1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

The book is divided into four parts: Part I: Begin with the Teacher: Focusing Professional Development for Cooperative Learning. This part includes an excellent introduction by the editors, which states the books two main purposes: (1) to enable educators to make informed decisions and choices about selecting, implementing, and evaluating cooperative  learning approaches with respect for the differences and diversity of goals among professionals, and the variations within school contexts, and (2) to consider the goals of teachers' professional development in the context of organizational reforms that foster systematic school change, such as the development of learning communities. They go on to establish a basic platform of a wide, comprehensive understanding of cooperative learning today and of the four major directions evident in professional development for cooperative learning. These directions draw from multiple approaches, seek long-term commitments, treat the whole school, and are informed by constructivist theories of learning. Part II: Lessons from the Field: Approaches to Cooperative Learning and Implications for Professional Development. Contributors to this section share their staff development programs and their research on teacher implementation of cooperative learning. Part III: The Learning Community: Cooperative Learning and Organizational Change. In this section contributors consider how the school as an organization supports cooperative learning. Part IV: Return to the Vision of Community. Liana Forest invites readers to consider the benefit learning communities have in "creating contexts for teachers and students to be learners together." The editors add an afterward in which they reflect on "promising practices and responsible directions" of practice and research. There are several beliefs that pulse throughout the book. In chapter 7 Watson, Kendzior, Dasho, Rutherford, and Solomon state that "Learning new behaviors and approaches to teaching is an extremely challenging task that requires time, commitment, repeated practice, and a network of support, encouragement, and feedback - a workshop or two is nearly not enough" (page 148). All contributors in this volume agree. Another belief that all contributors share is the one clearly stated by Lotan, Cohen, and Morphew (chapter 6), that a conceptual framework for staff development is preferable to "vague abstractions," which arouse "rightful resistance." For Lotan, Cohen and Morphew "...a conceptual framework may include a way to understand how working in a group affects learning, how the teacher's authority changes with the introduction of groupwork, and why inequalities develop within groups" (page 142). Other authors include different points, based on their preferred approach to cooperative learning, and on their experiences and research. These differences are succinctly defined in the editors' introduction. Although there are variations in WHY contributors conduct staff development for cooperative learning as they do, there are great similarities in WHAT and HOW they teach the teachers. For instance, the four interrelated guidelines that Rolheiser and Stevahn (chapter 3) present for inservice training for cooperative learning could easily serve as a framework for most of the programs described in the book: 1. Teachers must make decisions based on instructional goals and theoretical foundations in