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May 2014 | Volume 71 | Number 8 Professional Learning: Reimagined Pages 30-35
Richard DuFour
Here's a look at several professional learning communities that have made remarkable improvements in student and teacher learning.
In the early 1970s, to fulfill the requirements of an administrative certification program, I was assigned responsibility for planning a districtwide professional development day. The superintendent offered me this sage advice—secure a funny speaker. I followed his advice, and I also ensured that the coffee and doughnuts were plentiful, that teachers could go out to lunch with their friends, and that they could all return to their classrooms in the afternoon.
The day was considered a huge success, and I basked in the praise of administrators and teaching colleagues alike. There was absolutely no evidence that the day had influenced teaching or learning in any way, nor was there any expectation that it should have.
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May 2014Professional Learning: Reimagined
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