Over 200 attendees joined us for our Teacher Inquiry in Action Forum 2015. This year’s event highlighted the process Mills Teacher Scholars uses to support teacher learning at sites–with posters, panel discussions and teacher consultancies giving attendees a real glimpse into the work our teacher scholars and teacher scholar leaders engage in through their collaborative inquiry groups.
Feedback from the evening consistently stressed how inspiring it was to hear teacher scholar leaders talk honestly about their learning in this public way.
The evening began with a poster session. Attendees chatted with colleagues from across the Bay Area while learning about the work at our partner sites.
Participants from the Berkeley Music Teacher Scholars Group stand in front of their poster with MTS facilitator Claire Bove.
“Our work is about applying what we know to be true about learning and about adult learning to the adult learning opportunities for coaches, teachers, and principals in districts. Through our nontraditional, teacher-led collaborative structures we help build the social capital that will unleash the powerful human capital that is locked up in these schools” Mills Teacher Scholars Executive Director, Carrie Wilson, told a packed room of educators.
Teacher panels gave teacher scholar leaders the opportunity to share their learning and leadership process. Here, representatives from the Mills Teacher Scholars Leader Network present their work.
Fishbowl style teacher discussions highlighted the consultancies Mills Teacher Scholars uses to support the development of teacher thinking. Teacher scholar leaders shared student video data and a dilemma of practice related to their inquiry project focus. This photo captures listeners giving feedback to Michelle Cascio, whose inquiry is on supporting her students’ mathematical problem solving.
At all sessions, audience members enjoyed the chance to process what they were seeing and hearing with other attendees.
The evening ended on a high note–with toasts to our incredibly dedicated network of teacher scholars, teacher scholar leaders and school site partners. In this photo, principal Paco Furlan and teacher scholar leaders from Rosa Parks Elementary in Berkeley Unified receive Mills Teacher Scholars certificates of participation.