A Learning Community of Reflective Teachers

Teachers possess a wealth of untapped wisdom and valuable experience. Be it educational policy, curriculum development or textbook selection, rare are the instances when teachers' views are solicited. Traditionally, teacher development has been driven by administrators of schools, and it often takes the form of a 'mentor' teaching the staff of a school. But what happens when teachers across different locations collaborate and learn together? This volume documents such an initiative, sparked off by the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought people together online. It showcases the power of teachers debating, discussing and learning from each other. Based on an Indian experience, this book addresses a range of issues that teachers and educators across the world face- encompassing pedagogy, classroom management, school culture and teacher development. A unique story of community building and teacher education, this book also contains key outcomes and insights, while taking us through their action research projects. It showcases a model of teacher development that can be adopted by interested readers anywhere in the world. Above all, it brings out the crying need for a teacher's voice to be heard - for far too long, teachers have been mere implementers of decisions taken by policymakers or managements of schools. By means of networking communities such as the one described in this book, the transformation of teachers going from whispers to resonance is greatly amplified. An important intervention in the domain of teacher development, this volume will be of great interest to students, researchers, educators, teacher educators and sociologists of education. It will also be useful for teacher trainees, academicians, policymakers, schoolteachers, curriculum developers, teacher training institutes and universities offering teacher education programmes.

Neeraja Raghavan is a teacher-educator and Founder-Director of Thinking Teacher, based in Bangalore, India. She is the author of several books, including Teaching Tales Learning Trails (co-authored with Vineeta Sood and Kamala Anilkumar, Notion Press 2018), The Reflective Teacher (Contributing Editor Vineeta Sood, Orient Blackswan, 2015), The Reflective Learner (Notion Press 2019) and co-editor (with Sarojini Vittachi) of Alternative Schooling in India (SAGE Publications, 2008). She enjoys music, philosophy, poetry, sketching, writing and embroidery.

Section One 1. Teacher Development 2. Teachers as Change Agents Section Two: A Learning Community That Strives to Effect A Change 3. Re-designing the learning environment in kindergarten through reflection, collaboration, and teacher ownership 4. Turning second graders into autonomous learners - A teacher's action research 5. Aligning Teacher Development and Agency with School Vision: An Action Research Study 6. Developing Critical Thinking in Children from Marginalised Communities through Picture Books 7. Breaking Teacher Silos and Enabling Cross Pollination 8. A Storyteller's Journey into The Teacher's Mind and Heart 9. Turning passive middle schoolers into self-driven learners through Action Research 10. Building an Ecosystem of Empathy between Students and Support Staff in School Section Three: A New Model of Teacher Development 11. A Pandemic of Pedagogical Transformation