Target 17 in Action: Collaborative Teacher Planning

This post is part of the Targets in Action series, designed to help parents, teachers, students, and the global community better understand how the future of learning will look in action at WAB.

As we discussed in our previous post, Target 17 is about creating more opportunities for teacher collaboration for the benefit our learners.

The idea is to create more time and space for these collaborations to happen. That doesn't necessarily mean scheduling an extra meeting each week around a big table. It means creating a culture where teachers have time and space together and are available and open to inspiring one another.

At WAB we can see instances every day in which our teachers are working together, and we're already seeing FLoW21 efforts result in positive improvements to learning for students.

Let's look at a few examples:

• School wide, learning support teachers and teaching assistants work with teachers to support the needs of individual learners and smaller groups within classes. This is a continuous process that requires constant collaborative planning.
• A realignment of timetables in the Elementary School has allowed for increased time for teachers to work together on curriculums, assessments, and units of inquiry. Because many homeroom classes in a single grade level now have single-subject lessons at the same time, teachers have time to plan together, share feedback, and seek one another's professional expertise.
• A FLoW21 Learning Systems and Structures Committee has created five smaller groups, each focused on a specific aspect the school experience: learning spaces, timetables, learning communities, mentor groups, and technology systems. Teacher collaboration will be one factor considered as these groups continue their work.