Teacher Roundtable participants work to define what it means to be a teacher leader
12/6/2016
Guest Blogger Kelly Scott is a visiting instructor at the University of North Florida's College of Education and Human Services and teaches courses within the Childhood Education, Literacy, and TESOL Department. Kelly previously worked with JPEF as a Research Analyst and is excited to rejoin the team through the Teacher Roundtable initiative this year as the Teacher Leadership Coordinator.
- Charmaine Campo
“Facilitators of professional development” and “models of effective teaching” were just two of the many ideas which surfaced about the role a teacher leader could play within their schools and in the district. These ideas were generated on November 5 when a group of Duval County Public School teachers came together on a Saturday morning as part of the Teacher Roundtable series. The topic of this fall’s Teacher Roundtable series, teacher leadership, was selected as a topic of importance to the teachers involved in the previous Roundtable series as well as to Dr. Vitti, who identified teacher leadership as one of his priority areas in his “State of the Schools” address.
The goal of the Teacher Roundtable is to elevate the voices of teachers in community and district discussions about improving public education, support teachers in being their own advocates and connect teacher leaders to the community through speaking engagements and other opportunities.
During Part A of the three-part series, the group of teachers from all across Duval County discussed over brunch the characteristics of teacher leaders (i.e., passionate, positive rapport with colleagues, available, etc.) and some of the barriers, such as time, which educators face when taking on the role of teacher leaders in addition to remaining in the classroom.
The conversation provided the foundation for the next part of the Teacher Roundtable series, to take place December 10 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Jessie Ball duPont Center, which will use the ideas and recommendations discussed during Part A to develop a plan of action for what teacher leadership should look like in the school district.
It is not too late to register for the Part B session of the Teacher Leadership Teacher Roundtable series, open to all Duval County Public School teachers. Be a part of the movement to elevate the voices of teachers and register today!
It is our hope that citizens, local leaders and state leaders will see these ideas and the Teacher Roundtable as a resource as they work together to bring about improvements to our public schools with a goal of ensuring that all students and teachers meet their full potential. For this reason, the final part of this series on teacher leadership, to take place in early January, will involve presenting the action plan developed in Part B to key district officials. If you are a teacher or if there is a teacher you know, make sure to let them know about this opportunity for their voice to be heard.
To learn about the results of previous Teacher Roundtable series, click here.
To learn more about Teacher Roundtable contact Kelly Scott, Teacher Roundtable Coordinator at kelly@jaxpef.org.