Teaching like a Pro

Michael Fullan

• Michael Fullan is currently Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

• Special Adviser on Education the Premier of Ontario.

• Written several books on educational reform.

Am I Teaching Like a:

Enthusiastic Amateur?

Dutiful Employee?

Top of my Game Professional ?

Professional View Assumes that Good Teaching:

* is technically sophisticated and difficult.

* requires high levels of education & long training.

* is perfected through continuous improvement.

* involves wise judgment informed by evidence and experience.

* is a collective accomplishment and responsibility.

* maximizes, mediates & moderates online instruction.

Teaching Like a Pro...

“Is about undertaking difficult, inspiring work; constantly trying to improvepractices and working with all the collective might and ingenuity of professional colleagues to do so.”

Teaching Like a Pro Means

1. Continuously inquiring into and improving one’s own teaching.

2. Planning teaching, improving teaching and often doing teaching not as an isolated individual but as part of a high performing team.

3. Being a part and parcel of the wider teaching profession and contributing to itsdevelopment.

Decisional Capital

•Judgment

•Case Experience

•Practice

•Challenge & Stretching

•Reflection

Social Capital•Trust

•Collaboration

•Collective responsibility

•Peer push and pull

•Mutual assistance

•Professional networks

Social Capital Solutions•Deep professional learning communities

•School networks & helping relationships

•Collective responsibility across grades and subjects

•Shared language

•Collaborative tools

•Peer assisted review

Guidelines for Teachers

1. Become a true pro.“It’s not just about how many hours you put in …it’s an investment of attention to study, practice, and learning from colleagues.

It’s an investment in yourself and in the students you serve.”

2. Start with yourself.

Gandhi put this profoundly: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

You must start with yourself.

3. Be a mindful teacher.

The constant pressure can also drain us dry.It can rob us of the time to take stock, to be mindful of what we are really doing and why.

The purpose of teaching like a pro is to improve what you can do for your students.

This needs to be kept front and centre at all times.