The Knowles Academy offers state-of-the-art professional development experiences for teachers. All Academy courses are designed and facilitated by experienced teachers who understand the complexities of teaching in today’s world.
Through this Knowles Academy course, teachers will learn how to use a systematic process of inquiry to better understand and ultimately improve their teaching practice.
Knowledge Generation for the Teaching Profession: An Introduction to Practitioner Inquiry
This sustained professional development course is designed for teachers who are seeking support in their use of inquiry as a means to better understand teaching and learning in their classrooms. Initiated by a two-day, in-person workshop—and supplemented with ongoing coaching sessions and follow up workshops—this course will help teachers develop the key skills and dispositions for teacher inquiry. Additionally, this course will help teachers learn to drive their own professional learning, support colleagues to do the same, and ultimately find ways to improve their teaching practice through systematic inquiry.
Course Objectives:
- Identify and explore a particular problem of practice in their own teaching by planning for, engaging in, and reflecting on a teacher inquiry process
- Examine a wide variety of data available from classroom teaching and explore several tools they can use to generate data from their own teaching practice
- Use a variety of protocols to collaboratively analyze data from their teaching practice with partners
- Develop skills for acting as critical friends to others while exploring questions within their teaching practice
- Make their learning public to others and determine action steps for improving their practice
Agenda:
Teachers will receive ongoing coaching that is initiated by a two-day, in-person, workshop and followed up by two in-person workshops (one day each).
Day 1: Introduction to Teacher Inquiry
- Understand inquiry practices and habits of mind
- Explore examples of teacher inquiry
- Engage with critical friends
Day 2: Using Teacher Inquiry to Understand My Practice
- Unpack problems of practice to raise inquiry questions
- Uncover new ways of understanding and using classroom data
- Plan for your own classroom data collection
Between Workshops
- Generate data for inquiry from your classroom
- Analyze data with other participants
- Reflect on the limitations and new questions that emerged from analysis
- Collect a second round of data based on what was learned
Day 3: How to be Systematic and Intentional with My Inquiry
- Analyze data with critical friends
- Explore practical and ethical issues with teacher inquiry
- Revisit your inquiry question and plan
Between Workshops
- Generate data for inquiry from your classroom
- Analyze data with other participants
- Reflect on the limitations, implications, and new questions that emerged from analysis
- Check-in and consult with Knowles instructor
Day 4: So What?: Understanding Implications and Taking Action
- Reflect on inquiry journey so far
- Make inquiry public: Teachers as knowledge generators
Scholarships are available for Knowles Academy courses (select yes to the financial aid question on the registration form for more information).
Academy Services
All Knowles Academy course offerings can be customized to meet the specific needs of schools and/or districts. Please use the below form to request information about custom services.