Not the Usual Faculty Meeting: Reflections on Collaborative Work to Transform Educator Preparation Programs

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Learning With and From Each Other: Teacher Educators’ Development Through Their Participation in Communities of Practice

Abstract

Faculty members representing all five departments in the College of Education at a major southwestern university in the U.S. have been involved for three years in a grant-funded project to: 1) Transform teacher education and other professional courses through collaboration; 2) Leverage the transformation to assist struggling schools to improve K-12 instruction; and 3) Design integrated field experiences to support cultural competency. This paper presents the findings from an analysis of the faculty’s reflective writing about their personal and professional development. The participants are organized in interdisciplinary, transformational action groups (TAGs). The TAGs operate as communities of practice that are breaking down the traditional silos in higher education.

Authors

• Allison M. Borden, University of New Mexico

• Viola E. Florez, The University of New Mexico