How Not to Lose Teaching Knowledge

  

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Have you ever read an article about a topic that is so simple, yet one that you have never thought about before? That happened to me today when I came across an article about lost knowledge. Each year, thousands of experienced educators retire and take with them years of knowledge about best practices in the classroom. Anyone in the profession knows that excellence in teaching comes in part from the day-to-day experiences with students and colleagues. Being familiar with the curriculum and the most current teaching practices is helpful, but it’s knowledge derived from years of problem-solving that build the best teachers.

To preserve experienced teachers’ considerable pedagogical strengths, it is important for schools to develop a system of knowledge transfer. This enables teachers who are on the verge of retiring to pass valuable information on to novice teachers. The article offers some suggestions for professional learning opportunities that will support knowledge maintenance:

• Let novice and experienced teachers work together. Suggested areas of collaboration include activities and intervention strategies.
• Support principals as they facilitate school-based professional learning and coaching. These sessions will allow for consistent, organized discussions where novice and experienced teachers can share teaching strategies. 
• Provide extended learning time for teachers, as well as students. Sometimes all it takes is the opportunity for professional discussions. We tend to look for ways to increase student learning time but rarely carve out time for teacher learning.

Each of these suggestions is rooted in the idea of providing time for all teachers to exchange best practices. If a school-wide initiative is not planned, take it upon yourself to have a professional discussion with those teachers who have stood the test of time.