“The South Carolina Reading Initia-tive is not ‘make and take.’ It ishaving teachers look within them-selves, examine their philosophy ofteaching, and challenge it.” Thisstatement by a South Carolina liter-acy coach was written after partici-

pating for three years in the SouthCarolina Reading Initiative (SCRI), along-term professional developmentinitiative designed to help teachersinvestigate research-based literacypractices and to build a knowledgebase from which to inform instruc-

tional decisions. Building from andin collaboration with the NationalCouncil of Teachers of EnglishReading Initiative, South Carolinateacher educators worked with ourState Department of Education tocreate the South Carolina Reading

Knowledgeable teachers are

what matter most

for students’ literacy

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Amy Donnelly, Denise N. Morgan, Diane E. DeFord, Janet Files, Susi Long,

Heidi Mills, Diane Stephens, Mary Styslinger

Transformative ProfessionalDevelopment: Negotiating Knowledge with an Inquiry Stance

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Initiative. SCRI is a multi-year pro-fessional development project, cur-rently spanning teachers in gradesK–8. Participants (and that numberexceeds 3,000) work in cohorts thatstay together for three or four yearsand are led by a teaching team ofUniversity faculty. More specifi-cally, the teaching team works di-rectly with literacy coaches whostudy together for three weeks eachsummer and for two days permonth during the school year. Lit-eracy coaches, in turn, facilitate bi-monthly site-based study groupsand work in the classrooms of par-ticipating teachers.

At the core of SCRI’s design is thebelief that knowledgeable teachersare what matter most for students’literacy achievement (Darling-Hammond, 1996, 2000; Allington,2002). This knowledge is best devel-oped over time within the complexi-ties of classrooms and schools.Research suggests that long-termsite-based staff development shouldprovide opportunities for teachers to(1) deeply engage in the learningprocess; (2) build from their currentknowledge and practices; (3) exam-ine their beliefs and practices withthe intent of transforming knowl-edge and practice; and (4) investi-

gate their own questions, live theiranswers, and pose new questions inorder to develop knowledge that isgrounded in theory and practice(Richardson & Placier, 2001).

To build on this research andachieve the goals of SCRI (seeFigure 1) within its research-basedconstructivist framework, the teach-ing team created a supportive con-text designed to foster community,develop trusting relationships, andhighlight demonstration, engage-ment, and reflection (Donnelly,Crowder, Stephens & Hamel, 2002).We believe such an environmentcultivates the professional voice of

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Year 1

Literacy coaches will develop an understanding about:

• How children learn oral and written language in varyingsociocultural contexts; how to value and help childrenmake connections between home and school literacies; andwhy these understandings are critical for teachers of learn-ers of all ages;

• Inquiry into the reading process (what proficient readersdo to be able to read proficiently) including an introduc-tion to cue systems, reading strategies and modifiedmiscue analysis or running records;

• Inquiry into the writing process (what proficient writers doto be able to write successfully across contexts) includingan introduction to formal and informal writing;

• How to create rich literacy environments;• Using literacy as a tool for learning;• Specific instructional strategies that support reading

and writing (e.g., read aloud, independent reading andwriting, shared reading, as well as reading/writing con-ferences and why they are critical to supporting literacygrowth;

• Building professional learning communities that encouragerisk taking and honor individual voices.

Year 2

Literacy coaches will build familiarity with the following:

• Getting to know children as individual readers and writers(using assessment to inform practice);

• Introducing and practicing miscue analysis and runningrecord;

• Deepening inquiry into the reading and writing processesand related practices and strategies;

• Teaching for strategies across the day (one-to-one, smallgroups, and whole class);

• Revisiting standards;• Understanding, envisioning, and exploring literature study;• Introducing and practicing principles of coaching that will

be further explored across other courses.

Year 3

Literacy coaches will broaden and deepen understanding oftheories and practices that:

• Broaden and deepen understanding of year one and twogoals

• Understand, envision, and explore the strategic use ofreading and writing workshop as curricular frameworks;

• Understand, envision, and explore inquiry-based learning(using conversation, reading, and writing as tools forlearning);

• Make flexible instructional decisions from assessmentdata;

• Develop supportive learning communities that encouragerisk taking and honor individual voices.

Year 4

Literacy coaches will broaden and deepen understanding oftheories and practices that:

• Best support readers and writers while continuing to de-velop the capacity to successfully coach classroom teach-ers and administrators;

• Consistently demonstrate the process of assessment thatinforms instruction;

• Consistently implement the goals of Years One, Two, andThree;

• Identify and investigate a professional inquiry topic;• Support learning communities that take risks and honor

individual voices.

Figure 1. South Carolina Reading Initiative Goals, Years 1–4

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coaches and that professional voiceis critical. Literacy coaches andteachers who can articulate theirbeliefs about literacy instruction arepositioned to influence decisionsabout literacy in their schools,state, and nation. And the voices of knowledgeable, competent liter-acy coaches and teachers helpensure that decisions made aboutcurriculum and instruction are deci-sions that best serve the needs ofchildren.

Helping coaches develop a knowl-edge base and make sound instruc-tional decisions required that theteaching team accept responsibilityto work with coaches over an ex-tended period of time and design acontext to support the simultaneousexploration of theory and practice.We envisioned our responsibility bycreating a model that would guideour work. In this article we intro-duce our model, and then share sto-ries about ourselves and literacycoaches as learners. These storieshighlight four engagements that webelieve capture the transformativenature of this professional develop-ment experience.

THE MODEL: MAKINGOUR BELIEFS VISIBLE

The Professional as Learner model(Figure 2) portrays the dynamic in-teractions among individuals, mate-rials, and social forces within theprofessional community of learners.

• The Teacher is the Teaching TeamMember, the Literacy Coach, or theSCRI participant who is conductingliteracy instruction and who ad-dresses and forms questionsthroughout the day as a function ofmeeting his or her intentions.

• Teaching is the act of creating andimplementing inquiry-based curricu-lum. Curriculum is negotiated be-tween and among the literary

concepts/content, knowledge of individual, the learners themselves,and knowledge of learning theoryand best practices. Teaching is re-sponsive to learners and it is im-pacted by them.

• Learning occurs dynamically as par-ticipants in the teaching/learningcontext engage in inquiry. Learningresults in a shift in literacy beliefs,goals, and practices.

• The continuous shifts in beliefs andpractices are suggested by overlap-ping darker circles.

• Inquiry is the connective thread andchange force that holds the greatestpotential for transformative learningand teaching. It is a transactiveforce that propels the teacher,teaching, and learning.

• The context includes numerous andvaried demonstrations, engage-ments, acts of reflection, and profes-sional materials (professionalarticles, books, videos, assessment

materials) that form a supportiveenvironment in which the profes-sional community grows.

LIVING OUR MODEL

Living this model means that we arecharged as teaching team memberswith designing engagements for lit-eracy coaches that help them criti-cally examine their beliefs andpractices in the context of theoryand research. These experienceshelp coaches refine and expandwhat they currently know and un-derstand about literacy learning.The teaching team believes thatthrough engagements, debriefingopportunities, and personal reflec-tion, “ah-ha” or breakthrough mo-ments occur and coaches’ learningshifts. While critical incidents thatbring about these shifts vary con-siderably from cohort to cohort, wehave come to understand that it isnot so much the engagement thatdevelops professional voice. Rather,

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Context Community

Materials Demonstration

Learning

Teaching

Teacher

Engagement

Reflection

Inquiry

Figure 2. Professional as Learner

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it is the conversation surroundingthese engagements that helpscoaches move beyond their currentunderstandings. The four stories weshare are consistent with our beliefthat transformation can only occurif time and space are available forongoing conversation. As teachingteam members, we are dedicated tonot only examining our beliefs inrelation to our actions, but also tointerrogating the dynamics of ourlearning community. The first vi-gnette highlights an intentional de-cision to have coaches capture theirdaily insights and struggles in orderto better understand themselves aslearners and to illuminate the expe-riences that made a difference intheir learning.

• • •

Heidi Mills: Making the Implicit,Explicit: Ethnographer’s Notebook

I have been teaching teachers formore than 20 years, and along theway I have learned that in order tounderstand a process, it is absolutelynecessary to live the process. I havealso learned that living the processis necessary but not sufficient. It isequally important that we interro-gate our own learning experiencesto make our implicit beliefs and un-derstandings explicit. One year intoSCRI, I chose to use an Ethnogra-pher’s Notebook as a means of facil-itating this interrogation. I chose anEthnographer’s Notebook because Ibelieved it would:

• promote an inquiry stance towardcoaching;

• illuminate a deeper understanding ofthe principles and practices that un-derpinned our SCRI community;

• help coaches learn to capture andreflect upon the relationship be-tween the context, demonstrations,engagements, content, and materialsused in the initiative;

• encourage coaches to learn to coachwhile coaching to learn;

• help coaches learn to write whilewriting to learn; and,

• Support coaches in learning to seepeople and practices in our owncommunity with new eyes.

Each day we met, a coach wasrandomly selected to be the ethnographer. Once selected, theethnographer took extensive notesand photographs and also collectedartifacts of learning. The task of theethnographer was to capture, inter-pret, and share insights regardingthe ways in which we come to knowpersonally and collectively as agroup. The ethnographer was toshare what we know (content), howwe know (process, practices), andwhat we value (ways of being, prin-ciples) in our particular culture(note taking to note making). Thatevening, the selected ethnographeridentified key features of the day,insights, and significant interactionpatterns in the Ethnographer’s Note-book. The next time the group met,the ethnographer opened the day byreading (or performing) the entryfrom the notebook. The coaches re-sponded by celebrating and contem-plating the content as well as theform of each entry. Initially, thecoaches acted as if being the ethno-grapher was a dreadful role, butonce they had been the ethnogra-pher, they consistently said theprocess pushed them to think andwrite in new ways.

The notebook grew and changedjust as we did as coaches and writ-ers. Each entry reflected the coach’svoice, significant learning moments,and his/her stance in our learningcommunity. Many ethnographerschose to report out by cloning anauthor or a book (Short, Harste, &Burke, 1996). When cloning a book,authors use the pattern of a pub-

lished book and, in so doing, theyare given “direct apprenticeship inwriting in the style of another moremasterful author” (NCTE ReadingInitiative, 2000, p.113). One coachcloned All I Need to Learn aboutLife I Learned in Kindergarten(Fulghum, 1988):

All I Needed to Learn about Life I Learned from SCRI:

. . . Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Hang out with a brilliant teacher.Know what you believe.It’s all about the invitation.The questions we ask make all the

difference in the world.Don’t divorce kids from what they

already know.Seek to understand rather than

judge. . . .

The coaches grew as teacher re-searchers and as writers as they ex-plored the essence of SCRI contentand strategies. One coach created analphabet book, excerpted below, por-traying insights generated within ourgroup as we learned about assess-ment and the potential of the Hy-pothesis Test (HT) process (Stephens& Story, 2000) to better understandindividual children as readers.

CC is for conceal. Assessment instru-ments have the ability to conceal, aswell as reveal, certain things . . .

FF is for focused. Consider your obser-vations and speculate upon theirmeaning . . .

II is for interpretations. Interpreta-tions derive from observations. Theyare interesting and intriguing, notjudgmental . . .

LL is for looking at Hypothesis Testwith new eyes and with our eyeswide open . . .

More important, we grew to betterunderstand and appreciate theunique role and contributions eachmember of our cohort made to our

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learning community. Another coachcloned The Important Book (Brown,1990):

. . . Another important thing aboutour cohort is that we are insightful.Roselyn uses questions to look deeplyinto the reading behaviors of childrenof all ages. Of course, we only gener-ated more questions. . . . Finally, themost important thing about our cohortis that we have this unique opportu-nity to be ethnographers and to sharethe author’s chair . . . this assignmenthelped me to develop my writer’s craftas I use this “simple displacement ofwords” (a poetry strategy we had re-cently explored together). . . .

Although each entry addressed thecontent and strategies featured inour cohort, each entry also high-lighted members of our cohort and the unique contributions theymade to our thought collective. Our professional community blos-somed because of this tool. Welooked forward to this criticalmoment each day and celebratedthe brilliance of the ethnographer,the writer’s craft displayed, and

the substantive nature of the pro-fessional conversations that per-vaded our culture. It helped us seekto understand “in the midst” and“after the fact” (Power, 1996). Themajority of coaches found it someaningful that they transferred theritual into their own teacher studygroups. The Ethnographer’s Note-book served us all well. It was a gift that nurtured our hearts andminds; a gift that my coaches and I now use to reminisce aboutour time together.

• • •

Ethnographer’s Notebooks helpedcoaches look and listen closely to the learning process. In so doing,coaches were able to name importantpractices and principles generatedthrough their work together. Byusing tools like an Ethnographer’sNotebook, we learned that it is im-portant to slow down and examinelearning within the cohort to under-stand the power of conversations,demonstrations, and engagementshappening in our midst. As a teach-ing team, we knew, however, that developing and internalizing a pro-

fessional voice demands outside ex-periences such as attending confer-ences, putting ourselves in newlearning situations, and using writ-ing to reflect upon these experiences.One cohort experienced all three.

• • •

Susi Long: More Than Just a Conference

I walked into the hotel lobby and therethey were, all of those familiar facesthat I had come to know. Just a fewshort months ago, most of us had neverlaid eyes on one another and, now, herewe were in Ohio . . . greeting one an-other with smiles, hugs, and feelings ofexpectation for things we were going tosee, learn, and experience.

—Literacy Coach

During the first six months, 50coaches (two cohorts) traveled tonational conferences, includingNCTE in Atlanta and The Ohio State University Children’s Litera-ture Conference in Columbus. Af-firming the belief that interactionswithin and beyond our cohort com-munities were critical to examiningpersonal and professional perspec-tives, conference experiences influ-enced our learning in remarkableways or, as one coach wrote, at-tending conferences “helped usgrow into new creatures of lan-guage and literacy.” The impact ofconference events seemed to buildfrom specific engagements andstructures (before, during, and afterthe conferences) that supportedcoaches in taking risks to exploredeeper meanings and to questionexisting beliefs.

Prior to attending conferences,structures that supported coaches in reading, talking, and experiment-ing with new ideas had become integral to our cohort lives. Coachesregularly discussed professional literature and children’s books in relation to work with children

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and teachers. In the process, they became familiar with and de-veloped a deep admiration for ideas, authors, and experts beyond our community. Duringconferences, coaches were able touse that knowledge to make in-formed choices about sessions that had the potential to furthertheir understandings. Familiaritywith authors and ideas also helpedthem feel a part of a larger profes-sional community. As one coachwrote, the combination of priorknowledge and conference experi-ences made her feel as if she had“fallen into the company of moversand shakers.”

As we read, talked, and tried newideas prior to conferences, we alsobegan experimenting with Writer’sNotebooks. Coaches used Writer’sNotebooks for the first time as theyexplored their own life stories andas they recorded thoughts, ideas,and images from their teaching andlearning lives. At conferences,coaches used Writer’s Notebooks tocapture the process of their ownlearning. They jotted down quotesthat provoked new thinking,thoughts about specific curricularstructures, and images of experi-ences. Suggested questions providedan initial framework for reflection:

• What ideas, words, and perspectivescapture your thinking?

• What is it about this session thatcreates an impact for you?

• What lines do you want to shoutfrom the rooftops?

• What does this make you thinkabout in relation to your own teach-ing and learning?

Soon, coaches moved far beyondthese structures and reflected in waysthat met their unique needs. Formany, Writer’s Notebooks becamesecond nature. One coach wrote that

after listening to an author in Ohio,she “had an intense desire to get fiveminutes of quiet time to myself so Icould write in my notebook.” An-other coach, valuing her Writer’sNotebook as a place to relish themoment purposefully, said, “I wantto savor these thoughts so I can takethem back to children and teachers.”

During each conference, opportuni-ties to reflect through conversationswith one another were both inten-tionally planned and spontaneouslygrasped. As cohorts, we met to-gether on-site at the beginning ofeach conference to touch base,bring familiarity to unfamiliar sur-

roundings, and suggest sessions toone another. Conversational reflec-tions began with these sessions butreached far beyond them as coacheschatted in hallways, mulled overideas in the hotel bar, and talkedover breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

While attending the Children’s Liter-ature Conference, we visited localschools. Concepts, attitudes, andpractices explored prior to the tripcame to life through interactionswith teachers and children inschools. Describing her visit to Indi-anola Elementary School as a per-sonal turning point, one coachwrote about the power of “seeing itfor yourself”:

Can you believe it? First graderstalking and sharing stories about in-cluding climax in their writing. Itreally blew my mind. I had to see itfor myself to know that young stu-dents do have a voice in writing thatwe truly need to tap into.

For many, the school visits gave va-lidity to what they were learningand trying in their own classrooms.Another coach wrote: “I got a briefglimpse into what it must be like toteach at a school with a sharedvision. The children in this schoolare truly engaged in literacy. Theyare living the practices we arelearning about.”Opportunities to experience life innew ways were also critical to thelearning that coaches took awayfrom conferences. Urged to taketime to enjoy being in a new placewith new foods, new sights, andnew possibilities for experience,coaches ate in interesting restau-rants, went Salsa dancing, visitedlocal museums, and even met LouRawls in the hotel bar. Coacheswrote repeatedly about how theseopportunities were critical to broad-ening world views and building re-lationships that strengthened thefoundation for further learning: “Onthis trip, I learned that we have eachbrought something to this partner-ship that makes it feel as if we haveknown each other forever.”Coaches returned home full of ideas,stronger in their convictions, andanxious to integrate deepened be-liefs in their work in schools. Wefound that it was essential to maketime right away to capture not onlycurricular ideas but the spirit andsense of empowerment that confer-ence experiences engendered. Struc-tures were created on cohortlistservs for posting and respondingto ah-hahs, questions, favoritequotes, and ideas. After the Ohiotrip, we used a writing strategy thatasked coaches to “explode” specificconference moments. The writingwas compiled into a cohort volume,an engagement that brought learn-ing to a new level as we “breathedin deeply all the richness of the experience made more rich by reliving it.”

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Coaches used Writer’sNotebooks to capturethe process of their

own learning.

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Looking at the Year One goals forour initiatives, it is clear that confer-ence experiences allowed coaches toown their learning across goals. Sup-ported by specific structures and en-gagements, they soughtunderstandings based on their ownmoments in the learning process.They returned to schools and experi-mented in new ways with curricularstructures (craft lessons, bookmaking, integrating the arts, usingliteracy across the day, literacy cen-ters, poetry journals, building bookrooms, and small flexible groupings).More important, conference experi-ences allowed coaches to further de-velop professional voice and torecognize that they were not alone.Affirmation that they “were on theright track” and in “good company”gave them renewed energy andcourage to persevere. Experiencesthat were more than just a confer-ence led to the realization that oursmall gathering of voices was a partof a much larger gathering of voicesalso committed to affecting change.

• • •

Extending coaches’ visions of a pro-fessional community is an inten-tional instructional strategy. Byproviding opportunities for coachesto interact with other educatorsacross our country, coaches built re-lationships as well as affirmed andextended their growing beliefs. Atthe same time, new questions wereraised. Through Susi’s initial supportand encouragement to reach outsidethemselves, these coaches began totake on greater responsibility fortheir own learning and to adoptmore fully the role of coach. Design-ing learning experiences beyond thecohort and state nudged coaches totake personal and professional risksand to understand that honoring in-dividual voices happens even inlarger professional communities.Helping coaches find a niche in a

larger professional communitystrengthens our profession and supports coaches’ shifts toward alearner-centered curriculum. Aslearners reflect on themselves and on the learning process, and as theyextend their learning communities,tension often emerges as a responseto the influx of new ideas. In anothercohort, coaches experienced the nat-ural tension in learning as a call to

change as they developed a curricu-lar plan by using their new insights.

• • •

Janet Files: Healthy Tension“I feel like such a new teacher. I’vetaught for fifteen years, I’ve actuallybeen selected as a mentor teacher, but Ididn’t know there was so much to knowabout teaching kids to read and write!”

—Literacy Coach

In the SCRI Middle Grades cohort,the coaches experienced the healthytension of trying to negotiate oldand new beliefs about teaching andlearning. Coaches were used to aculture of school and teaching inwhich curriculum was based on pro-grams, not curriculum created byknowledgeable practitioners. Theywere inspired to change their cur-riculum but needed a structure tofocus their energies so they could“zoom in” on practice as well as re-flect on the results. They weretrying some strategies and engage-ments, but we knew they needed amore intentional plan to focus theirlearning. Therefore, toward the endof our first semester of learning, weasked literacy coaches to write a fo-cused individualized curricular plantailored for their own students forthe following semester. The curricu-

lar plan, a focused inquiry project,highlighted an aspect of their teach-ing that they wanted to create orchange in light of their new knowl-edge. The coaches created an inten-tional teaching plan, grounded inresearch, that helped them continu-ously interrogate and documenttheir growing beliefs and practice.In doing so, coaches experiencedthe natural struggle that all teachers

confront when they become awareof how their old practice does notalign with new beliefs.

The teaching team believes thatwhen we open our eyes as learnersto what we don’t know, and beginto ground our practice in newknowledge, there is a natural disso-nance that compels us to reflectiveaction. If we remain in the state ofnot knowing what we don’t know,we run the risk of blindly teachingprograms and hand-me-down cur-riculum. We also try to rememberCarolyn Burke’s caution that tensionin education is healthy but stress isnot. Listening to the coaches’ com-ments keeps us focused on our re-sponsibility to help literacy coachesmanage their dissonance so that it isconstructive and transformative.

We previously had established asafe and trusting community oflearners by living the reading—writing workshop process and shar-ing our stories and histories asreaders and writers. If learners feelsafe in a supportive community, theyare more likely to experience thisnatural learning tension as a call tochange rather than as stress thatleads to fear and retreat to the old“safe” status quo in their teaching.

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If we remain in the state of not knowing what wedon’t know, we run the risk of blindly teaching

programs and hand-me-down curriculum.

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When asked to explain the best thing about using the In-ternet for professional development, one first-gradeteacher admitted, “I can ‘attend’ staff development inmy pajamas!” Her declaration was immediately sup-ported by her colleagues who commented on the con-venience of an on-demand, anytime, anyplace access toprofessional development resources online. These edu-cators have discovered how the Internet can play a fun-damental role in meeting the teacher technologystandards of the International Society for TechnologyEducation, I.S.T.E.

Using Technology Resources for Ongoing ProfessionalDevelopment and Lifelong Learning

• Many sites offer online tutorials that focus on spe-cific literacy instructional strategies. The MariposaCounty Unified School District Web site (http://www.sps3000.net/mariposa/) provides a small collection ofonline staff development tutorials that were originallydesigned for a summer technology workshop.

• Education World’s site (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial002.shtml) offers alarger collection of resources on topics that includetechnology connections to the curriculum, distancelearning, interactivity, Internet use, Internet projects,teaching templates, technology planning, techtorials,and Web Quests.

• Professional journal articles and position statementsfor reading individually or in study groups are avail-able through many professional organization Websites. For example, view articles at Reading Online(http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp),an organizational position statement at National As-sociation for Education of Young Children(http://www.naeyc.org/resources/eyly/1996/09a.htm),and the Education Technology Standards for Teach-ers (http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html)(ISTE, 2000). The I.S.T.E. site also offers lesson plans,teacher profiles, and student technology standards.

Evaluating and Reflecting on Professional Practice

• The National Council of Teachers of English Web site(http://www.ncte.org/profdev) offers a variety of re-

search-based opportunities for professional develop-ment to foster teachers’ abilities to evaluate, reflecton, and communicate with peers about professionalpractices. CoLEARN is a year-long inquiry module forK–16 teachers that includes a flexible series of read-ings and writings.

• The NCTE site also provides opportunities for aunique online style of mentoring that involves askingquestions and learning from highly respected profes-sionals in the literacy field. Read Write Think, a part-nership between NCTE, The International ReadingAssociation (I.R.A.), and the MarcoPolo Educationalfoundation, presents a forum for exchanging ideasand opportunities to reflect on practice.

Using Technology to Communicate and Collaboratewith Peers and the Larger Community

• Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) involvesany form of electronic communication, such as e-mail, audio, text, discussion forums, and bulletinboards, that is exchanged between two or morepeople interacting through separate computers. Oneof the most popular and easily accessible CMC for-mats for connecting with peers in the larger commu-nity is a listserv.

• RTEACHER, a listserv of IRA (http://www.reading.org/index.html) connects educators who are interested inissues of literacy in elementary classrooms. The list-serv is based on mutual support, tolerance for diverseperspectives, recognition that those perspectives pro-vide opportunities to support one another, and a beliefin the important role of the classroom teacher of read-ing. Directions for joining the listserv (http://www.reading.org/virtual/rteacherdirections.html retrieved10-5-2004) are well articulated and easy to follow.

If you haven’t yet utilized Internet resources for profes-sional development, try out one or two ideas listed inthis sidebar. Doing so will entitle you to become thenewest online member of the “Pajama Professional De-velopment Brigade.”

Linda D. Labbo

Professional Development in Your Pajamas?

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We also had read and discussed different perspectives and researchon best practices in light of newknowledge and thought throughtheoretical support for new prac-tices. Using this information, theliteracy coaches created their cur-ricular plans articulating theirtouchstone beliefs and the theorythat underlies the practices. Theystated teaching goals based on stu-dent needs, created an instructionalvision, and then chose a new prac-tice or workshop frame to “growinto.” The plan involved making apredictable framework for their dayand naming goals for the studentsas well as specific engagementsand organizational structures toteach into. The “how” had to begrounded in the “why” from theoryand research. The coaches alsolisted professional and instructionalresources that supported them the-oretically and extended their cur-riculum. Examples of the curricularplans included Writing Workshopwith a Unit of Study on Memoir,Read-Aloud, Independent Reading,and Literature Discussion Groups.The plan provided a focus for anatural action-reflection-newaction learning cycle that could en-liven and enrich our training ses-sion conversations and ground it inthe real flesh and bones of actualteaching. Once the plans were com-plete, the coaches began implemen-tation. As they did so, they kept areflective log to help them see theeffect of their teaching and adjustplans to come closer to their goals.Just a few weeks into the process,SCRI goals were illuminated ascoaches commented on the value ofthe plans and of the reflective logs:

My curricular plan helped me focus.Once I actually put the plans in writ-ing for how to teach the new-to-mepractice of literature circles, I feltcommitted to enacting them; I had

to move past my fears. Writing theplan showed me that I do know some things and can rely on myknowledge.

The research, reading, andthought that went into my planallows me to teach the way I believeis best without worrying what otherslike administrators might think. Ifasked, I can explain the theory andresearch behind my choices that arebest for the students.

The coaches began to understandteaching and learning as an inquirycycle. They saw how the curricularplan helped them name and ques-tion their beliefs and practices anddevelop a teaching voice that canclearly articulate why their teachingpractice is best for students. Theywere also becoming more comfort-able with the tension that accompa-nies learning. At the end of thesemester, literacy coaches became soconfident in their ability to articu-late their process and intentions forcreating curriculum that they madepublic their “learning stories” to thecohort. As Brian Cambourne (2003)tells us:

We have exquisitely good reasons fordoing what we do, for believing whatwe believe. But unless we are activelycurious about them, we will neverdiscover what those reasons are. Andunless we know what they are, wecannot ask ourselves if they are stilltrue or helpful or protective, if theyare as relevant today as when wefirst developed them.

• • •

By developing a curricular plan tohelp coaches outgrow old beliefsand practices, literacy coaches in-terrogated their assumptions aboutteaching and learning. By con-stantly reflecting on their curricularplan and intended goals, literacycoaches experienced the value ofreflection and how it shapes prac-

tice. Reflection is not only a teach-ing tool that facilitates coaches’ de-velopment; it is also the process welive in order to become more re-sponsive teachers. Reflection fuelsthe inquiry process and shapes thefoundation of professional voice.

There comes a point, however, whencoaches, like all learners and teach-ers, need to begin developing struc-tures for themselves rather thandepending on those developed forthem (e.g., Ethnographer’s Note-book, conference frameworks, cur-ricular plans). Intentionally turningtoward others (Lindfors, 1999) illu-minates teaching as an act of in-quiry and illustrates how a cohortcan collectively analyze and createsolutions that will not only benefitindividuals, but also serve the goodof the community. In the next story,coaches come face to face with theirassumptions about teaching andlearning as they navigate roughwaters associated with taking re-sponsibility for their learning.

• • •

Diane DeFord: Rough Waters,Calm Reflections

Within learning, there are momentsof struggle in which we come to re-alize that we need to direct our ownlearning. It was during the secondyear of SCRI that I talked withcoaches about “co-planning” ourupcoming year so that they couldhave an opportunity to direct theirown learning. I believe that per-sonal investment increases owner-ship and that co-planning honorscoaches’ learning needs and devel-ops professional voice. I also believethis instructional decision fostersgreater risk taking among thecoaches and that risk taking is es-sential to learning. By includingcoaches in the curricular decisionmaking, I intentionally demon-strated following the needs of the

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learners. By living this “theory inaction,” this decision demonstratedhow coaches can scaffold theirteachers’ learning in similar ways asthey conduct their study groups.

We met in small groups to decide ontopics to explore for the upcomingyear and to develop possible timeframes. I wanted coaches to helpdefine the structures and routinesfor our cohort and to name profes-sional literature they wanted toread. Based on their discussions, Iidentified four structures that wouldbe present in each meeting:

• time for professional book club discussions

• introduction of new material

• introduction of new children’s books

• time to celebrate study group experiences.

A daily structure common to allcohorts is the use of Exit Slips.These guided reflections askcoaches to comment at the end of the day on factors such as new

learning, insights, connections, and questions related to the day’slearning. This feedback allowed meto further understand their needs as learners. Up to that point, thecoaches’ Exit Slips indicated thesessions were meeting their needs.By the middle of the third year,however, I began to sense someunrest. Some of the group seemedto want me to “do more.” Becausewe made the commitment to co-plan the year, I turned to them tohelp solve this feeling of unrest,and opened the discussion with the coaches.

What we came to understand wasthat each coach had different ex-pectations and beliefs about “teach-ing and learning.” Some of thecoaches felt strongly that theyshould only learn from me, and Ishould be more direct about what Iwanted them to know and learn.Others valued learning from eachother and felt our group studieswere beneficial. Others wanted anagenda that we stuck to, and stillothers wanted more handouts andstep-by-step descriptions of success-ful instructional activities. As agroup, we decided to expand ExitSlips to create a structure that gavecoaches time in the morning to in-dividually reflect and pose personalquestions to guide their learningthroughout that day.

During the day, the coaches addedanswers to their questions, wrotenew insights, and posed additionalquestions on this slip. I gatheredthese slips at the end of the day tohelp me plan our next meeting.These “Entrance to Exit Slips” helpedcoaches focus their learning and take

responsibility to answer their ques-tions as well as to critically thinkabout applications these experienceswould have in their work with teach-ers. It was only in the process of“making the known strange” that thecoaches understood that they haddifferent expectations of how co-planning would look in practice. Thisprocess helped the coaches realizethat developing common languageand striving to follow the needs ofthe learners is critical to new literacyunderstandings. We also learned thatdiscussions along the way are criticalto interrogating current assumptions

and essential to meeting the needs ofindividual learners. It is only throughhaving the hard conversations andopenly investigating what works andwhat doesn’t that coaches fully de-velop their professional voices.

By openly evaluating our dilemmaand deciding how we might changepaths, we realized the power of dis-cussion and reflection and came tolearn that each member’s commentsand questions were vital to individ-ual and group understandings. Thishelped the coaches take responsibil-ity for guiding me to meet theirneeds. We successfully traversedrough water and found calm throughopen discussion and reflection.

• • •

REFLECTING UPON OUR MODEL

While our stories share powerfulmoments in our learning, our workdid not happen without tensionsand challenges. This work is noteasy. Asking educators to criticallyexamine their beliefs and practicesand to challenge their thinking ofteaching and learning often causedcognitive dissonance. The literacycoaches were initially uncomfort-able learning in a context in whichthere were more questions than answers and where they were incharge of shaping their own an-swers based on their unique schoolsituation. Coaches typically experi-enced one-day solutions about howto help children as readers andwriters. As teaching team members,we deliberately moved at a slowerpace to encourage deeper and morethoughtful investigation of re-search-based practices. Literacycoaches, employed by school dis-tricts, had to work within school-wide programs and practices as wellas redefine their roles as they ledtheir own study groups with teach-ers at their school sites. They had to renegotiate their roles as they

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It is only through having the hard conversations andopenly investigating what works and what doesn’tthat coaches fully develop their professional voices.

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helped colleagues realize that theywere not going to be teachers witha capital T but rather facilitators ofgroup conversations. As teachingteam members leading the cohorts,we confronted our own deeper be-liefs about learning and the con-nection of our beliefs to practice.Through constant reflection on ourteaching, we are learning to becomemore caring and responsive teach-ers. In helping others to find theirprofessional voices, we are simulta-neously developing and listening toour own voice. In spite of manybumps in the road, we all feel agreat sense of renewal and energywhen we come together as cohortseach month. Coaches and teachingteam members all remark abouthow monthly meetings are safehavens where we can work throughinternal and external challenges.While it is some of the hardest workwe have ever done, it is the kindthat professionally renews and in-vigorates us.

When we started SCRI, we imaginedwhat could be possible in the nameof professional development. Nowwe know the realities and the com-plexities of making dreams cometrue (Morgan, Saylor-Crowder,Stephens, Donnelly, DeFord, &Hamel, 2003). We hope the follow-ing questions will help others con-sider ways to make their professionaldevelopment dreams a reality:

• How can you modify this model foruse within your own school or withother teachers at your grade level?

• How can you make professional development long-term and site-based?

• With whom can you collaborate?Other colleagues? Professionalgroups? Agencies?

• How can you articulate your beliefsabout research-based practices andinquiry?

• What opportunities will you design tohelp teachers explore, experiment, re-flect, and articulate their practice andbeliefs through dialogue with others?

• What kind of space and materialswill you need to support your work?

As we hope these stories made clear,SCRI is not about one way of think-ing, living, or being. Rather SCRI isan alchemy of many internalchanges taking place simultane-ously among individuals who aretransforming within communitiesthat are transforming. Across multi-ple contexts, participants use re-search, theory, and practice toconstruct knowledge related to theirquestions and the questions of theirpeers. Literacy coaches have multi-ple and varied learning experiencesgrounded in dialogue, observation,and inquiry within a supportivecontext to examine their beliefs andpractices. As coaches come to owntheir knowledge, they develop aprofessional voice. This voice isnurtured through carefully craftedengagements and demonstrationswithin an inquiry stance and com-munity. Each of these changes aretransforming. In the words of twoSCRI literacy coaches: “Wordscannot express my growth. I feel itin my heart. You see it in my eyes.Thank you! This has been a lifechanging experience!”

References

Allington, R. (2002). Big brother and the na-tional reading curriculum: How ideologytrumped evidence. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

Brown, M. W. (1990). The important book.New York: HarperCollins.

Cambourne, B. (2003, December). Condi-tions for learning. Paper presented atSouth Carolina Reading Initiative Profes-sional Development Day, Columbia, SC.

Darling-Hammond, L. (1996). What mattersmost: A competent teacher for everychild. Phi Delta Kappan, 78, 193–200.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher qual-ity and student achievement: A reviewof state policy evidence. EducationalPolicy Analysis Archives, 8(1). http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n1/

Donnelly, A., Crowder, K., Stephens, D.,Hamel, E. (2002). South Carolina Read-ing Initiative: Creating literacy commu-nities for teachers and children. ReadingMatters, 4, 4–12.

Fulghum, R. (1988). All I really need to knowI learned in kindergarten: Uncommonthoughts on common things. New York:Ballentine.

Lindfors, J. (1999). Children’s inquiry. NewYork: Teacher’s College Press.

Morgan, D. N., Saylor-Crowder, K.,Stephens, D., Donnelly, A., DeFord, D. E.,& Hamel, E. (2003). Managing the com-plexities of a statewide reading initia-tive. Phi Delta Kappan, 85, 139–145.

NCTE Reading Initiative. (2000). Participantnotebook year one. Urbana, IL: NCTE.

Power, B. M. (1996). Taking note: Improvingyour observational notetaking. Portland,ME: Stenhouse.

Richardson, V., & Placier, P. (2001). Teacherchange. In V. Richardson (Ed.), Handbookof research on teaching, fourth edition(pp. 905–950). Washington, DC: Ameri-can Educational Research Association.

Short, K., & Harste, J., with Burke, C. (1996).Creating classrooms for authors and in-quirers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Stephens, D., & Story, J. (2000). Assessmentas inquiry: Learning the hypothesis-testprocess. Urbana, IL: NCTE.

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Amy Donnelly, Diane E. DeFord, SusiLong, Heidi Mills, Diane Stephens,and Mary Styslinger teach at theUniversity of South Carolina. Denise N.Morgan teaches at Kent State University,and Janet Files is the Director of theCoastal Writing Project at CoastalCarolina University. The authors wouldlike to acknowledge and thank ourcolleagues at the South Carolina StateDepartment of Education and all SCRIparticipants for their contributions andcollaboration.

Author Biographies

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