Co-learning has since been developed from instances similar to these that my colleagues and I have experienced. The co-learner concept was brought to the United States about ten years ago. On American soil, Billie Jean Telles, Reading Language Arts Consultant at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, has also been experimenting with co-learning. I started using a traditional style in staff development and found it too structured. So I started using co-learning because it was a more effective way of working.
Telles works with many groups, from classroom teachers to principals and other county coordinators.
She stresses that co-learning is not always the easy road for participants. She also says that in staff development most people have been trained using conventional learning styles. For good or for bad, we have always been told what to learn and what to do. It will take time to change this. Co-learning takes hard work, time and energy, but it's worth it, says Telles.