Contributions from: Colin Calleja
Abstract
This paper reports the outcomes of an implementation of the Let Me Learn staff development process for teachers. This was a recursive laboratory experience in which teachers applied their newly gained insights concerning the Interactive Learning Model to developing and implementing a plan of action involving effective teaching/learning strategies appropriate to the learners' upon whom they had chosen to focus. The laboratory sessions presented the teacher-mentors with an opportunity to focus on such topics as the inclusion of special needs students, co-operative learning, alternative assessment measures, teacher-student-parent interactions, and interdisciplinary learning experiences. The study traces the evolution of the staff development process through the use of Case Studies, reflection journals, anecdotal records, video-taped student- teacher interaction, audio-taped debriefing sessions, teacher plans, student work-product. Discussion covers the identification of those non-political elements of the staff development process which are replicable within any teaching context. The study illuminates the potentially powerful system-wide impact of professionals engaging in understanding themselves as learners while developing insights into their students as learners.
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