Teacher isolation

It seems to me, after many years as an educator, that learning involves phases of interaction and the sharing of ideas, solitary, study and/or practice, more interaction and more practice. We give students in classrooms opportunities for group work, individual work, class discussion and homework, honouring these solitary-interaction phases. For teachers, the solitary' phase is done in the company of students, as the teacher tries out new materials and teaching approaches. The interaction phase, which should involve teachers learning together, is often short-lived, hit and miss or nonexistent. Opportunitites for teachers to learn together, and sometimes motivation to do so, are inadequate or lacking. Both as a teacher and as a principal I noted the reluctance of some teachers to participate in professional development activities. If given the choice, many prefer to spend the time organizing their classrooms or marking students' work. This is partly due to lack of time to complete basic tasks, but the phenomenon of isolation is more complex than that