Reflective Practice for Educators: Professional Development to Improve Student Learning

"Anyone serious about leading the reform of teaching and learning in our schools should read this book. Kottkamp and Osterman reframe the conversation about what it means to lead a learning organization. Their reflective processes hold promise for educators as they struggle together to create new possibilities for student learning."
Nelda Cambron-McCabe, Professor
Miami University, OH

In this age of mandated reforms, reflective practice is a truly effective, empowering way to make meaningful, positive changes.

Written for teachers, administrators, and professional development specialists in schools and universities, this book is an educators′ guide to reflective practice. In clear, accessible language, the authors explain the potential to create meaningful change in schools and show you how to integrate reflective practice effectively into the daily work of schools.

The book:

• Explains reflective practice as a professional development strategy and its importance for school reform
• Offers ideas and practical strategies to facilitate collaborative, data-based inquiry, dialogue, and problem-solving in schools
• Describes reflective practice in action and illustrates its power to create meaningful change in classrooms
• Shows how reflective practice is an important step in creating professional learning organizations

Reflective practice has the potential to renew your sense of optimism, commitment, and efficacy as you learn how to support meaningful professional growth, shape a culture of learning, and make important changes in students′ learning.

Karen F. Osterman is currently Professor and Chairperson in the Department of Foundations, Leadership, and Policy Studies at Hofstra University. She received her BA from Emmanuel College, an MPIA at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a PhD from Washington University. Her teaching and research focus broadly on motivation in a social context with particular emphasis on organiza-tional structures and processes that affect the workplace behavior of adults and students. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Management Science, Journal of School Public Relations, Journal of School Leadership, Education and Urban Society, Newsday, Phi Delta Kappan, Review of Educational Research, and Urban Education. Recent work explores the way that school and classroom policies and practices affect the quality of peer relationships, bullying, student violence, and disengagement from learning.

Robert B. Kottkamp is Professor Emeritus, Department of Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies, Hofstra University. He received his BA from DePauw University and both MAEd and PhD from Washington University. Dr. Kottkamp has coauthored five books, the latest being, Reflective Practice for Educators: Professional Development to Improve Student Learning (2^nd Edition) with Karen F. Osterman. His chapter with Edith A. Rusch, The Landscape of Scholarship on the Education of School Leaders, 1985–2006, is forthcoming in the Handbook of Research on Leadership Preparation. He maintains a keen interest in the continuing development of the Let Me Learn Process® and in researching its processes and effects. Professor Kottkamp is fortunate to have chaired the doctoral research of coauthors, Dr. Chris Johnston and Dr. Bonnie Dawkins; creating this book together as peers has been a wonderfully fulfilling learning experience.