The textbook for implementing instructional rounds in a district or system. The underlying assumptions about education are based in Walter Doyle's concept of the instructional task at the center of the instructional core (teacher & student in the presence of content), and in the idea that a profession must have a set of shared practices and norms. The point of view is that of administrators at a very high level attempting to form a theory of action, a collaborative learning culture, and a system-wide strategy for improving practice. In a group made of key people and stakeholders, the group forms a theory of action, observes in classrooms, reflects on what they learn, and develop system-wide strategies for improving student learning.

Our small K-12 independent school is planning to implement a version of rounds, and it was envisioned as a task for the faculty leaders (a professional and salary category which was created some time ago without a strict vision or set of responsibility as its charge). We were only required to read Chapter 4, "Learning to See, Unlearning to Judge," in preparation for the idea of observing in classrooms while separating the practice from the person. Because I don't have a huge amount of time to do intensive reading during the school year, I read the whole thing carefully and took notes, which in hindsight was probably not a great idea for me as it raised a lot of questions for me that I am not sure will be answered.

For instance, as a teacher and former department chair in this small community, I am not sure we have enough anonymity and scale to keep this kind of practice from being evaluative. I know how I would feel about being observed by a group of faculty leaders, many of whom I have known for nearly twenty years. No matter how hard they worked not to judge, I would feel judged. Often, as I read, i thought about what I needed to do in my teaching if I knew I was being observed.

Another concern was that as envisioned by its creators, this process takes years to develop from simply following directions to using the work to change to culture to letting the culture drive the work (p. 183). I do not have confidence that we have the kind of institutional commitment to this process to spend the years it would take. It would have to be central to the school, and we have plenty of other small collaborative groups scattered all over, some of which persist and others of which fade into the background. Time will tell if the institution remains committed to this kind of work.

All that said, this is the kind of work I support, if it is well facilitated and keeps to the task.