Collegiality and professionalism is best

I have been thinking about what types of teacher development I want to focus on. It seems that there is an ongoing push for greater staff development. Title I schools are required to demonstrate staff development and are even given money to attend conferences and other programs. However, I think the real problem with teacher motivation and development is not access to strategies but ways of sharing and discussing strategies with trusted peers. It seems like the teachers who struggle the most are those who are most isolated in their classroom. The greater the informal talk and sense of collegiality among a staff is the better. However, informal interactions among teachers must also incorporate strategizing, not just comparing notes about the weekend. It seems teachers benefit the most when they can compare strategies regarding teaching of the same topics or subjects- which is why grade group meetings seem important. The other way is through direct observation of other teachers. With a busy schedule it does not seem that sitting in the back of another teachers class to pick up tips is the top thing on a teacher to-do list. But I think in schools where allowing time for this, and encouraging teachers to share resources and ideas is one of the key things to creating an environment for genuine teacher development.
I also think schools can make access to literature and resources greater so that teachers know how to seek out ideas and improve their strategy through academic texts. Both this and the importance of collegiality are backed up by all the reading I have come across. It is interesting to see the way these play out at Wright Elementary, where I am doing my Duffy internship. Their staff library is incredibly organized with a system for checking out books, and it is very easy to find things. Similarly all the books and classroom resources that the school just got for the new social studies curriculum are shared among grades and are neatly organized and easily accessible in the library. In comparison when I was at Todd I had to hunt through bookshelves and non of the teachers seemed to know where anything was. The easy access of teacher resources and tools for development is a perfeect example of creating an 'environment that fosters development'.