If the term scholar practitioner is new to you then it’s a happy coincidence that you, the reader, stopped by this blog. We will explore the question, Why would a professional want to strive to be a scholarly practitioner, especially in the field of education? This blog will help the reader understand the essentials characteristics of a scholar practitioner and how to apply it to the one’s profession. And, maybe, just like this meme you’ll discover four new strategies/methods for pedagogy in education.
Educators strive to use best practices that are centered on helping students, staff, and parents. The best equipped teachers build positive, caring relationships with their students and have
motivated them to achieve at a high level (Jones, M.D). As educators, we need to ask ourselves what is our vision of instructional practices in our classrooms? A perfect example of “questioning best practices” was when I envisioned a guided reading block that brought confidence to my instruction. I knew my instruction was not at a rigorous level, therefore, my first step was communication. A good resource for communication is PLC’s. PLC’s are professional learning communities were teams of educators work together for common goals such as building curriculum, problem solving, and finding ways to help students, etc. This may be a good place for you to start. Think of all those “talk shop” discussions with colleagues, where new ideas are brought up, changes that could be made to help the workplace. This is an opportunity for to gain momentum to advocate for problem solving which will lead you down the path of scholar research. When I was needing help with guided reading instruction, I sought out the Title 1 Reading Teacher and the building Literacy Coach. Togher they made a big impact on my instructional practices. Use those professional experts in your buildings.
Collecting research and data is central to gaining answers. These answers derive theory that can be shared with colleagues. Scholarly practice equates to good practice and demands that professionals utilize theory and research as the basis for goals and decisions (Carpenter & Stimpson 2007). When professionals share findings, they are leaders of the future and agents of change. I currently get to be a readsing leader in my elementary building through all my work and toil of finding better solutions. When I found those answers and I shared them with my colleagues.
We can all become leaders of change, for those entrusted to our care, by researching solutions to our instructional concerns. The book by Ralph Esquith titled “Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire” can be applied to the scholarly practitioner: research, collect the data, form a theory… like your hair is on fire. And Amen.
Jones, M.D. (2018). Exploring scholar–practitioner leadership: superintendents’ application of theory
to practice in texas public school districts. SFA ScholarWorks.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1182&context=etds.
Carpenter,S, & Stimpson, M.T. (2007). Professionalism, scholarly practice, and professional development
in student affairs. NASPA Journal, 44(2), 265-284.