Network Logic - Index of

Network logic
improve by practising in public. Valuing knowledge grounded in
practice gives rise to the second principle: teachers are the best teachers
of other teachers. Those actually involved in practice gain
contextualised understandings that make their ideas especially
compelling and believable. By taking the position that those who
practise writing or teaching are most likely to be good at teaching it,
the NWP foregrounds expertise rooted in practice and elevates the
peer-to-peer approach to learning rather than the expert to novice
approach.
Developing a local network
As we observed both of these institutes, we saw the seeds of a network
sown. The institutes induct teachers into a learning community
where they can concentrate on their own individual learning and yet
grow from the learning agendas of others. While providing
opportunities for teachers to discover and nurture a potential talent –
teaching other teachers what they have learned from practice – the
institutes lay the fundamental basis for the network. Having seen the
worth of teachers learning from one another, many fellows leave the
institutes committed to the professional development of their
teaching colleagues. At UCLA, for instance, there are over 40 teacher
consultants (TCs) who now run professional development
programmes throughout LA county.
Many of the active TCs with whom we talked told us that, when
they taught other teachers, they continued to learn themselves. For
instance, a number of teachers found that in sharing their teaching
practices with their fellow teachers, they became quite articulate
about the hows and whys.Despite having built expertise over the years
as they tried, honed and shaped these practices, teaching them to
other teachers always provided fresh insights and deeper
understandings.
Although many of those teachers who successfully complete the
institutes become TCs, there are some who choose not to participate
in teaching other teachers. Those who do, however, are frequently
kept quite busy providing professional development for schools and
70 Demos