In episode 20, Dan and Michael talk with Francesca Forzani of TeachingWorks at the University of Michigan about core practices (or high leverage practices) of teaching that can be used in practice-based teacher education.

Books, articles, lessons, and other amazing resources

1. You can visit TeachingWorks.org where the missions “is to ensure that all students have skillful teachers who are committed to and able to support their growth.”

2. You can find the list of 19 High-Leverage Practices on the TeachingWorks site.

3. Dr. Forzani has written a number of articles on core practices and high leverage practices. The two articles — one longer and one shorter — are available online without a password:

• Ball, D. L., & Forzani, F. M. (2009). The work of teaching and the challenge for teacher education. Journal of teacher education, 60(5), 497-511. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.441.7327&rep=rep1&type=pdf (longer article)
• Ball, D. L., & Forzani, F. M. (2010). Teaching skillful teaching. Educational Leadership, 68(4), 40-45. Retrieved from http://otheroptions.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/file/view/Teaching+Skillful+Teaching.pdf/199289184/Teaching+Skillful+Teaching.pdf (shorter article)

4. Dan mentioned this 2011 article by Pam Grossman, which argues that core practices can be learned through representations (e.g., novice teachers  watch videos of skillful teachers), decompositions (e.g., novice teachers break down a specific high leverage practice), and approximations (e.g., novice teachers work in simulations or student teaching: 

• Grossman, P. (2011). Framework for teaching practice: A brief history of an idea. Teachers College Record, 113(12), 2836-2843.

Contact

You can learn more about TeachingWorks by following them on Twitter @Teachingworks, find out more about Dr. Forzani’s work from her TeachingWorks page, or e-mail Dr. Forzani at fforzani@umich.edu.