I originally wrote this article in June, 2018. 

Student growth is why educators do what they do. In order for student growth to occur regularly and effectively, schools must adopt the strategy of continuous teacher growth. Continuous teacher growth must be a goal, a mindset, and a daily task (hence the use of the word “continuous”) which must be conceptualized and led by the principal. Continuous teacher growth has been essential to the growth of Alberta schools, which are heralded as the top achievers in Canada (Sheppard, 2010). 

 Throughout this course (UNB, Supervision of Instruction) it has become evident that continuous teacher growth begets student, school, and community growth. Skilled teachers who are continually growing both themselves and each other will have the maximum positive impact on student growth. According to Glickman (2014), continuous teacher growth happens in a collaborative work environment. According to Milton (2015), teachers at innovative schools work well when they “continually hone their skills and build their knowledge by designing their work together” (p. 7) the emphasis in both examples is the connection between teacher growth and collaboration. 

In order to help faculty understand and buy into the idea of continuous teacher growth, a principal could introduce a growth mindset called “team fitness”. The idea is that all faculty want to be fit, but at typical schools working out professionally and collaboratively is not taught about or alloted time for. The steps the principal will take to implement “team fitness” are: 1) Assess, 2) Plan, 3) Implement, 4) Evaluate (Glickman, 2014).

1) Assess 

Assess the current mindset of growth and collaboration in the school. In the assessment stage, it is essential that teachers are interviewed by their supervisor to understand what they think of the current situation and what they would like to glean from the process.

2) Plan 

Plan collaboratively based on the current best practices in education. Because all schools and faculty are unique, the plan will depend on the assessment and will vary depending on the school and depending on the teacher (Glickman, 2014). Regardless, the elements of the plan should include: clear goals and success criteria for implementation, professional development, research groups, coaching, and mentoring.

3) Implement 

Put the plan in place. 

4) Evaluate 

According to the success criteria from the planning stage, faculty will self-evaluate, as well as receive both peer and supervisor evaluations. After faculty evaluations, the principal will do a self-evaluation followed by a peer evaluation, completed by the faculty. The final evaluation is the program evaluation, done by both the faculty and the principal, which seeks to understand the success of the “team fitness” plan. Once the evaluations are complete, the steps should be recycled, the plan re-configured (according to the program evaluation), and the faculty reminded of the reasons why the school is investing in “team fitness”. 

The “team fitness” steps of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation combined with the collaborative teacher improvement networks of professional development, research groups, coaching, and mentoring can all work together to keep the school focused on continuous teacher growth. Which is the best way for a school to achieve continuous student growth. 

References

Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2017). SuperVision and Instructional Leadership. New York, NY: Pearson. Retrieved from VitalSource Bookshelf.

Milton, P. (2015). Shifting Minds 3.0: Redefining the Learning Landscape in Canada. Retrieved from lms.unb.ca/d2l/le/content/150740/viewContent/1434488/View

Sheppard, B. (2010). Systems Challenges to Growth and Sustainability of Meaningful Educational Reform. School District Leadership Matters, 101-117.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It was a pleasure spending time with you today.

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah