Talk About Teaching!: Leading Professional Conversations

I use this in my consulting work.

Charlotte Danirlson continues to lead education with current thinking and research. This book, as a school proncipal, made me think a lot about what I talk about with my teachers. It is an exceptional book and highly recommend it.

This provides a well thought out insight into the dynamics of ongoing educational conversations. The emphasis on collaboration is very relevant.

Great suggestions to help foster dialogue.

Talk About Teaching! was my first introduction to Charlotte Danielson's literature. While Charlotte Danielson has enjoyed wide acclaim in education circles, how that acclaim has been acquired is quite a perplexing question after reading this book.If you, the reader, are interested in finding research-based recommendations for leading professional conversations, this book will sorely disappoint you. I have never read a more biased and one-sided treatment of any aspect of professional practice within education. Danielson's dizzying array of assertions throughout the book are very often not supported by any quantitative, qualitative, historical, or philosophical research. It is doubtful that the book would meet Wikipedia's editorial standards of having material supported by citations from reliable sources. Looking in the References and Suggested Readings, there are about 70 sources related to fields of education, leadership, and business. Upon examining the book itself, only 30 out of 70 sources are used. One chapter has zero citations, while other chapters have fewer than five. The book's lack of research evidence is inexcusable, particularly when it is addressed to professional educators who are under immense pressure to find and use practices that are actually supported by research evidence.For an author who touts the importance of consensus among faculty and leadership on the Big Ideas, she seems quite unaware of the degree to which scholars DO NOT have consensus on issues of intelligence, motivation, and the broader field of education. One might wonder if consensus is conceived by Danielson as speaking of an issue with research from only one scholar; that's certainly the case in her treatment of intelligence, where she sights one author seven times. No other literature is given related to intelligence, yet it is a very urgent subject of research among psychologists. Reading Danielson, you would never be the wiser.Presenting change within education that has no grounding in research is dangerous and irresponsible. This book certainly bestows false clarity on several issues, not the least of which would be knowing the limits of real consensus within a community, and knowing the limits of one's own subjectivity.