Problems Without Ceilings

Abstract

Support for new forms of teaching expertise with rigorous and equitable outcomes for student learning is a particular challenge when communities of actors working together do not share a similar language or vision of teaching practice. For this project, we coordinated activities in and outside of secondary science classrooms for cooperating teachers (CTs) and their preservice teachers (PSTs) to inquire into a set of research-based teaching practices and tools. Using frame analysis, we contrast three problems-of-practice addressed by 23 dyads: problems of developing novice teachers, problems of improving teaching, and problems of improving student learning. The last frame, improving student learning, required actors to share and co-create knowledge with members outside of their dyads. To do this, groups of dyads formed new or repurposed existing social networks to share tools and work on problems “without ceilings,” meaning those that fueled ongoing lines of inquiry. We describe ways in which knowledge became shared, actors assumed new roles, and new types of tools, activities, and forms of discourse emerged for contextualizing collective work. This study suggests a need for a systems-level approach to teacher education that focuses on institutional networks of shared tools, practices, and deliberate socioprofessional routines for improving practice.