Variables Affecting Collaborative Research and Learning in a Professional Development School Partnership

Abstract

The authors investigated the influence of group and task variables on perceived organizational and team learning by school and university participants in collaborative inquiry partnership groups in a professional development school (PDS). Participants included 58 teachers and administrators and 10 university faculty members and graduate students. Group variables included leadership style (task oriented and human relations oriented), leadership composition, cohesion, collaboration, and group size. Task variables included task importance and task type (compensatory, conjunctive, discretionary, and disjunctive). A significant amount of variance in perceived team learning was accounted for by the combined group and task variables, but the task variables as a group did not account for significant variation over that accounted for by the group variables. Only task-oriented leadership, cohesion, and task importance accounted for unique sources of variance in perceived team learning. A significant amount of variance in perceived organizational learning was accounted for by the group, task, and team learning variables; perceived team learning accounted for variance above and beyond the group and task variables. Implications of the findings for professional development and the relevance of the small-group dynamics literature to PDS inquiry and study groups are discussed.