Title: NCSALL: How Teachers Change
Headings: How Teachers Change
How Teachers Change
What will lead to change that most benefits student learning?
Change Hurts
Voluntary Change
Laissez Faire?
Vision of Teachers
Training Model
Reflective, Collaborative Models
Community of Practice
Conclusion
Endnotes
References
About the Author

Content: We therefore need teachers who approach their work with a change orientation: an orientation that suggests that constant reflection, evaluation, and experimentation are integral elements of the teaching role. We now expect teachers to alter curricula on the basis of new knowledge and ways of knowing, to change styles of teacher-student interaction depending on needs of the student population, and to change methods when research indicates more effective practice. This requires teachers who are inquirers, questioning assumptions and consciously thoughtful about goals, practices, and contexts. Gary Fenstermacher (1994) suggests that reflecting on one's work as a teacher must be undertaken within the framework of a clear sense of purpose in relation to the learner. He quotes Isr‘l Scheffler's view of the purposes of education: " the formation of habits of judgment and the development of character, the elevation of standards, the facilitation of understanding, the development of taste and discrimination, the stimulation of curiosity and wonder, the fostering of style and sense of beauty, the growth of a thirst for new ideas and visions of the yet unknown" (Scheffler, 1976, p. 206). Scheffler's notion of teacher, however, is quite individualistic. The autonomous, individual teacher works with her students in the classroom, and is reflective about what goes on in that classroom. As I suggested earlier, however, there is more to consider: