The 'comet' model
‘3C’ support
Testimonials
Evidence of impact
The 'comet' model
‘3C’ support
Testimonials
Evidence of impact

Our sustained and complete approach to professional learning is highly regarded and proven effective. Teachers need more than information or strategies introduced in workshops and presentations in order to integrate new ideas or approaches into their routine classroom practice. Effective professional learning involves a variety of learning activities, opportunities for practice, feedback, coaching and access to quality professional and student resources. Our approach to sustained and transformative professional learning is to work over time with educational leaders in planning and implementing programs that offer coherent, comprehensive and continuous support for teachers.

Continuous

Transformative educational change takes place over an extended period of time and with continuous support. Short-lived initiatives or one-off sessions have little impact on teaching practice. We offer a range of “building blocks” to help educational leaders construct professional learning programs that sustain and support teachers in long-term professional growth:

  • a wide range of face-to-face and online sessions that can be integrated into an ongoing program
  • informal shoulder-to-shoulder sessions to co-plan lessons with teachers and support informed and focused conversation among colleagues
  • joint development of learning and assessment resources to extend district initiatives
  • modeling of teaching strategies and classroom-assisted implementation
  • access to thousands of resources that provide teachers with an ongoing supply of ideas to try out in their classrooms

Coherent

The bandwagon effect in education has often meant that promising initiatives are tried out for a while and then replaced by something entirely new. Too little effort is made to ensure that teachers understand how they can build on their practice, integrating new initiatives with existing approaches. We work closely with our Partners to align our professional learning opportunities with their other initiatives to ensure that teachers can thoughtfully blend a variety of ideas into a coherent approach to teaching:

  • All of our work is organized around a powerful framework for nurturing a thinking classroom.
  • Our team approach means that each facilitator reinforces the work of others.
  • Our “value added” approach seeks to refine current practices rather than simply replace them with something different.
  • Our sessions are organized around broad themes that integrate well with initiatives supported by other groups.
  • Our consistent approach means that all our resources reinforce the ideas promoted in the sessions.

Comprehensive

For successful implementation, teachers need multiple and various professional learning opportunities supported by access to quality resources for both classroom use and professional learning. We provide an integrated menu of face-to-face, online and print products and services to assist teachers in effecting lasting changes in their teaching practices. The depth of our team and the breadth of our resources mean that we are able to provide our Partners with all of the components they require for successful professional learning.