ABSTRACT

The term critical friends groups almost appears to be an oxymoron, combining two seemingly contradictory words-critical and friends. Costa and Kallick (1993) share:

A critical friend can be defined as a trusted person who asks provocative questions, provides data to be examined through another lens, and offers critiques of a person’s work as a friend. A critical friend takes the time to fully understand the context of the work presented and the outcomes that the person or group is working toward. The friend is an advocate for the success of that work. (p. 50)

In the life of schools, the use of critical friends groups (CFGs) as a form of professional development is gaining popularity, and through CFGs, the power of learning in the company of others can be enhanced by the number and the strengths of the members who comprise the group. Implemented properly, CFGs improve teachers’ collegial relationships, increase teachers’ awareness of research-based practices and reforms, their knowledge of their school, and their capacity to improve their instruction (Curry, 2008). The purpose of CFGs is to promote meaningful professional development and by the design, the group’s work is purposefully focused to support job-embedded learning (Dunne, Nave, & Lewis, 2000; Easton, 1999; Richardson, 2001).