Annotated Bibliography of Resources for Educational Reform, Coherent Teaching Practice, and Improved Student Learning

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• Lieberman, A. (1995). Practices that support teacher development: Transforming conceptions of professional learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 591-596.

According to Lieberman, the current reform effort seeks to develop new practices that support teacher learning. The traditional view of staff development as a transferable package of knowledge to be distributed in bite-sized pieces needs radical rethinking. A critical aspect of the reform is the transformation of schools into learning organizations, and a significant part of this vision is professional learning for teachers. Professional development is thus viewed as an integral part of the life of the school, not as an add-on. Teachers in these reformed schools must be given opportunities to discuss, think about, try out, and hone new practices. Lieberman suggests that this involves learning by building new roles, by creating new structures, by working on new tasks, and by creating a culture of inquiry. She elaborates on and gives examples of this kind of learning in schools, making a case for her new conception of teacher development.

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