Building Clear, Shared Understanding

November 2025

In November, education expert Lynn Sawyer led a week of professional learning with KIS teachers and academic staff. Director of Teaching and Learning Hilary Barron coordinated the sessions and shares her reflection below.

Lynn Sawyer joined leadership teams virtually at the start of the school year and we were thrilled to welcome her in person to work with more teams. Her work with KIS supports building collective efficacy around a shared, clear understanding of what high-quality teaching and learning looks like at our school.

The week began with revisiting the Danielson Framework for Teaching, which gave us the common language and structure we need to talk about effective practice with clarity. Using the framework’s components and indicators helped academic staff and administrators observe and discuss the elements of high-quality teaching in consistent ways. This shared language then anchored our deep dive into the peer observation protocol. 

As Lynn guided us through planning and reflecting conversations, teachers experienced how structured, non-evaluative observation can strengthen professional dialogue and build a culture where we learn with and from one another. This protocol will become a key pillar of our teacher growth system: one that builds teacher agency, strengthens clarity around high-quality teaching and learning, and fosters the trust needed for authentic collaboration.