Page 64 - EdViewptsSpring2017

Building Collective Teacher Efficacy

Through Micro-teaching

By Kevin Moore, Principal, and Jennifer Curry, Instructional Supervisor,

Chester M. Stephens Elementary School, Budd Lake

Micro-teaching, based on greater phenomenon was occurring: notes on how they implement game
the work of John Hattie, our teachers were building impactful strategy and drills. First-year lawyers will
observe courtroom practices, learning
collective efficacy.
is a process in which teachers how to pick a jury, question a hostile
videotape themselves utilizing an The goal of micro-teaching is based witness, or deliver a clear and concise
instructional practice or strategy found upon the notion of breaking down closing argument. Politicians study past
to have a positive impact on student classroom walls. Dan Lortie, in his debates to prepare for their own mo-
learning. Videos are then shared in 1975 book Schoolteacher, identi- ment in the spotlight. Yet teachers, aside
professional learning communities. fied teacher isolationism as one of from their few experiences in student
In his ground-breaking book, Visible the major barriers to instruction and teaching, do not get a chance to see
Learning, Hattie, through expansive student achievement. Lortie argued their colleagues in action. With this
meta-analysis, ranked 138 influences that teachers rarely were given time to in mind, we set forth a plan for micro-
that impact student achievement. collaborate, learn from each other, or teaching implementation. But first, we
Collective teacher efficacy, defined analyze student work. “Each teacher,” recognized that a continued focus on
as the “collective self-perception Lortie wrote, ..."spent his teaching day building and maintaining a climate of
that teachers in a given school isolated from other adults; the initial trust was a necessity.
make an educational difference to pattern of school distribution repre-
their students over and above the sented a series of ‘cells’ which were Developing a positive school culture
educational impact of their homes construed as self-sufficient.” requires a deliberate, thoughtful
and communities” (Tschannen-Moran We have found that micro-teaching process, particularly when there is an
& Barr, 2004, p. 190), was recently has been an extremely beneficial ex- inherent lack of trust between teachers
ranked as the number one influence. tension of the PLC concepts of talking and administrators, and a culture of
One of our initial administrative goals about teaching, collaboratively plan- competition versus collegiality. Dur-
for the 2016-2017 school year at ning, and analyzing data. Think of the ing the summer of 2014, as a first
Chester M. Stephens Elementary many professions in which individuals year administrative team, we set out
School was a micro-teaching initiative, have the opportunity to observe the to develop a common vision about
number eight on Hattie’s list of top craft of their colleagues. In the world school culture, instructional leader-
10 influences. We quickly discovered of sports, coaches will often visit other ship, teacher-student relationships,
that, through micro-teaching, an even coaches’ practices to watch and take and teacher collaboration. A vision
that focused on developing an endur-
Educational Viewpoints -62- Spring 2017