We posed this question at a team leadership meeting last year when we discussed the quest to personalise learning more for our students?
Perhaps one answer came after we introduced the idea to staff last week – it’s a bit like moderating student work except I might get more of a say. Using a protocol certainly provides a process for everyone to provide feedback in a more structured way. But I think it does more.
To quote a group of educators from Los Angeles: its a safe way to deprivatize their practice and take the loneliness out of teaching. When educators learn protocols (i.e., diplomatic processes that make communication safe and productive for looking at student work and discussing professional challenges), they feel empowered to solve their own problems and less “alone” in meeting the diverse needs of their students.
In week 1 we set the context for introducing this initiative. Our team leaders led groups of teachers in a shared reading , viewing of a video and a discussion about using protcols.
After some teacher feedback we have planned to model the strategy in session 2 and then provide an opportunity for teachers to try it using a shared piece of student work.
A great site for articles and resources is: Looking at Student Work
We would be interested in some advice from teachers who have used protocols to deprivatise their practice and get feedback on how to personalise teaching for their students.
