Into The Classroom
Book Review Into The Classroom -- Developing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
By Thomas Hatch (Forward by Lee S. Shulman)
Copyright 2006 --Jossey-Bass
I must think that this book has many parallels between the work of Critical Friends Groups and the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) because of the tremendous amount of post-it notes and underlining that was evident when I finished reading. Even after rereading to pull out significant quotes, I felt myself saying yes that is true and fits perfectly into what I am doing.
The book opens with the forward by Lee Shulman. He describes the work of CASTL as, "The scholarship of teaching and learning … views teaching as serious, intellectual work, ask good questions about their students' learning, seek evidence in their classrooms that can be used to improve practice, and make this work public so that others can critique it, build on it, and contribute to the wider teaching commons" (p. ix). He points out the need for making the work public, which is the missed step or a step not included in the past CFG work. I recognize there is a very fine line between making work public and breaking the trust of the CFG and this could be part of the reason for lack of substantial literature about the work of CFGs. But as I reflect back, I wonder about the paths the work of the critical friends travelled. I went to a portfolio evaluation of the work of 2nd year coaches in Pawling, NY as a first year coach. There experienced coaches were required as part of the process to document evidence through portfolio making and publicly defend the work of their CFG. I am wondering now if the dropping of this component of the work seven years ago contributed to the lack of current longitudinal evidence to substantiate the powerful work that has been happening in CFGs over the past 10 years.
Hatch when introducing the work of CASTL points out that, "few reform efforts reach directly into the classroom to look carefully at what teachers do" (p. 3). The work of the National School Reform Faculty and the Houston A+ Challenge (formerly Houston Annenberg Challenge) tried and I think were very successful in reaching into the classrooms to the teachers and the students. The impact the CFG work has had in schools is powerful anecdotal information. The journal Connections has story after story on the positive impact that the work teachers and professional are doing in the schools is working. The question is to what end. As a group of teachers and inquirers, we need to create the needed research and be the literature on our own work.
Hatch illuminates some of the pitfalls of teachers doing research, "the fact that the demands of teaching must take precedence over the demands of research makes it particularly difficult for teachers to maintain a focus on a particular issue or question. For teachers, the object of study is like a moving target that refuses to stay still long enough to get a careful look…" (p. 18). Hatch continues throughout the work describing the successes and challenges that faced the teachers participating in the program. The book brings the teachers to life using their writings, their voices are heard loud and clear.
The conclusions that Hatch presented were on point and spoke to the trials that I go through in maintaining my own work with CFGs. He states in one conclusion, "the current working conditions for teachers fail to provide adequate time and rewards for the careful examination of teaching and learning, but they also how much can be done even under adverse conditions." He continued, "what might be possible if we had a system of education that … embrace the idea that teachers' expertise can be a critical resource in reshaping classroom practice and improving schools" (p. 101).
I recommend this book to anyone in a CFG, working to developing CFGs, and interested in changing teaching and learning systems for the good of our students.
Into the Classroom: Developing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Thomas Hatch, Lee S. Shulman (Foreword by)
ISBN: 0-7879-8108-7
Hardcover
144 pages
October 2005
US $29.00