building the knowledge of teachers.

The activities in the following section will facilitate faculty efforts to build and share knowledge over time. Five critical steps in building knowledge for continuous improvement are:

1. Provide Professional Learning for the Leadership Team
2. Design a Schoolwide Professional Learning Curriculum and Calendar
3. Prioritize Brain-based Teaching and Learning as Core Content of Professional Learning
4. Prioritize Action Research as Core Content of Professional Learning
5. Evaluate Schoolwide Professional Learning Plans
   
   

Next: 1. Provide Professional Learning for the Leadership Team