Reflective Practice to Improve Schools: An Action Guide for Educators

By William A. Sommers, Jennifer York-Barr, Gail S. Ghere

Book Overview

"This book is a must read for teacher leaders, principals, and central office administrators. The authors make a substantive and powerful argument for addressing reflection at all levels of the organization and provide practical tools and insights to facilitate a comfortable transition from theory to practice. This book will be valuable to anyone serious about ensuring success for all students."

Stephanie Hirsh, Deputy Executive Director
National Staff Development Council

"I treasure this book. It is informative, well written, and important to educational leaders."

Robert Garmston, Cofounder
Institute for Intelligent Behavior
El Dorado Hills, CA

Reflective Practice to Improve Schools allows educators to examine individual and collective beliefs and assumptions, leading to insights about instructional effectiveness. A unique, useful tool for understanding the potential--in fact, the necessity--of reflective practice, this important new book offers a practical guide to initiating or extending individual and collaborative commitments to reflective practice schoolwide.

The authors, a distinguished team of practitioners, provide the following:

A framework and strategies for reflective thinking and acting Essential considerations for designing and developing reflective practices Examples of reflective practice at the individual level, between partners, in small groups, and schoolwide Reflective activities to guide individuals and collaborators toward applied strategies

Now more than ever, educators need real opportunities to continuously and meaningfully reflect on their practice--by themselves and with their colleagues--to create schools in which both students and adults continually learn. This is the book that can begin or enrich that journey.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761977635
• ISBN13: 9780761977636
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Corwin
• Length: 194 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.5" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Poses a challenging, compelling argument

Reflective Practice To Improve Schools: An Action Guide To Educators defines reflective practice (approaches to teaching that require personal commitment to continuous learning and improvement) and discusses how reflective practice and continuous learning can be spread among teachers and applied throughout school systems to create a better educational base for our children's future. Tables, figures, point-by-point bulletins and black-and-white diagrams help illustrate the benefits of reflective practice. Collaboratively written by Jennifer York-Barr, William A. Sommers, Gail S. Ghere, and Jo Monite in an effort to present difficult undergraduate level concepts in clear language that can be easily grasped, Reflective Practice To Improve Schools poses a challenging, compelling argument and is highly recommended for any educator in search tips, tricks, and techniques for self improvement on the job.