Learning From Text
Much of what practicing educators learn about teaching comes by means of what they hear or observe from others. Teachers attend conferences, listen to speakers, and share stories about promising practices.
Educators’ reliance on the oral tradition is easy to understand: Teachers are busy people with little time to read extensively in their fields. When they do read, they tend to choose relatively short summaries of research and best practice.
Although teachers' reliance on the oral tradition is understandable, it can also be problematic. The oral tradition can lead to a fairly superficial understanding of the material being presented. Furthermore, as stories are passed from one person to another, misunderstandings can emerge.
The purpose of learning from text as a teacher professional development tool is to promote a deeper understanding of the material being considered. In contrast to the emphasis on memorization associated with conference presentations, the emphasis in learning from text is on shared meaning by through critical analysis and dialogue.
The following links will help teams learn from text and help schools embed a deeper learning process in their school culture.
- Block Party, A Pre-reading Text-based Activity
- Final Word
- Four A's Text Protocol
- Learning from Speakers Protocol Making
- Meaning Protocol for use with a Text
- Making Meaning Protocol Storytelling Version
- Save the Last Word for Me
- Text Rendering Experience
- Text-based Seminar Guidelines
- Text-based Seminar
- Three levels of Text Protocol