CONSULTING SKILLS: QUESTIONS TO ASK Background Leading to Request: What prompted their interest in your services? Is this a result of a district initiative, principal and/or staff interest? What is the prior experience of the staff in this issue? Who has received training in the past? Whole staff or individuals? How does this topic link to their other staff development efforts? to their school mission/vision/school plans for change?
Logistics and Pragmatic Considerations: Who will attend? What is the Principal’s role in the program? (Who besides themselves will be there?) How many people? What are their roles? Will this program be mandatory or voluntary? What resistance do you anticipate from any participants? When? Time of day? Where? What type of room? Furniture, Equipment and Supplies other logistics: program agenda, schedule; refreshments, handouts? Who will be responsible for what?
Expectation: What are your specific goals or desired outcomes for the program? What is your specific philosophy or particular structures you want emphasised? What is your perception of the issues and concepts to be discussed? What outcomes do you want from the program? What is your commitment to follow up? Further programs, teacher support at site
Establishing your Credibility: Describe some practical application ideas and examples from your own extensive implementation; State your own philosophy of effective teaching and learning, in linking environment, curriculum, instruction and assessment; Describe how this fits with your perception of a learning community, to the bigger picture of how this fits into education and how we learn, to the teacher’s role in drawing out student learning, to fostering attitudes about learning and working with others; Discuss the advantages of having the same person work with staff over time.
29 Educator Professional Learning
