Teachers’ professional learning when building a research-based education: context-specific, collaborative and teacher-driven professional development

Abstract

A prominent phenomenon in education in Europe and internationally is the demand for research-based education, which is also the case in Sweden, the context of this study. Therefore, greater academic demands have been placed on teachers, which can present a distinctive challenge for teachers who were educated when teacher education prioritised practical teacher training rather than academic training. Therefore, it is especially important to explore what and how experienced teachers learn and develop when moving towards a research-based education. The theoretical framework builds on communities of practice and social learning. The empirical data consists of written reflections from 50 teachers in preschool, compulsory and upper secondary school, who participated in action research projects that aimed to help build research-based education. The findings show that the teachers' professional learning entailed changes in the ways they think, act and relate to others in three areas: teaching, research and collaboration. The study offers insights into the importance of a professional development process being based on a bottom-up perspective, collaborative, context-specific and integrated in teachers' work. Lastly, the study points to the benefit of engagement on multiple levels-principals, lead teachers, teachers and researchers-to achieve lasting success in building research-based education.

The role of action research in teachers’ efforts to develop research-based education in Sweden: intentions, outcomes, and prerequisite conditions

“…For example, the municipality has instituted a scientific leader position and founded a scientific board. In addition, they hired an in-house researcher (the author of this paper), and introduced action research projects.For further readings, see Bergmark and Hansson (2020); Bergmark (2020).…”

“…There is a persistent and growing demand for research-based education in educational policy and practice in Europe and internationally (Bergmark and Hansson 2020;Bergmark 2020;Cain 2015;Lambirth et al 2019). In Sweden, where this study was carried out, the Swedish Education Act stated in 2010 that, 'Education should be based on a scientific grounding and proven experience' 1 (Swedish Government 2010, §5).…”

Reflexive professional development in reflective practice: what lesson study can offer

“…Naturally, language teachers need continuous professional development (PD) to cope with these ever-changing requirements; however, there is still little evidence to claim that they have the voice over their education or PD practices in terms of form and content across various contexts (e.g. Bergmark, 2020; McChesney and Aldridge, 2019) including Turkey (Tanış and Dikilitaş, 2018).…”

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“…Future professional learning sessions could be offered to a broader audience combining in-service and preservice teachers with postsecondary instructors. We suggest deepening the community of knowledge increases the likelihood of developing a collaborative learning community (Chatterjee & Correia, 2020) because collaborative learning promotes higher levels of engagement and fosters deeper relationships within the participant groups (Bergmark, 2020).…”