Teacher Learning within a Multinational Project in an Upper Secondary School

Liisa Ilomäki,Minna Lakkala,Auli Toom,Hanni Muukkonen

doi:10.1155/2017/1614262

Liisa Ilomäki, Minna Lakkala + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1614262

Copy DOI

Abstract

In this case study, we investigated teachers’ professional learning within a multinational project in an upper secondary school. The aim of the study was to investigate how the participating teachers adopted and applied the trialogical approach (TLA) in their pedagogical practices and their challenges in doing that. The mixed method approach was used for data collection and analysis. About one‐fourth of the teachers participated in the activities, ten females and three males. Three groups were identified, based on their activity in the project: pilot teachers, active adopters, and adopters. Altogether 79 students (38 males and 41 females) answered a questionnaire concerning the pedagogical practices. The pedagogical revisions were well in line with TLA; the revised courses as well as new iterations and new ideas were indicators of the teachers’ creative implementation processes. However, some of the TLA ideas were more difficult to apply in an upper secondary school context; for example, the implementation of ideas involving cross‐fertilization with other organizations and cultures was rare. In order to learn new pedagogical practices, teachers need organized time for collaborative planning, for reflecting, and for sharing.

Highlights

Teachers’ professional learning is regarded as one of the key issues for a well-managing school and for improving students’ learning outcomes (e.g., [1]), the connection is complicated and not always true [2,3,4,5]
We focus on organized possibilities for teachers’ workplace learning within a pedagogical development project, in which the project and its theoretical basis formed a framework for teachers’ professional learning
One of them participated in the second international workshop, and they all participated actively in the school-level workshops and activities during the project lifetime. They received various kinds of informal individual guidance from the researchers related to their new pedagogical practices after the observation sessions as well as after the interviews

Summary

Introduction

Teachers’ professional learning is regarded as one of the key issues for a well-managing school and for improving students’ learning outcomes (e.g., [1]), the connection is complicated and not always true [2,3,4,5]. The teacher-centred approach focusing on an individual student’s learning of mere academic knowledge does not support the development of these skills [6,7,8]. It is challenging for teachers, and for schools, that complex knowledge work competences evolve only through extensive, repeated, versatile, collaborative, and long-term practising, which should be enabled in varying instructional contexts throughout a student’s studies [9, 10]. The aim is to investigate how teachers adopted theory-based pedagogical practices which focus on improving students’ collaborative knowledge work competencies

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion