Professional Development in Greek Studies: A Partnership Model for Linking Traditional Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Through Professional Development

Fellowship Paper

Professional Development in Greek Studies:
A Partnership Model for Linking Traditional Public Schools
and Public Charter Schools Through Professional Development

by Catherine C. O'Flaherty

South Boston Harbor Academy Charter School
(Note: In 2005, South Boston Harbor Academy Charter School
changed its name to Boston Collegiate Charter School)

Massachusetts Charter School Association
Fellowship Program

2001

For those of us who believe that charter schools were created to help drive educational reform, a necessary component of that reform must be affiliating public charter schools with traditional public schools, especially in the area of professional development. Teachers are critical to true education reform, and continuing teacher education is the single most important factor to teacher sustainability, school success and the implementation of high academic standards. At South Boston Harbor Academy, we recognize the importance of developing a viable professional development program and were able to institute an informal partnership with an established professional development program run by the Newton Public Schools.

This type of partnering creates a model that can be easily transferred to other schools in a variety of contexts. It began with teachers at a traditional public school who were willing to include public charter schools in their already established program. As the partnership formalizes, it will benefit both communities and will create a model of educational excellence that I hope will shape future programs between traditional public schools in Massachusetts and public charter schools.

I. Charter Schools: Best Practices and Challenges

Charter schools were created as models of educational excellence, and great innovations and concrete reforms have taken place in charter schools within a time frame that would be unthinkable in a traditional district school. Our independence allows us to create and foster new innovations more quickly than might happen in the bureaucratic maze of a district, but there are obligations that come with that independence.

We must share our best practices with traditional public schools. Sharing practices enables us to inspire each other, and without a doubt, we benefit from the power of the community created by that practice. But as charter school teachers we must not simply share our innovations and best practices with each other. As leaders in educational reform, it is our responsibility to share our experiences with other, more traditional public school communities. Equally important, we can benefit from the successful practices being implemented in these schools, schools whose histories are far longer than ours. Sharing resources and allowing traditional public schools and public charter school access to the ideas and practices in all schools is what education reform is about.

Teachers are leaders in charter schools, and as such they need support. Starting a charter school is a vast undertaking, requiring from teachers intense focus, and much time and commitment. Moreover, our every day job extends far beyond the classroom to include administrative tasks and attending to the physical demands of our facilities. We also don't have the benefit of a district office providing regular professional development opportunities. As in other areas, we must forge our own path.

As we strive to model best practices, we must create time for teachers to pursue outstanding professional development experiences, experiences that contribute to our educational excellence. To maintain the long-term viability of charter schools and to improve the quality of public education, we must focus on sustaining the energy of charter school teachers. Professional development, networking, and partnering are part of that formula.

II. Teachers as Learners: The Key to Successful Education

Collectively and individually, teachers make schools work, and the sustainability of teachers is critical. For teachers to be successful and for teachers to last in the profession, we need to be continuous learners, and we need to be seen as such. We also need opportunities for meaningful professional development and the chance to network and breakdown the isolation so many in the field experience.

Viewing teachers as learners is one of the first steps for improving academic and overall school quality. Students should not view teachers simply as facilitators of education; they must see teachers as learners in their own right. The school must be a place where educational experiences are a priority. Therefore, teachers must never lose sight of themselves as learners, and schools must support their endeavors to learn. These learning experiences invigorate our curriculum and renew our energy to teach. This is the energy that creates sustainability. Donald Graves discusses this reality in his book, The Energy to Teach:

We can never underestimate the energy contained in learning. The first energy for learning is contained in unanswered questions: Why did that happen? Why do these children not finish their work after such a good start? How can I learn more about how to teach children to comprehend their reading? How can I learn to cook Italian food? Before we learn, we are outside the full energy of knowing. We begin the process of acquiring learning over the long haul until we eventually clothe ourselves in the energy-giving powers of applying our skills. (79)

For Graves, "passing from the despair of the unanswered question to the joy of knowing and explaining" provides a surge of energy, the energy that accompanies learning (69). This is viable energy, and it affects the way we create curriculum, improving our ability, as Graves puts it, to translate the "wonder and newness" of the learning process to our students (70). The result is an energized community of learners.

To increase their knowledge of subject matter and to energize their teaching, teachers need substantive and invigorating intellectual experiences. For teachers and schools, professional development is a key component not only in successful teaching, but in job satisfaction and retention of high quality staff as well.

As conveyed in Continuing to Learn: A Guidebook for Teacher Development, "teacher learning must be viewed as an integral part of a school rather than a frivolous extracurricular activity--and time must be allocated for it" (32). Significant research is available to support the fact that professional development plays an important role in strengthening, cultivating, and sustaining good teaching practices and teachers. Ultimately, this is what creates the best schools. As the authors of Continuing to Learn point out:

Teachers who are supported through a variety of helpful, challenging development opportunities become partners in improving their schools and their districts. They apply their creative instincts to solving problems beyond those of their classrooms, and they contribute to alternative images of communities where adults and young people learn together continuously. Opportunities breed opportunities. (21)

Outstanding professional development opportunities energize teachers and help schools maintain excellent standards. But as any teacher knows, some professional development opportunities can be more draining than energizing. Positive professional development opportunities provide a forum for teachers to renew their enthusiasm as they acquire additional and practical practices. They provide learning experiences that can be translated into curriculum, and this is how the best curriculum is created.

Too often teachers work in isolation from one another, and that isolation is not beneficial to teachers, students, or education in general. In The Courage to Teach, Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life by Parker J. Palmer, the author discusses the limitations that this isolation or, as he labels it, "privatization," imposes:

Resources that could help us teach better are available from each otherif we could get access to themWhen we walk into our workplace, the classroom, we close the door on our colleagues. When we emerge, we rarely talk about what happened or what needs to happen next, for we have no shared experience to talk aboutWe pay a high price for this privatization. (142)

Although it is widely recognized that "closing the door to your classroom" is just bad pedagogical practice, we still need to help teachers connect with other teachers.

Teachers must work to eliminate classroom isolation through networking, and schools can further this effort. Networking is important to any school's success. In Continuing to Learn: A Guidebook for Teacher Development there is a section devoted to discussing the importance of networking by teachers and schools.

A networking approach fosters the development of a professional community, developing norms of collegiality, continuous improvement, and experimentation. Common interests, experiences, and frequent interaction result in the development of a common language that encourages frequent communication about improvement--shop talk. Teachers are no longer isolated in their classrooms struggling alone with instructional decisions and problems. Active network members have access to a variety of opportunities for peer support in their efforts to experiment with the new ideas and practices that focus their professional community. (111)

"Shop talk" between colleagues breaks down barriers, and partnership further enables public charter schools to develop a language of "shop talk" with traditional public schools and their teachers.

III. The Newton Greek Studies/South Boston Harbor Academy Partnership: a Model for Linking Teachers and Schools

In our professional development program at South Boston Harbor Academy Charter School (SBHA), we have forged a partnership that provides our teachers an outstanding professional development opportunity, one which has enabled us to develop meaningful relationships with teachers from a range of schools and district. We have established an informal partnership with the Newton Public Schools' Greek Studies Program, one we hope to formalize and develop further in years to come.

What is it and how does it work?

The Newton Greek Studies Program is a collaboration between Newton Public Schools, an outstanding school system, and Brandeis, a distinguished university. I learned about the program, applied, and was accepted, thereby extending the collaboration to the charter school where I teach, South Boston Harbor Academy.

The Newton Greek Studies Program enables charter school teachers, teachers at private schools, and public school teachers from a variety of districts to come together and participate in professional development. It accomplishes two distinct goals: 1) it strengthens schools in general; and 2) it adds a new dimension to professional development opportunities offered to charter school teachers.

The program allows 20 teachers and administrators representing all disciplines and grade levels to become Greek Study Fellows. Participants meet regularly with outside scholars in a series of seminars aimed at strengthening and reinvigorating ancient Greek studies in the schools. The project, titled The Examined Life: Greek Studies In The Schools, aims to ensure renewed and thoughtful consideration of ancient Greece, a vital prerequisite to understanding our modern culture and ourselves. The program consists of seminars, workshops, and ongoing discussions about integrating knowledge and teaching. Together the teachers attend weekly classes from September through April, travel to Greece for an area study in April, and upon returning, continue with classes through June. In conjunction with the program, teachers create a clearinghouse and pool of resources for the teaching of ancient Greece, cutting across all grade levels and subject areas.

The program is funded, in part, through the Newton schools and various Greek organizations. Teachers granted a fellowship to the Greek Studies Program accept a grant from the sponsoring foundation with the intent that their own schools match the grant. Participating teachers make up the difference in the cost of the trip and are able to use the fellowship stipend for tuition and to obtain graduate credits at Brandeis University where the classes take place. The program is designed and run by teachers, so it is set up to accommodate the schedules of teachers and the demands of teaching.

Benefits of the partnership

The program provides an opportunity for educators from different backgrounds to connect with one another and share the common bonds that link us. Because the program requires that fellows study together over the school year and travel together, the time for extended discussion and sharing is plentiful.

The program also affords teachers the privilege of working on professional development at the university level. Because this program is rooted in scholarship and high standards, and because it calls for the participation of teachers representing several disciplines, it provides everyone involved an environment of excellence.

The high quality, positive environment created in the Newton Greek Studies/ SBHA Partnership leads to better teachers and better schools. As it addresses an important need, linking charter schools with non-charter public school so that they can work together, it improves education as a whole. It is a "little step" in a positive direction. The educational community created as a result of this practice includes charter schools, private schools, traditional public schools, and universities. Partnering with traditional public schools is critical to national education reform and should not be overlooked as one of the most important vehicles for improving education for all children. The Newton Greek Studies/SBHA partnership provides a model for energizing the way teachers connect. These connections value the common bonds between all teachers, promote academic success, and raise the level of educational reform.

IV. The Future of the Partnership

As we formalize the Newton Greek Studies/SBHA partnership, more teachers at South Boston Harbor Academy will participate in the program, further enhancing our staff's individual and collegial communication in this academic content area. As we develop the partnership, we enable our teachers to develop expertise in the content area, teaching strategies, and the other essential elements that go with the teaching of high standards. Equally important, the program brings energy and renewal to the teachers who participate in it.

As more teachers at SBHA participate in this program, they will help create a common language in curriculum development and practice. After participating in this partnership for one year, South Boston Harbor Academy's Seventh Grade curriculum will have a stronger focus on Greek studies, a first step toward a successful integration of this content into our academic program. As a result of their experiences in the partnership, future participants will add to the evolution of our curriculum. Part of the success of our partnership will be seen in the development of our curriculum.

As we formalize this partnership, we would like other charter schools to join us. Ideally, charter school teachers would participate in the program each year. Replicating this program within the charter school community would allow more charter school teachers to connect with other public school teachers in a meaningful way, and it would enhance teaching and academic rigor, worthy goals for any program. What's more, as charter schools and other public school teachers work together, we help educate one another about our schools and practices. I can personally attest to the fact that eliminating some of the myths about charter schools (through personal connection and discourse) has proven both successful and gratifying.

Education reform and success begins and ends with teachers, and continuing education is the single most important factor to teacher sustainability, school success, and the implementation of high academic standards. Moreover, research indicates that collaborations between schools and universities can dramatically affect the quality of public school education. The Newton Greek Studies/South Boston Harbor Academy Partnership is an easily adaptable model for incorporating all of these elements of success into a school's program.

About the Author

Cathy O'Flaherty was a founding teacher at South Boston Harbor Academy, and taught English to fifth and sixth grade students there for three years. In addition to her teaching duties, Ms. O'Flaherty served as chairperson of her department and she facilitated South Boston Harbor Academy's summer reading program for all students. Ms. O'Flaherty has a B.A. from Manhattanville College and an M.Ed. from University of Massachusetts-Boston. Catherine O'Flaherty can be reached at: sixthstreet@massed.net.

References

Graves, Donald. 2001. The Energy to Teach. New Hampshire: Heinemann.

Palmer, Parker J. 1998. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands & National Staff Development Council. 1997. Continuing to Learn: A Guidebook for Teacher Development. Andover, MA: Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands.

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