Collaborative Professional Development Research Articles

Understanding the Process of Changes in Science Beliefs and Classroom Practices from Immersive Research Experience for Science Teachers

This study explored 8 high school science teachers’ experiences in an 8-week immersive research laboratory professional development program. The aim was to understand their motivation for participating and what factors influenced changes in beliefs about science instructions. Mentor scientists and their lab members hosted teachers for the duration of the program allowing teacher participants to become active members of research. Results showed that participants used three major lenses to understand their research experience: self as educator, self as learner, self as researcher. The use of overlapping lenses provided participants with the impetus to change beliefs about science and research practices in their classrooms. Ample time and collaboration in professional development is critical to changes in beliefs about science instruction.

A collaborative professional development and its impact on teachers' ability to foster higher order thinking

The objective of this research is to examine teachers' competence in designing activities after engaging in professional development activities aimed at enhancing teaching design in order to develop students' thinking abilities that are contextually appropriate. The participants consist of 5 elementary school science teachers from schools. The research employed semi-structured interviews and classroom observation as research instruments. The findings reveal that teachers engaged in self-development through observation and learning from their peers within the community of practice (CoP). They receive advice and feedback from fellow teachers and apply these insights to improve their activities. Consequently, teachers are able to continuously refine and develop their teaching approaches to align with students' contexts. This approach facilitate diversification in thinking and learning management, as well as collaborative teamwork to enhance teaching methods. As a result, engaging and interesting thinking development activities are incorporated into student learning, along with the creation of a seamless learning-promoting environment. Collaborative teamwork in instructional design and problem-solving further afford teachers the opportunity for additional self-learning and personal development. This collaborative approach also contributes to fostering cognitive diversity and relieved the need for individual teachers to undertake all tasks independently.

Identity Trajectories of Faculty Members through Interdisciplinary STEAM Collaboration Paired with Public Communication

Faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are accustomed to presenting their research findings through journal publications, conference presentations, textbooks, and other academic mediums. However, the audience for these traditional forms of communication are other researchers, which raises concerns about how science research and knowledge are communicated to audiences who have less expertise on these topics. We sought to understand how faculty members develop their identities through collaborative professional development opportunities aimed at growing communication skills to communicate with audiences less familiar with research through interdisciplinary science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) activities. We conducted a qualitative, longitudinal study with sixteen STEAM faculty members to explore their identity trajectories as their interdisciplinary cohorts participated in various collaborations to engage with public audiences about their research. Through our analysis, we found that each faculty member’s dominant identity played a significant role in their identity trajectory through their professional development. We observed a significant growth in faculty members’ communication skills, such as learning new presentation techniques to engage others in their research areas of expertise and in their understanding of interdisciplinary STEAM collaboration. Our results provide insights into the identity trajectories of faculty members and how their identity development through these interdisciplinary STEAM collaborations will impact their formal education roles as researchers and teachers moving forward.

The Outcomes of Collaborative Whole-School Professional Development on Teachers' Inclusive Practices in a Mainstream Secondary School

The outcomes of a collaborative whole-school model of professional development on teachers' learning to enact an inclusive education initiative, in a mainstream post-primary school explores the outcomes of whole school collaborative professional development on teachers' learning in terms of the degree and quality of teacher change in relation to inclusive practices, in this instance specific to level two learning programmes (L2LPs) and what factors facilitated or hindered teachers' learning for enacting inclusive practices. The findings of this paper highlight the potential of facilitated PD to empower teachers to develop greater levels of knowledge, skills, and experience of inclusive practice to enable collective decision-making and enhanced planning and teaching for all learners. Though aimed at a specific programme (L2LPs), the authors believe this research has wider implications for supporting mainstream teachers build capacity in their inclusive practices generally.

Collaborative Professional Development in English Medium Instruction

In recent years, the need for focused student‑centred teaching in general, and greater and higher quality interaction in particular, has been widely recognized.However, for this to occur in the field of EMI, it is believed that teachers need to undertake some re‑examination of their teaching approaches and/or professional development. The present study carried out in Italy by means of a data‑driven research protocol aims to investigate and improve the professional development of EMI teachers. Results and conclusions will hopefully contribute to further enrich the knowledge‑base of researchers and practitioners working in the field.

Six Steps to Surviving a Teaching Emergency

We describe how a modified version of an emergency survival strategy led our team in addressing problems of practice identified in two second grade classrooms. We attended to the urgent needs of students by enacting the curriculum with integrity, doing what was most important and effective, while accommodating their classroom context (LeMahieu, 2021). We describe the steps we took, the influences on our thinking, and the resulting impact. In hopes of elevating the participating teachers’ voices, we have integrated the explicit reflections of the teachers as they responded to prompts from the mathematics teacher educator. We offer our own Six Steps to Surviving a Teaching Emergency as a way to structure collaborative professional development between mathematics teacher educators and classroom teachers.

Educational Tactics through Social Marketing: Enhancing Awareness and Community Participation in Building a Quality Education Environment

In the dynamic landscape of education, where the winds of change constantly blow through the traditional structures, a promising avenue for transformative evolution emerges at the intersection of pedagogy and social marketing. As we navigate the multifaceted challenges woven into the fabric of society, the symbiotic relationship between education and social marketing takes center stage. Quantitative data from surveys will be analyzed using statistical techniques to identify patterns, correlations, and trends. Qualitative data from interviews and community workshops will undergo thematic analysis to uncover recurring themes and nuanced insights. The triangulation of findings from multiple sources will enhance the validity and reliability of the results. The synergy between pedagogy and social marketing represents a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize and approach education. The fusion of pedagogy and social marketing underscores the need for integrated professional development programs for educators. Institutions should design collaborative professional development programs that bring together educators and marketers.

Towards a ‘Community for Practice’—A Narrative Analysis of the Evolution of Higher Education Scholars

In higher education (HE), collaborative activities that revolve around a core idea, practice, or knowledge base, such as learning circles, communities of practice or inquiry, peer observation, and peer-assisted teaching, are known to support professional learning. This paper explores the experiences of eight HE scholars from Australia and New Zealand, across four years, as they recognized a new means of collaborative professional development that transcends known approaches and extends beyond an immediate focal point. The group originally formed to support the development of HE fellowship applications, but evolved to what they now consider a community for practice (CfP), where the purpose of collaboration has changed to meet the unique learning needs of each member. During their four years of collaboration, meeting discussions were recorded, and individual and community narrative reflections about participation in the group were created. A thematic analysis of these collective data sources revealed the group’s evolution, and the authors draw on their experiences to tell their story with an aim to enhance professional learning in HE. The study highlights that individuals’ distinct and varied needs can be developed and supported through scholarly, collegial engagements such as a CfP, which does not necessarily require an immediate point of practice.

Motivating Teachers to Reflect in a Professional Community of Practice Through Collaborative Action Research

Teachers’ professional development has been a widely discussed matter in the literature. Thus, a diverse range of frameworks was introduced to enhance teachers’ knowledge, experience, and skills. One such significant tool to boost teachers’ knowledge and competence can be collaborative action research (CAR). Although action research and collaborative professional development received sufficient scholarly investigation separately, CAR, which is not been explored in Iran, can have numerous implications and benefits. The current study explored Iranian in-service language teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of CAR, motivating them to reflect in a professional community of practice (CoP). Thus, ten teachers were selected through purposive sampling, and data were analyzed thematically. The result indicated that teachers gained personal, social, and professional benefits from CAR in a CoP and became motivated to reflect on their practices regularly through CAR. Moreover, teachers became systematic, reflective, collaborative, creative, curious, supportive, agentic, engaged, and conscious, which can be the foundations for motivating reflective practices. This study encourages teachers, teacher educators, and stakeholders to incorporate CAR in a CoP in order to motivate teachers’ reflective practices for professional development.

Using coaching and mentoring supervision of lesson study to enhance classroom research competencies: a multi-case study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the coaching and mentoring supervision of the Lesson Study to enhance preservice mathematics teachers' research competencies.Design/methodology/approachThe researcher employed a multi-case study design to describe the internship experiences of practicing coaching and mentoring supervision while preservice teachers engaged in Lesson Study. A total of six preservice teachers were the samples, and they were teaching six lessons. A classroom observation evaluation form was used to collect data from 60 observers, with a proportion of 10 observers to each sample to assess and provide feedback on the samples' research competencies. This was followed by 12 individual, semi-structured interviews using interview protocol. The participants included 60 Lesson Study group members and six mentors from the three research schools, together with the samples' internship advisors from Suratthani Rajabhat University, totaling to 72 assessors. Data were examined using the thematic analysis method.FindingsThe results of 60 observation evaluations revealed that coaching and mentoring supervision of Lesson Study can develop samples' research competencies in four capabilities, namely, instructional planning, classroom management, instructional delivery and professional development. The 12 interview results indicated that the six samples' research competencies were improved in these four aspects, namely, data collection and analysis, collaboration, reflection and pedagogical content knowledge.Practical implicationsMentoring and coaching supervision of Lesson Study holds great potential for collaborative professional development and continuous improvement of mathematics teachers' research competencies.Originality/valueThis article suggests meaningful professional benefits of participation in mentoring and coaching supervision.

Teacher study groups as a collaborative platform for action research: an ecological perspective

ABSTRACT The interplay between teachers engaged in action research (AR) and the educational ecosystem involving the other teachers who did not conduct AR and administrators has been an issue unexplored in the English Language Teaching (ELT) field. In the current study, we explore how teachers’ engagement in AR within a Teacher Study Group (TSG) at a state university in Türkiye interacted with each layer of the ecosystem from an Ecological Systems Theory (EST) perspective. Inductive analysis of data from semi-structured interviews with the teachers who actively participated in the project (n = 6), the other teachers who peripherally observed the action researchers (n = 10), and the administrators (n = 3), revealed that AR processes including collaborative professional learning and disseminating research findings significantly impacted the four layers of the educational ecological system (micro-, meso-, exo- and macrosystems). We discuss how AR as a collaborative professional development practice impacted each layer of the ecosystem, together with implications for its sustainability.

Educators working together: Listening to children’s voices and stories about cultural and family artifacts during pandemic teaching

This paper is located within a larger study of children’s voice and storytelling. The focus is on how children use artifacts, such as special objects and photographs, to tell stories about their lives. We studied the collaborative learning of educators, in two schools in Eastern Canada, as they used sharing circles and multimodal pedagogies, and worked to elevate and listen to children’s voices during a period of pandemic teaching. This study examines children’s things/artifacts as material culture and relates things/artifacts to artifactual literacies. The action research design included a consideration of children’s voice in early years research alongside the collaborative professional development inquiry undertaken by educators in the study. An analysis of key findings as they relate to evolving pedagogies, including how artifacts were used to tell stories, and how voice can be viewed through this artifact sharing is presented. We argue that building voice and collaboration can result from pedagogies of classroom sharing and listening. Educators’ challenges in this research and their classroom teaching during a constantly shifting set of teaching conditions are fore fronted. Insights from children’s particular artifacts and their stories enhanced educator and peer awareness of difference, and of cultural practices in families. Finally, implications for practice, and future research possibilities are presented, along with an argument for viewing children’s voice as emergent alongside classroom multimodal pedagogical practices that augment children’s voices.

Policy and practice on school principal recruitment and professional development in South Africa and Poland

This paper aims to compare policy and practice on school principal recruitment and professional development in South Africa and Poland. Common challenges and different responses are discussed, focusing on the following: (i) the requirements to become a school principal; and (ii) preparation and professional development of school principals. The analysis is based on a review of the law in the field of education and accompanying executive regulations in South Africa and Poland and a literature review on school principal education. We focused on the link between school leadership and school principal education. A comparison of national policies on recruitment and education of school principals in these two countries revealed common challenges in the two contexts, which directed our attention to the following questions: (1) How can principals’ professional development be understood on a continuum of static to dynamic practice? (2) What is the influence of context on principals’ professional dilemma of being an isolated practice to allowing for contextual influence? (3) How is a balance struck between individual and collaborative professional development of principals to improve quality education for all learners? Lastly, conclusions – which are of relevance to policy, practice and further research on school principal recruitment and education – are drawn. This study underscores the professionalisation of school principal development.

Using Virtual Reality to Support Retrieval Practice in Blended Learning: An Interdisciplinary Professional Development Collaboration between Novice and Expert Teachers

This small-scale study comprised an evaluation of a teacher professional learning experience that involved the collaborative creation of resources using immersive virtual reality (VR) as a retrieval practice tool, specifically focusing on the open access aspects of the SchooVR platform. SchooVR offers teachers and students tools to enhance teaching and learning by providing a range of virtual field trips and the ability to create customised virtual tours aligned with curriculum requirements. By leveraging the immersive 360° learning environment, learners can interact with content in meaningful ways, fostering engagement and deepening understanding. This study draws on the experiences of a group of postgraduate teacher education students and co-operating teachers in Ireland and Northern Ireland who collaborated on the creation of a number of immersive learning experiences across a range of subjects during a professional learning event. The research showcases how immersive realities, such as VR, can be integrated effectively into blended learning spaces to create resources that facilitate retrieval practice and self-paced study, thereby supporting the learning process. By embedding VR experiences into the curriculum, students are given opportunities for independent practice, review, and personalised learning tasks, all of which contribute to the consolidation of knowledge and the development of metacognitive skills. The findings suggest that SchooVR and similar immersive technologies have the potential to enhance educational experiences and promote effective learning outcomes across a variety of subject areas.

Using a Practical Measure to Support Inquiry Into Professional Development Facilitation

Despite the complexity of facilitating professional development (PD) and growing attention to supporting facilitators, few tools exist for facilitators to engage in ongoing inquiry into their practice. In this article, we offer a practical measure, the Collaborative Professional Development Survey (CPDS), designed to provide facilitators with information about teachers’ perceptions of aspects of the PD learning environment that research indicates matter for teachers’ opportunities to learn. We illustrate how facilitators used the CPDS to support their collective inquiry into facilitation. We also illustrate the social processes that appeared to enable facilitators’ productive use of the CPDS, including a routine to analyze the resulting data, and the orientations that underpinned their analysis. We discuss implications for facilitators’ use of the CPDS.

Facilitating collaborative professional development among instrumental and vocal teachers: A qualitative study with an Austrian Music School.

This case study provides an in-depth investigation in a professional development project about facilitating collaborative reflection. This was led by a research team from the university with 13 instrumental music teachers from one music school in Styria (Austria) during 2019-2021 (including the initial COVID-19 pandemic). Research questions considered (1) the participants' descriptions of the collaborative professional development, (2) participants' uses of reflection tools and indications of their identification with workshop interventions, as well as factors responsible for the outcomes from the reflection tools; and (3) ways participants' thinking and attitudes may have developed through the workshops, how they defined themselves as a group (if they did), and how they might have gained trust in one another. Inspired by the design-based research approach, practitioners and researchers worked closely together to enhance teaching and learning implementing interventions with collaborative reflections tools. While the first phase (11 workshops) was primarily led by the project-team, the second phase (7 workshops) was participant-led. Data included focus groups and discussion transcriptions from 18 workshops. The impetus of the study included the role of the director and the participants dealing with the interventions, and finally the participants' descriptions of their experiences in the professionalization process. Literature included collaborative professional development, community of practice, learning communities, self-determined learning, reflective practice, and ethical considerations. Data were analyzed based on thematic analysis and gave rise to five following themes: forming group cohesion, inspiring and appreciating collaboration, bridging theory and practice, identifying deeper thinking and teachers as learners, addressing challenges and potentials during the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally finding the music school's own identity and sense of importance. Findings highlight the importance of establishing meaningful collaborative reflection through appreciative communication and an atmosphere of trust and respect. To be able to make change in and with an institution, leadership members must be engaged as collaborative stakeholders on an eye-level; collaborative professional development can be used as a resource toward rethinking and reworking the identity of one's music school and of teaching and learning. Institutions should provide space and continuity for such development. Finally, the study highlights that a collaborative reflective approach can contribute to professional and social growth.

Design-Based Research as Professional Development: Outcomes of Teacher Participation in the Development of the Science Practices Innovation Notebook (SPIN)

ABSTRACT The use of data to explain natural phenomena has been a core feature of science education, and science educators continue to call for an increased emphasis on teaching data practices. This mixed methods design-based research study adds to the growing body of research on data practices in science by explaining the learning trends of science teachers involved in a three-year collaborative professional development (PD) using computational thinking (CT) and self-regulated learning (SRL) as a means to support teachers in implementing data practices. The PD resulted in long-term high-quality teacher learning outcomes for all three elements of the PD (data practices, CT, and SRL) despite the upheaval of teaching platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the teachers were involved in design-based research, their professional learning focused on collaboratively creating an electronic, interactive notebook with lessons for use in science classrooms across the United States. Creating a common product as an outcome of the PD may have served as motivation for teachers to learn about and implement more data practices, CT, and SRL, which suggests that design-based research is another valuable design for teacher PD.

The focus on achieving results and the consequences for teachers in schools in England

ABSTRACT This paper reflects on the challenges that exist for school teachers in England. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with English primary (n = 10) and secondary (n = 10) teachers. The research reveals that too much emphasis is placed on achieving successful academic results in schools in England and that the focus on the highest and lowest achievers results in the middle range learners receiving less attention than is necessary for their successful academic development. Four key themes appear from the interview data and link back to the organisational culture of primary and secondary schools in England and the consequences that this has for the practitioners who are working in these settings. The research findings reveal that primary and secondary schools in England are overly driven by examination results, and that the leadership structures of the schools are considered to be anachronistic. Moreover, there appears to be an absence of forms of education that are interpreted as being enterprising and this works against collaborative professional development. The research develops the argument that instead of emphasising the importance of results, collaborative approaches to enabling professional development for practitioners in schools are necessary.

Reproduction to transformation: disrupting teacher habitus through pedagogic work

Addressing in-service teacher professional development is a significant issue for educational stakeholders as reform movements mobilize to replace teacher-led instruction with student-centred pedagogies. Teachers need access to high-quality professional development to mitigate implementation problems associated with reform practices. Drawing on critical ethnography, I followed the year-long professional journey of six in-service science teachers in Quebec, Canada. Video-recorded professional development meetings and semi-structured interviews captured how teachers worked to enact sophisticated inquiry-based teaching practices. I have used a Bourdieusian lens to examine teachers’ shifting habitus as they professionally develop in collaborative professional development. Findings suggested that the field of educational reform is transformative when teachers engage with a professional learning model emphasizing critical reflection and collaborative discourse. Using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and field, findings illustrate the benefits of pedagogic work on teachers’ repertoires of practice to understand the generative potential of professional development to transform teachers’ instructional practices.

Reframing Readers Theatre for teaching EFL: infusing values for peace and conflict prevention for teacher professional development in Indonesian Islamic schools’ settings

ABSTRACT This article reports on a project investigating the impact of a new framework for Readers Theatre on teachers’ professional skills. Twenty-one Islamic secondary English school teachers engaged in collaborative professional development training to experience and give feedback on the framework. The article describes the participants’ affective and critical responses and perspectives as well as opportunities and challenges related to the new framework in infusing peace values into EFL (English as a Foreign Language) materials. This study provides fresh insight into the potential of Readers Theatre for teaching peace and conflict prevention in the Indonesian Islamic EFL secondary school context.