Using Rehearsals to Network Expertise of School-Based Teacher Leaders

• In Event: Frameworks for Teacher Leadership

Abstract

School-based teacher leaders are an important resource for supporting shifts in classroom practice. Rehearsals have been used to support shifts, primarily in novice teachers, through expert-supported practice around a particular pedagogical strategy. Here we describe a novel use of rehearsals with experienced teachers, in which the rehearsal context serves as a knowledge-building community for the purpose of their creating specifications of best practices and principles in supporting reticent colleagues in ambitious teaching. Three principles emerged from their discussion: Know Your Audience, Attending to Culture and Context, and Teachers Are Professionals. In this analysis, we expand this work to examine participant’s understanding of these collectively constructed principles.

Authors

• Susan D. Nickerson, San Diego State University

• Meredith Vaughn, San Diego State University

• Lisa L. Lamb, San Diego State University