Whole-Faculty Study Groups: Creating Student-Based Professional Development - Softcover

Murphy, Carlene U.; Lick, Dale W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761977554 ISBN 13: 9780761977551

Publisher: Corwin, 2001

Synopsis

One of the most successful and exciting approaches to reform and change in education today is that of whole-faculty study groups. This holistic, practical approach facilitates schoolwide change and enhanced student learning.

This second edition of Whole-Faculty Study Groups presents many new illustrative examples, snapshots of real-world situations, and step-by-step instructions for the development and implementation of whole-faculty study groups in schools.

This book is written primarily for teachers and administrators in primary schools, but would also make an excellent resource for central office personnel, faculty in schools of teacher and administrator preparation, and corporate and governmental organizations involved with schools and school reform, education, and training.

About this title

About the Author

Carlene U. Murphy is founder and executive director of the National WFSG Center and the principal developer of the Whole-Faculty Study Groups® system of professional development. In August 2007, she began her 50th year of work in public schools. She started her teaching career in 1957 as a fourth grade teacher in her hometown of Augusta, GA. The next year she moved to Memphis, TN where she taught for 13 years, returning to Augusta in 1972 and retiring from the district in 1993 as its director of staff development. During her 15 years as the district’s chief staff developer, the district received many accolades, including the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Professional Development from the American Association of School Administrators and Georgia’s Outstanding Staff Development Program Award for two consecutive years. She was awarded the National Staff Development Council’s Contributions to Staff Development Award and served as the National Staff Development Council’s chair of the annual national conference in Atlanta in 1986, president in 1988, and board member from 1984 to 1990. The friendships she formed and cemented during the over thirty years of her close relationship with NSDC were life-changing.

After retiring from the Augusta, Georgia schools, she has worked with schools throughout the United States implementing Whole-Faculty Study Groups. She has written extensively about her work in Educational Leadership and Journal of Staff Development and has written with Dale Lick two other books about the WFSG system: Whole-Faculty Study Groups: Creating Professional Learning Communities That Target Student Learning, Corwin Press, 2005; and The Whole-Faculty Study Groups Fieldbook: Lessons Learned and Best Practices from Classrooms, Districts, and Schools (co-editor), 2007. Another book with Karl Clauset and Dale Lick, Schoolwide Action Research for Professional Learning Communities: Improving Student Learning Through the Whole-Faculty Study Groups Approach (Corwin Press, 2008), focuses on the work of study groups and gives descriptive data from schools implementing WFSG.

She now lives on a small horse farm just outside of Augusta in a four generational home, which includes her husband, Joe, daughter, three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. Even with all the activities in such a home, she still finds time to write about her work, correspond with colleagues and read about the latest developments in education.

Review

Praise for the first edition: "Whole-faculty study groups have become a central part of the journey toward transformation in ATLAS Communities across the country. The collected wisdom of "how-to" offered in this book will be an invaluable asset for teachers in every school who are pursuing collegial efforts to refine their craft." 

Author: Linda Gerstle

Praise for the first edition: "The contents of this book can change the professional interactions of teachers in schools. I know. We are currently in our third year of having all teachers in study groups that meet weekly. I have found whole-faculty study groups to be a process that stimulates professional dialogue and focuses ‘grass roots’ wisdom on student achievement." 

Author: Barry Shelofsky

Praise for the first edition: "Teachers generally believe in the value of staff development; they also generally believe that staff development is a waste of time in the ‘one size fits all’ format most frequently used. Whole-faculty study groups have rejuvenated our enthusiasm for teaching and for teaching better." 

Author: Elizabeth McGonigal

Praise for the first edition: "There is power in faculty study groups. Student learning deepens when professionals have a chance to come together to thin, ask questions, problem-solve, discuss, share, and reflect in a supportive climate." 

Author: Bertha Pendleton

Praise for the first edition: "Whole-faculty study groups have provided USD 405-Lyons with a process to assist in becoming a true learning organization. Site-based study groups are the framework for district, building, and individual staff development that builds organizational learning and personal mastery." 

Author: Edwin Church

"Offers practical guidance to start, lead, and maintain faculty study groups." 

Author: National Staff Development Council, Dec/Jan. issue, page 7

Edition details

• Publisher: Corwin
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0761977554
• ISBN 13: 9780761977551
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 360