This document outlines a process for using teaching as inquiry to guide individualized professional development for teachers. It suggests setting up teacher inquiries focused on improving student learning, with topics chosen based on assessment data. Teachers would try new pedagogical approaches, collect evidence, and reflect on results. Inquiries could be done individually or in groups with similar needs. Support includes professional readings, videos, and potentially a facilitator to manage the process. Starting points are deciding on learning focuses from data and researching effective teaching strategies to try.

1. The road to Milestone 4 Teaching As Inquiry

2. Halfway into our contract, it's time to look at how we can start moving each teacher forward from the point they are at now. One way of doing this is by setting up a structure of individual teacher inquiries - and where applicable, grouping like needs for PD.How we do that as principals and lead teachers?

3. “Effective Pedagogy,” page 35, NZ Curriculum http://englishonline.tki.org.nz/English-Online/Teaching-as-inquiry2

4. “Assessment,” page 40, NZ Curriculum

5. photos wikis Video of student voice… …of teacher voice Assessment data and collation reflection on blogs Voicethread Easispeaks and podcasts ePortfolios

6. Why blend eLearning? Nick Rate, eFellow, ULearn08, “ePortfolios”

7. Why collect assessment using digital and Web 2.0 tools?

8. http://www.edtalks.org/video/using-teaching-inquiry-guide-elearning-action-plan Using teaching as inquiry to guide an elearning action plan

9. The process 1. Decide on the focusing inquiry – what do my/our students need to learn? E.g. schoolwide assessment data shows a need to raise writing ability. 2. Decide on the teaching inquiry – what have I seen at a course/researched that works that I am going to try? e.g. using a variety of web 2.0 tools to motivate students; e.g. scaffolding writing on ietherpad.com and getting students to help edit each other’s work online; publishing on a blog so that parents can comment and student has access to a world-wide audience. 3. Set time frames. 4. Reflect – the learning inquiry – what happened as a result? What implications are there for future teaching and learning? e.g use of teacher blogs for a log of new learning and reflective comments. A way of “feeding forward” for other teachers ( why not use the VLN?). 5. Ensure that reflection and evidence collection is collected at regular intervals.

10. Where to start? wonderings… Find out more about the process – see our wiki page for links to professional readings, videos. Do we need more input – trips to other schools, look at what RELLCO schools (our contributing schools) have done in their cluster? Are we open to allowing teachers to choose their own inquiries? Will they be linked into the school appraisal process? Would it help to contract a facilitator to manage this process?