Category: Shelf Notes
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Timeless Goals (and Obstacles) for PLCs
We have long discussed the goals of professional learning communities (PLCs). Louis et al. (1996) define a PLC by describing five aspects of school life which, they would seem to argue, stand to be uniquely impacted by PLCs: Administrators can’t help but look at PLCs and see the potential for a systematic method to improve…
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Glaser, Where to Begin? Issue vs. Problem
Where to begin a grounded theory study can be confusing, especially when one is advised to avoid bringing in ideas from a existing theory and literature. We are told that even the research problem itself should emerge. We are allowed an “area” of research, but we should go in without a preconceived problem: In vital…
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Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning and Levels of Abstraction
Describing the methodology of grounded theory, Glaser and Strauss (1967) imply a helpful distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning: This is an inductive method of theory development. To make theoretical sense of so much diversity in his data, the analyst is forced to develop ideas on a level of generality higher in conceptual abstraction than…
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Notes on The Talent Code, Coyle (2009)
Coyle, Daniel. The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. New York, Bantam, 2009. page 5: Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. pages 14-15: The conventional way to explain…