Teacher Rounds: putting teachers in control of their own learning

In a climate where teachers’ response to traditional continuous professional development (CPD) and feedback from formal observations is often ‘passive’ (Danielson, 2009), Teacher Rounds (Del Prete, 2013) are an innovative form of professional learning, which take place in the context of the classroom. The Teacher Round protocols ensure a safe environment for teachers to work together in a collaborative way. Teachers participate as equals and there are no experts, allowing professional learning to take place in the ‘authentic world’ (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 2011) of the classroom. After retiring from 17 years as head of an inner-city secondary school, I was lucky to be given the opportunity to complete my PhD at Brunel University. My research topic, ‘what happens when teachers participate in Teacher Rounds’, involved working alongside 16 teachers across two secondary schools and one primary school for over a year as they participated in Teacher Rounds. What are