Practice What We Teach! Implementing a Problems of Practice Instructional Delivery Strategy.

Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) School Leadership Project has adopted as a central educational strategy, Troblem based learning and its sub-model, problems of practice, in its program to prepare school leaders. Problems of practice is an active learning model that involves students in taking responsibility for their learning by immersing students into the problems of school administration by placing them at building sites with practicing administrators. In one of two projects, students sharpened their written communication skills by working in teams to write a memo to an area superintendent suing specific guidelines. In another project on time management, students were involved in a range of activities faced by a school principal. Over an hour or two they handled correspondents, dealt with interruptions, conducted a classroom observation, met with hostile parents, handled telephone interruptions, ane made an oral presentation to a group of concerned parents. Principals from area schools provided realism by serving as hostile parents, being telephone interrupters, and concerned parents. Following the experience students worked in groups to establish priorities for the tasks from the time management activity. Student feedback has been consistently positive. Program advantages and pitfalls are noted in detail. (Contains 40 references.) (JB) ********************************************************************::** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. * * *****************************************************::**************** Practice What We Teach! Implementing a Problems of Practice Instructional Delivery Strategy Doris McEwen Walker Indiana University South Bend Division of Education 1700 Mishawaka Avenue P. 0. Box 7111 South Bend, Indiana 46634-7111 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY DORIS MCEWEN WALKER, PH D. INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTH BEND TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) " PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI U S DEPARTMENT OF E DUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER tERICI Thls dorument has been . rproth.cea i. wcelyed horn lb° polsen ohcpnaLey 1:1 MdlOr C11:111t3e, Pav' ,, ! Eh' implove werociuc:10.1 Poen, wew OP 1110,1`, IhWUgulent 11,11 Ilo.1,1,5.1n. , 1.1 11'1! 1,11 ()C. Ill ptS'i. ,,, r"+ Paper presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration ollege of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia August 10, 1995 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Problems of Practice Abstract Problems of practice is an active learning model that involves students in taking responsibility for their learning. It is an instructional delivery strategy that is receiving quite a bit of attention in the preparation of school administrators. Akin to problem based learning the concept of involving students in simulated problems faced by school principals problems of practice is based on the Harvard Medical School model, immersing students into the problems of school administration by placing them at building sites, with practicing administrators. Students are generally assigned to consultant teams and identify problems in conjunction with the designated practitioner. They work in an advisory capacity to develop recommendations for the