Participatory teacher development at schools

Abstract

This article describes an action research study on reflective development at school and discusses methodological and pedagogical issues arising from teacher beliefs and expectations. Teachers and researchers participated in four cooperative cycles of inquiry, where situated learning and reflection supported their conceptual change and meaning-making. Teachers underwent a gradual shift from imposed, predefined teaching and learning to reflective collaboration and response to different needs of different students, while researchers gained a contextualized understanding of teachers' attitudes and beliefs about teaching and learning and examined their own and the teachers' roles as action researchers. Issues related to school ethos, teachers' defensive attitudes and trust-building among teachers are discussed in light of the reflective paradigm of participants' development.

Teachers as Researchers: Bringing Teachers' Voice to the Educational Landscape

“…Constructivism is based on epistemological assumptions that knowledge is constructed by a knower who actively interprets experience, that is, makes sense of it in terms of what the learner already knows. Therefore, as Koutselini (2008) argues, instead of laying the main emphasis in teacher training courses on developing teachersí skills and competencies where teaching is viewed as a set of measurable skills and routine techniques, teachers should be encouraged to accept the role of a critical and reflective researcher who experiences teaching as praxis, ìa unique experience that is influenced by teachersí reflective judgments, moral assumptions and justificationsî (p. 35), where teachers have their own voice and where they construct their meaning. By regaining their voice, teachers can become open to innovative aspects in childrenís inquiries.…”

Teacher Development in Higher Education in an EFL Context: Why Evaluate and How to Evaluate?

“…In the process of a radical departure from teacher isolation, the advent of professional learning community foundation and collegiality among teachers to further teacher education are detected (Lieberman & Mace, 2010). This practice highlights not only collaborative professional development plans and issues, it similarly provides insights about teachers' processes of meaning-creation and collective reflection on actual teaching practices and challenges they report (Koutselini, 2008). In these professional learning communities, teachers are provided with joint grounds to engage in predefined teacher learning situations, to identify areas of teachers' needs, and to transform their perceptions of professional development into concrete actions (Swars, Meyers, Mays, & Lack, 2009).…”

“…DA VID PUBLISHING D teaching and learning theories, and constantly re-conceptualise as well as develop their roles as teachers (Desimone, 2009;Koutselini, 2008). Accordingly, the quality and the impact of teacher development on students can be developed along a knowledge and evaluation base teachers tend to entertain, and via a plethora of methods.…”

The teacher as linchpin

“…Cycles of action and reflection play an important role in this process (Brydon-Miller, Greenwood, & Maguire, 2003;Kemmis, 2009;Ponte, 2002). Through these cycles of action and reflection, teachers can change their practices and alter their beliefs and ideas (Koutselini, 2008). Action research stimulates these changes, and it should result in transformations (1) in beliefs and sayings, (2) in ways of acting and (3) in relations with others and the environment (Bradbury Huang, 2010;Broad & Reyes, 2008;Kemmis, 2009).…”

“…During an action research project the cycle of action and reflection should lead to transformations (1) in beliefs and sayings, (2) in ways of acting and (3) in relations with others and the environment (Bradbury Huang, 2010;Broad & Reyes, 2008;Brydon-Miller & Maguire, 2009;Kemmis, 2009;Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005). Due to these transformations and to the reflective perspective of action research, the action research process could offer teachers the opportunity to change their practices and to alter or adjust their beliefs and ideas (Koutselini, 2008).…”