Study Group Resources One Teacher's Experience

You've probably sat through at least one unproductive professional development workshop in your teaching career. As the speaker lectures, your attention begins to wander. You think about your own experience in the classroom and the questions that really matter to you. You may even wonder whether other teachers in the audience share your interests and concerns. Increasingly, schools are realizing that some of the most meaningful professional development experiences come from teachers themselves! Teacher study groups-which often are run like book clubs or literary circles-have sprung up in many districts. With a study group, teachers have the opportunity to learn not only from the books they read together, but from one another.
 
The open dialogue and collaboration that a study group provides can help each member grow. Plus, the group as a whole benefits, and the school culture is enriched. Research has shown that the conversations teachers have with one another around their practice can lead to creative transformations in the classroom, improving understanding and practice (Clark, 2001; Berne, 2001; Burbules, 1993).
 
Getting Started — Types of Study Groups
Choosing a focus and an approach for your study group is the first step. Make it a shared process. Ask yourselves: What do we want to know? What new curriculum developments interest us? How will we benefit? Here are some of the types of study groups teachers have spearheaded:
 
Instructional Practice Groups
In this kind of group, teachers choose a new topic or question to tackle at each meeting, such as how to incorporate more vocabulary practice into their day, or what is the latest practice in teaching spelling. (To see how such a group functions, see How a Study Group Works, below.)
 
Professional Book Study Groups
For this kind of group, teachers decide on a line-up of professional books to read and discuss. Here are a few titles you can start with: Strategies That Work, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (Stenhouse, 2000); The Fluent Reader by Timothy V. Rasinski (Scholastic, 2003); and Teaching Reading in Middle School by Laura Robb (Scholastic, 2000).
 
Mentorship Groups
Mentorship groups can be helpful to new teachers. Veteran teachers, along with the principal, meet regularly with beginning teachers to discuss various topics, such as helping beginning readers. Participants take turns choosing topics and finding related reading material.
 
NBPTS Groups
This type of group is for teachers going through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification process. Group members evaluate one another's portfolios and discuss how to implement changes in the classroom.
 
5 Keys to a Successful Study Group
Researchers who have looked at the way study groups work (such as Roberts, 2002; Reischl, 1999; Murphy & Lick, 1997 and 1998; Florio-Ruane & deTar, 1995) have found that the most effective groups have teachers who are true collaborators, critical colleagues, and inquirers who are always open to new research and ideas. Here are five key factors to keep in mind to help make your study group a success:
 
Volunteers, Please
When study groups are voluntary, participants are more likely to be committed to the group's goals, and work to sustain its energy. Plus, a successful study group might eventually draw in teachers who were not initially inclined to participate.
 
Small Is Best
The smaller the study group, the easier it will be to find convenient meeting times for all members. In smaller groups, each member is able to participate more in discussions and is more likely to share in the responsibility for the organization and direction of the group.
 
Shared Goals
It's important for a study group to set clear goals from the very beginning. What does the group want to accomplish? What will be the focus of the studies? If participants have played a role in addressing these questions, they're likely to remain committed to the group. More concrete goals may evolve as the group becomes settled, but a shared understanding from the beginning is essential.
 
Join In
A study group is a joint enterprise in which members share responsibility for planning the meetings-selecting books and preparing discussion questions. Each member should take a turn facilitating the discussion and should not be made to feel intimidated by other members. When responsibility is shared, a sense of ownership grows and everyone feels more invested.
 
Put it in Writing
A study group journal gives each participant a place to reflect on readings, curriculum issues, classroom observations, and points raised in previous meetings. Group members might write in their journals before they meet, and then again following the meeting to reflect on changes in their ideas prompted by the discussion. Regular writing encourages participants to be reflective practitioners.
 
How a Study Group Works
There are many approaches a study group can take. Here is one example-a study group that chooses “incorporating informational texts in the primary-grade classroom” as its focus. The sequence of activities for this group may help to spark ideas for your own professional development study group.
 
Surveying The Classroom
Each participant first engages in a self-study of his or her classroom. Things they look for: What genres are included on classroom walls, and in what proportions? What genres are in and on display in the classroom library? At the group meeting, participants should share their surveys of their own classrooms.
 
Trade Spaces
After talking about their own rooms, teachers visit one another's classrooms to see how genres are used. Each participant tries to help colleagues identify areas of strengths and weakness in teaching the various genres.
 
Look at Materials
The group reviews curriculum materials for genre representation. Each member of the group might be responsible for examining different types of materials, such as the district basal reading series, trade books, or assessment tools.
 
Doing the Homework
The group next creates a reading list of books about teaching informational texts, such as Reading and Writing Informational Texts in the Primary Grades, by Nell Duke and V. Susan Bennett-Armistead (Scholastic, 2003). In some cases, everyone does the reading. In others, each member reads a chapter and reports back.
 
Let Each Member Be an Expert
Once the group has begun reading, members choose to develop expertise in different areas. One member might become an expert in informational text read-alouds, another in informational text writing. Each expert can act as a consultant and lead discussions in that area.
 
Focus on Teacher Practice
Videotaping and reviewing classroom instruction is one way to bring a group to the next level. For this particular group, several members might volunteer to be videotaped using informational texts in the classroom. The group could view excerpts of the tapes and discuss strengths and weaknesses.
 
Share the Knowledge
One of the goals of any study group should be to share the work of the group with an audience. For example, the group could offer a workshop to other teachers in the school or district, present at a professional conference, or even submit an article for publication in a professional journal.
 
Keep Seeking New Information
Devote a portion of each meeting to sharing new ideas that members have discovered, along with observations and experiences from the classroom. This helps the participants to see that all the study group work they are doing is truly making a difference in their teaching practice.
 
Study groups can provide a forum for meaningful professional development and teacher-to-teacher support. As you get together with your colleagues and start talking about the idea, you may find many inventive and productive ways to incorporate study groups into your teaching journey. Look into the possibilities and “join the club!”


Ebony M. Roberts, Ph.D., is operations manager for Black Star Educational Management, LLC, in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Roberts's current work focuses on improving teacher professional development in urban contexts. This article was adapted from Reading and Writing Informational Texts in the Primary Grades, by Nell Duke and V. Susan Bennett-Armistead (Scholastic, 2003), for the October 2003 issue of Instructor. To order, call 1-800-SCHOLASTIC.