posted by:
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Harold Mick
on June 2, 2000
at 9:55AM
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subject:
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Reflecting on the Case Study Method
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Hi,
I'm Harold Mick, a mathematics educator at Virginia Tech and Co-PI of the LSC project, "Systemic Reform of Mathematics 6-12 for Rural Virginia." This post is my response to the case study method and, particularly, to the two case studies found in the paper, "The Development of Professional Developers: Learning to Assist Teachers in New Settings in New Ways," by Stein, Smith, and Silver. Gail Paulin commented on this paper in her post.
The case studies present almost microscopic views, on the one hand, and extended accounts (5-7 years) on the other hand. I thought contrasting the situations at Riverside Middle School and Franklin Middle School were particularly helpful. For instance, implementing a given curriculum was helpful at Riverside, but Macia Evans and Michele Gardner kept too distant from the teachers. At Franklin, Kenneth Newton and Randi Miller kept close contact with teachers, but professional development revolved around developing developing curriculum rather than implementing curriculum. After five years, both projects had limited successes at their respective middle schools.
Upon reflection, I see more clearly that decisions about professional development are best made in close collaboration between teachers and professional developers. This may be obvious. However, it appears less obvious how to balance the unique expertise of professional developers and teachers in planning a comprehensive approach to professional development. The studies show that it is not sufficient for professional developers to come to know teachers in the context of their day-to-day work; they must also critically confront teachers regarding their improvement efforts. This suggests that professional developers need to think about how they will manage the tension between developing interpersonal trust and assisting teachers to move to higher levels of accomplishment. And finally, I was struck by the fact that professional development changed dramatically during the third year in both middle school sites. (Our project is in its our third year.)
In short, these case studies have given me a new perspective on professional development. I hope to build upon it. Also, I look forward to other case studies, particularly some that present relatively successful professional development programs. -Harold
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