Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind, the authors of How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations, present an article in Harvard Business Review titled “Leadership is a Conversation“. They state that, “Traditional corporate communication must give way to a process that is more dynamic and more sophisticated. Most important, that process must be conversational”.
In an earlier blog and podcast, I highlighted the importance of student conversation to positively impact learning: (Maryellen Weimer)
- Students learn the content when they talk about it.
- Talking lets students learn from each other.
- Talking gives students the opportunity to practice using the language of the discipline.
- Talking connects students with the content.
- Talking connects students with each other.
I suggest the same is true for teacher learning. Re-read each of the above statements replacing the word student with teacher. Conversation is a critical strategy for instructional leaders to impact teacher learning for student learning.
The following video clip shares some thoughts on teacher conversations focused on learning.
