There is something quite powerful about seeing our colleagues at work.<\/p>\n
This term, our Senior School teachers are trialing a new approach to professional learning, one designed to bring learning closer to where it matters most \u2013 into our classrooms, alongside our colleagues and students, and within the everyday work of our core business.<\/p>\n
Staff have been given time within the timetable to choose a professional learning pathway that is meaningful to them. The premise is deliberately simple \u2013 approximately two hours to step outside our usual routines, become learners ourselves and engage deeply with the practice happening around us.<\/p>\n
Across the term, teachers are Shadowing a Student, taking part in Learning Walks, engaging in 1:1 Instructional Coaching, observing colleagues, and working together to co-plan, co-teach and co-reflect.<\/p>\n
And already, some lovely things are beginning to happen.<\/p>\n
Colleagues are stepping into classrooms they would not ordinarily see. Teachers are experiencing lessons from the perspective of their students. Coaching conversations are beginning. Teams are using collaborative time not simply to divide the workload, but to question and extend one another’s thinking and create something richer together.<\/p>\n
The idea began with a question we posed: What has changed in your teaching this year because of something you learned from someone else?<\/p>\n
Professional learning does not always need to take us away from school to help us grow. Sometimes the expertise we need is already here, in the classroom next door, in a conversation with a colleague, in watching a student experience their day, or in having someone help us look at our own practice differently.<\/p>\n
At the heart of this model is trust \u2013 that we show up thoughtfully for our own learning, for our girls and for one another.<\/p>\n
It has been wonderful to see the generosity, curiosity and professionalism with which our staff have embraced the opportunity so far.<\/p>\n
When we open our classrooms, we also open up possibilities for one another.<\/p>\n