Producing highly skilled and committed teachers is not the work of a single innovative school or the aggregation of heroic individuals who succeed against the odds. In high-performing countries, the opportunities for teachers to learn sophisticated practices and continue to improve are embedded systemically in education policies and practices. Empowered Educators describes how this seemingly magical work is done - how a number of forward-thinking educational systems create a coherent set of policies designed to ensure quality teaching in all communities. . . and how the results are manifested in practice.
Spanning three continents and five countries, Empowered Educators examines seven jurisdictions that have worked to develop comprehensive teaching policy systems: Singapore and Finland, the states of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, the provinces of Alberta and Ontario in Canada, and the province of Shanghai in China. Renowned education expert Linda Darling-Hammond and a team of esteemed scholars offer lessons learned in a number of areas that shape the teaching force and the work of teachers, shedding unprecedented light on areas such as teacher recruitment, preparation, induction and mentoring, professional learning, career and leadership development, and more.
- Find out how quality teaching is developed and conducted across the globe
- Discover a common set of strategies for developing, supporting, and sustaining the ongoing learning and development of teachers and school leaders
- See how high-performing countries successfully recruit and train educators
- Understand why the sharing of expertise among teachers and administrators within and across schools is beneficial
A fascinating read for researchers, policymakers, administrators, teacher educators, pre-service teachers and leaders, and anyone with an interest in education, this book offers a rare glimpse into the systems that are shaping quality teaching around the world.
Table of Contents
Foreword v
Acknowledgments xi
About the Sponsoring Organizations xiii
About the Lead Authors xv
Online Documents and Videos xvii
Chapter 1 Teaching Policy Around the World 1
What Kinds of Policies Affect Teaching? 3
Why Study International Teaching Policy? 5
Why Study These Jurisdictions? 8
What We Found 12
Developing Both Teacher Quality and Teaching Quality 17
Organization of This Book 19
Chapter 2 Contexts for Teaching and Learning Systems 21
Australia 22
Canada 26
Finland 32
Shanghai 36
Singapore 43
Summary 47
Chapter 3 Recruiting and Preparing Profession-Ready Teachers 49
Recruiting the Best 50
Financial Compensation 50
Attractiveness of the Profession 53
Selection Practices 55
Preparing Professionals 61
Preparation That Enables Professional Practice 68
Induction 88
Lessons Learned 100
Chapter 4 Developing High-Quality Teaching 105
Incentives and Infrastructure for Learning 107
Time and Opportunity for Collaboration 111
Curriculum Development and Lesson Study 116
Teacher Research 123
Teacher-Led Professional Development 127
Feedback and Appraisal 132
Lessons Learned 146
Chapter 5 The Teaching Career and Leadership for the Profession 149
Career Pathways 150
Opportunities to Lead Professional Learning 163
Recruiting and Developing School Leaders 168
Lessons Learned 182
Chapter 6 Perseverance in the Pursuit of Equity 185
Resourcing Student Learning 186
Recruiting and Supporting Teachers in High-Needs Schools 193
Lessons Learned 208
Chapter 7 Global Learning for Ongoing Improvement 211
Policy Borrowing: Learning From Success 212
New Horizons 224
Conclusion 232
Appendix A Research Methodology 241
Appendix B Qilun Elementary School Lesson Plan 243
Appendix C Qibao Teaching Contest Evaluation Form 249
References 253
Index 271
