Professional Development for Cooperative Learning
Issues and Approaches
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Describes different forms of professional development for cooperative learning and shows how the use of cooperative learning in professional development is leading to new insights into teaching and professional growth in schools.
Description
Cooperative/collaborative learning procedures increasingly attract great attention in school and higher education settings. This book has two main purposes: first, to enable educators to make informed decisions and choices about selecting, implementing, and evaluating cooperative learning models with respect for the differences and diversity of goals among professionals in school communities, and second, to consider the goals of teachers' professional development in the context of organizational reforms that foster systemic school change, such as the development of learning communities. The authors encourage professional development that goes beyond inservice workshops to include multi-year development and support for teachers. They advocate that schools be administered under collaborative principles so teachers can "live the experience" that they are trying to create in their own classrooms. Professional Development for Cooperative Learning describes what works for professional development in cooperative learning and how difficult it is to bring about lasting change in school settings. Brody and Davidson focus the dialogue on the nature of professional development linked to systemic changes and the successes, failures, and challenges encountered in the process.
Celeste M. Brody is Associate Professor at Lewis and Clark College. She is coeditor, with James Wallace, of Ethical and Social Issues in Professional Education, also published by SUNY Press. Neil Davidson is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Maryland at College Park. He is the coauthor and editor of several books, including Cooperative Learning in Mathematics: A Handbook for Teachers.
Reviews
"This book contains well-researched and complete models for the kind of staff development needed today. They represent a variety of perspectives that are all applicable to the educational trends we foresee for the twenty-first century. " — Judith W. Irwin, University of Connecticut
"The contributors represent a very impressive cross section of the cooperative/collaborative learning community. You do get the sense that these folks are talking from experience in describing what works in staff development. " — James L. Cooper, California State University at Dominguez Hills