b'Since its founding, Greensboro Day Schoolsfor administration and faculty to collaborate walls have been filled with dedicatedin the planning of robust professional professionals.Never satisfied with the statusdevelopment and re-invigorating cyclical quo, teachers banded together early in thecurriculum reviews.life of the school to develop what would eventually become the Improvement ofThe Learning Council currently meets each Instruction or IOI program. month and is responsible for the following things:The original intent of the IOI model was twofold: to provide the faculty a self- opportunities for teachers across the schoolPlanning, coordinating and evaluating directed opportunity to learn and grow ascommunity and engaged all educators infull faculty professional development professionals and to provide an opportunityexamining a topic of interest that supportedthat takes place each month during the for teachers to lead and develop theseour strategic plan and mission. It alsolate starts for students.professional development efforts.provided faculty members a feeling of voice and control over their own professionalResearching, interviewing, selecting A secondary, but equally important, facetdevelopment. and organizing the annual McLendon of the model was to provide the faculty aSpeaker (an endowed speaker who voice in the development of school wideA weakness of the IOI program waspresents at GDS with an open programs. Since the establishment of thefound in the lack of a consistent formatinvitation to the Greater Greensboro IOI program, teacher voices have beenfor providing peer review; consistently heard through faculty meetings, regularrobust dialogue around relevant topics thatcommunity).dialogue with school leaders, surveys andpromoted ongoingprofessional growth opportunities to participate on hiringand development; and its inability to ensureDiscussing and selecting the faculty committees, curriculum reviews and specialeach teachers full participation in thesummer readings.research and development committees.program.Faculty members also have opportunitiesSupporting the cyclical Departmental to apply for travel and study grants fromAs with all things, time and circumstancesCurriculum Review process by hosting the Parents Association, apply for a Brooksnecessitate change.In 2011, thedepartment readouts and asking Sabbatical, attend conferences and takeEducational Leadership Group examinedquestions throughout the review classes and workshops to develop content,our faculty professional growth andprocess.leadership and pedagogical skills. Thesedevelopment process.Using the Charlotte opportunities have supported the interestsDanielson Framework, the groupThe opportunity for administrators and of each member of the faculty. developed and piloted a robust process forfaculty to collaborate on these important teacher observation, self-reflection, andaspects of teaching and learning cannot be The primary components of the IOIprofessional growth.Teachers are nowunderestimated.There is great value in the program allowed teachers the opportunityassessed in four domains which include: perspective taking, creativity and problem to assess their teaching through collegialPlanning and Preparation, The Learningsolving that happens during each meeting. and administrative feedback, set goals andEnvironment, Instruction, and Professional implement changes. It included a self- Responsibilities. In 2016, The Learning Council re-wrote the evaluation, collegial support through afaculty job description to include the ethos companion and partner teacher program,In 2013, the GDS faculty was feeling aof our hard-working community and the peer classroom observations and a formallittle restless.Students were changing, whatexpectations for professional practice related support system for teachers who neededwe understood about learning and the brainto the Danielson Domains.help based on their evaluations. The IOIwas changing, and teaching necessarily program was led by a committee comprisedhad to change.In parallel efforts, teachersClearly, Greensboro Day Schools of teachers across divisions to ensure that alland administrators instituted Criticalcommitment to modeling lifelong learning faculty members participated.Each year theFriends Groups and The Learning Council. for students continues.Because our faculty IOI Committee organized meetings, andCritical Friends Groups (cross-divisional,never rests, students receive the most developed workshops and an annual retreatfaculty-only) focused on developing adynamic, engaging learning opportunities based on faculty interests. culture of collegial feedback, observation,available in the Triad!nexamining professional practice, and One of the features of the IOI programdiscussing student work.The Learning was an annual retreat, which created socialCouncil focused on providing opportunities 40 | Summer 2019'