Design thinking as instructional design: examining a professional learning community for pre- and in-service teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Across jurisdictions, new and experienced teachers are expected to engage in ongoing professional learning that centers context, student learning, and teachers as adaptive instructional designers. The present study examines one such professional learning opportunity. From 2017 to 2020, a university teacher education program partnered with a school division in Alberta, Canada, to create a professional learning community (PLC) for instructional design. Pre- and in-service teachers jointly participated in 12-month cycles of formal workshops, sustained practicum placements, and iterative opportunities for co-learning and reflection to strengthen their skills as instructional designers, with a specific focus on a design thinking approach. Semistructured interviews conducted between June 2020 and June 2021 with six pre- and in-service teachers who had participated in the PLC identified five key themes: (a) a sense of willingness, (b) teaching for innovation, (c) creating space to change practices, (d) a notion of ‘currency’, and (e) collaboration across stakeholder groups. Participants’ insights offer situated examples of how such collaboration may extend knowledge sharing across pre- and in-service boundaries to provide multilevel supports for teacher-led professional learning.