What influences the learning cultures of subject departments in secondary schools? A study of four subject departments in England

Student teachers’ positionalities as knowers in school subject departments

“…The limited research on school subject departments suggests that knower and knowledge structures may not be straightforwardly translated from Maton's (2014) with. This is similar to the distinction between veteran-and novice-orientated departments made by Kardon et al (2001), and the individualistic and collaborative cultures described by Childs et al (2013). By foregrounding the lack of distribution, sharing, or debating of…”

“…Examination specifications are powerful dictators of content (Puttick 2015), and the HoD also described these conversations following the introduction of a new specification. Conversations facilitated by coffee and kettle space-times seemed to provide these teachers with their most significant form of discussions, supporting arguments made by Childs et al (2013) that such interactions are 'fleeting and serendipitous a long way from the more systematic inquiry and reflection by individuals and departments that have been suggested result in teacher learning' (p.51). They go on to argue that if the principal form of interaction, no matter how supportive and collaborative, is this briefer and apparently haphazard kind, this may pose serious challenges for the professional development of both beginning and experienced teachers should teacher education become entirely school-based.…”

“…She presents departments as not merely organisational units, or physical areas of a school, but as entities which are predicated on subject specialisms with their distinctive approaches towards knowledge: departments have an epistemological dimension. A range of terms have been used to describe subject knowledge, including: pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman 1987); subject content knowledge (Childs et al 2013); subject specific pedagogical knowledge ;. I use the term subject knowledge in the current paper, which is similar to the ways in which, for example, Brown, Rowley and Smith (2016), and Ellis (2007) use 'subject knowledge' to refer to knowledge that others might separate into pedagogical content knowledge and subject content knowledge.…”

“…Locating and accessing these rich mines of departmental expertise demands more than simply being present in schools, partly because of the complexity of teachers' professional knowledge and practice (Winch et al 2015;Burn 2007), and partly because of the nature of school subject departments. Departments are the primary unit of organisation within secondary schools (Ball and Lacey 1984), and research suggests they are more significant than the school for; school effectiveness and student outcomes (Strand, 2016;Ko et al 2015;Nye et al 2004;Harris 2001;Sammons et al 1997), interpretation and implementation of policy (Ball and Bowe 1992), and teacher learning and development (Childs et al 2013;Burn et al 2007;Visscher and Witziers 2004). In various senses, 'department cultures tend to be more influential than the culture of the school as a whole' (Ko et al 2015, p.234).…”

An analysis of individual and departmental geographical stories, and their role in sustaining teachers

“…In-depth studies also make frequent normative judgements on departmental cultures, for example, as supportive, caring, and friendly, or as exclusive, toxic, and highly gendered. Childs et al (2013) highlight several potentially problematic aspects of teachers' reliance on unsystematic, unplanned encounters for their developing subject knowledge, although their departments are largely presented as friendly, congenial environments. In contrast, Melville and Wallace (2007) foreground what they see as a lack of distribution, sharing, or debating of knowledge in the school science departments they study.…”