I am in the process of reading and compiling some research related to peer learning and staff development for teachers.
A bibliography is below, and here are a few quotes that exemplify to me what the P2PU School of Ed is all about.
“What everyone appears to want for students – a wide array of learning opportunities that engage students in experiencing, creating, and solving real problems, using their own experiences, and working with others – is for some reason denied to teachers when they are learners.”
“People learn best through active involvement and through thinking about and becoming articulate about what they have learned. Processes, practices, and policies built on this view of learning are at the heart of a more expanded view of teacher development that encourages teachers to involve themselves as learners.”
– Lieberman (1995)
“Teaching in collaborative settings puts front and center the tension between the process of student learning and content coverage.”
“As we become more involved in using collaborative learning, we discover what radical questions it raises. Collaborative learning goes to the roots of long-held assumptions about teaching and learning.”
“Not only is course content reshaped, so are our definitions of student competence. Because the public nature of group work makes demonstration of student learning so continuous, collaborative learning both complicates and enriches the evaluation process.”
– Smith and MacGregor (1992)
Selected Bibliography
Garrison, Randy D. E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. 2nd. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011.
Lieberman, Ann. “Practices that Support Teacher Development.” Phi Delta Kappan. 46.8 (1995): 591-596.
Smith, Barbara Leigh Smith, and Jean T. MacGregor. “What is Collaborative Learning?.” Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education. (1992).
Sparks, Dennis, and Stephanie Hirsh. A New Vision for Staff Development. Alexandria, OH: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1997
“Standards for Professional Learning.” Learning Forward (formerly National Staff Development Council), 2011. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.learningforward.org/standards/standards.cfm>.
Thomas, Douglas, and John Seely Brown. A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. CreateSpace, 2011.