Protocols

// ﻿ "To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner, put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he understands and in the way he understand it." // //-Soren Kierkegaard //

==//The word “protocol” has taken on a more specific meaning in education in recent years. **In the context of educators working to improve their practice, a protocol is a structured process or set of guidelines to promote meaningful and efficient communication and learning.**// == ==//Gene Thompson-Grove, co-directorof the national CFG project, writes, “[protocols] permit a certain kind of conversation to occur — often a kind of conversation which people are not in the habit of having. Protocols are vehicles for buildingthe skills — and culture —necessary for collaborative work. Thus, using protocols often allows groups tobuild trust by actually doing substantive work together.”// ==

**//It is important for participants to stay focused on the evidence before them and on listening to multiple perspectives, rather than getting bogged down in assumptions or evaluations. //** //This is probably the most frequently asked question about protocols. There are two “rules” in many ////protocols that seem to cause the most discomfort; they are worth regularly acknowledging before using ////these protocols with educators: // //1. In many protocols there are restrictions on when the presenting educator(s) can talk and when the ////consulting educators can talk; almost everyone feels awkward at first when told they “can’t talk now.” // //2. In many protocols there is a segment during which the consulting educators talk among each other, ////purposely leaving the presenter(s) out of the conversation — in the third person — almost as though ////they were not present! //
 * //Why should we use a process for communication that feels so artificial, awkward and restrictive? //**

//However, both of these restrictions have benefits, as described below. The bottom line is that using ////protocols almost always increases learning, even for those who generally don’t like the structure, by: // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">• giving the consulting educators time to listen carefully to the entire presentation without needing to ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">quickly generate questions or comments; // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">• giving the presenting educator(s) time to simply listen and write (during feedback time) without needing ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">to think about providing eye contact or immediately responding to consulting educators; // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">• having time limits that make it less likely that a small number of individuals will dominate the air time; ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">and // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">• providing guidelines that safeguard the vulnerability of presenters who put some of their weaknesses “on ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">the table”; these guidelines make it safe to ask challenging questions of each other. // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Of course, guidelines alone are not enough to safeguard vulnerability. Participants still need to be ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">considerate in how they speak. “Cool” or “hard” feedback may be evaluative in nature, but it can be ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">heard much better if it’s expressed in the form of a question or with some qualification and a measure ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">of humility, e.g. “I wonder if...”, rather than “I think you should...” Doing this implicitly acknowledges ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">that the consulting educator doesn’t know the context of the situation well enough to tell the presenting ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">educator what they should do. Passionate discussion is wonderful as long as the tone is collegial; selfmonitoring ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">of tone of voice and body language is important to maximize learning. We don’t want to shut ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">people down when we’re trying to support them opening up. // //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">As with all protocols, the facilitator should move the group to the next section of the protocol before the ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">allotted time is up if the group seems ready. In addition, the group can give more time to a section before ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">the protocol begins, and the group may want to give the facilitator some flexibility to add a small amount ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">of time to a section during the protocol. // **//<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Remember, the point of a protocol is to have an in-depth, insightful conversation about teaching and ////<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">learning, not to do a perfect protocol. //** = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
 * //<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Benefits //**