The document discusses the importance of fostering trust through well-designed conversations in educational settings to enhance professional learning and instructional quality. It emphasizes the need for a collaborative culture where teachers engage in meaningful dialogue, guided by clear purposes and established norms, to improve student outcomes. The initiative outlined has successfully shifted the perception of professional learning from a cost to an investment, underscored by the development of relationships within the educational community.

1. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 1-3
Title
Body
Building relationships
through conversation

2. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 2
Invite schools into conversations about
“standards-based, job-embedded, and results-
driven professional learning...(to establish) a
shared understanding of professional learning
aligned with these elements.”
Invitations into dialogue

3. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 2
Conversations focused on improving the quality
of teaching and learning require high degrees
of trust.
Invitations into dialogue

4. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 2
“Well-designed conversations are the building
blocks to a collaborative culture.”
“They create opportunities to examine
assumptions, reflect on practice, solve
problems, celebrate successes, and navigate the
complexities of change.”
Well-designed conversations

5. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 2
Prioritize opportunities for“teachers to come
together to focus on conversations that improve
their practice and the learning for students.”
“These types of conversations must be
sustained through thoughtful planning,
commitment, and clarity of purpose.”
Well-designed conversations

6. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 2
What is a well-designed conversation?
Purpose: A well-designed conversation has an
end in mind — the reason why the teachers
are gathering together.
Well-designed conversations

7. Source: Lambert, J. & Mitrani, V. (Winter 2013). Building relationships through trust.
Tools for Learning Schools. 16(2), 3
Establishing norms is essential in creating trust
within a diverse community.
Example norms
• Confidentiality
• Equity of voice
Designing norms for success

8. Read the full article, with more
information, resources, and tools to
help you implement these ideas in
Tools for Learning Schools (Winter,
2013).
Available at www.learningforward.
org/publications/tools-for-learning-
schools.
Download the article and
accompanying tools
Inside
• Storyboard, p. 4
• Thinking lenses, p. 5
• Four-step reflection process, p. 6
• Success analysis protocol, p. 7
Winter 2013
Vol. 16, No. 2
Your membership in Learning Forward gives you access to a wide range
of publications, tools, and opportunities to advance professional learning for
student success. Visit www.learningforward.org to explore more of your
membership benefits.
learNiNg SchoolS
Toolsfor
eVery educaTor eNgageS iN eFFecTiVe proFeSSioNal learNiNg eVery day So eVery STudeNT achieVeS
By Julie Lambert and
Valerie Mitrani
I
n our network of Jewish parochial
schools in Miami, inconsistent instruc-
tional quality was impacting student
learning throughout our system. The
Center for the Advancement of Jewish
Education, the central office and techni-
cal assistance agency for these schools, de-
signed an initiative five years ago to change
the perception of professional learning from
considering it a burdensome cost to creating
an understanding that professional learning
resources are an investment in student learn-
ing. The project successfully built instructional
leadership capacity at the top; embedded
instructional coaches in the schools to support
implementation of teacher professional learn-
ing into professional practice; built a leadership
team within each school to shepherd these in-
novations; and documented student improve-
ment as a result. What has sustained the work
beyond its initial two years, though, are the
relationships between professionals within the
schools, across schools, and between our agency
and the schools — all developed through stra-
tegic conversations.
Continued on p. 2
Building relationships
through conversation

9. Learn more with
Learn more about professional learning at all
levels of education with Learning Forward, an
international nonprofit association of learning
educators:
www.learningforward.org
Membership in Learning Forward gives you
access to a wide range of publications, tools,
and opportunities to advance professional
learning for student success.