What is Stagnant Momentum

Departmental e-mail reflection groups promise to help resolve two of the most pressing problems facing the teaching profession, finding time for meaningful, ongoing professional development (Cook, 1997) and the retention of new teachers (Reed, Reuben, & Barbour, 2006). The ultimate goal of teacher research and all other forms of professional development is learning, learning to be a better teacher. Though learning is often defined as lasting change (Driscoll, 2000), little change occurs in a vacuum. One path to professional development for teachers is personal reflection, but its power to generate meaningful change is limited by the individual teacher’s existing knowledge and experience. On the other hand, meaningful change tends to flourish in cultures defined by rich social interaction (Piirto, 1992). Though classroom teachers can and sometimes do draw inspiration and ideas from other educators (Manning, 2006), practical opportunities for this are much too rare (Selwyn, 2000).