A Taxonomy of Instructional Learning Opportunities in Teachers’ Workgroup Conversations

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Seidel Horn ◽  
Brette Garner ◽  
Britnie Delinger Kane ◽  
Jason Brasel
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Sampled Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Work Supports

Many school-improvement efforts include time for teacher collaboration, with the assumption that teachers’ collective work supports instructional improvement. However, not all collaboration equally supports learning that would support improvement. As a part of a 5-year study in two urban school districts, we collected video records of more than 100 mathematics teacher workgroup meetings in 16 different middle schools, selected as “best cases” of teacher collaboration. Building off of earlier discursive analyses of teachers’ collegial learning, we developed a taxonomy to describe how conversational processes differentially support teachers’ professional learning. We used the taxonomy to code our corpus, with each category signaling different learning opportunities. In this article, we present the taxonomy, illustrate the categories, and report the overall dearth of meetings with rich learning opportunities, even in this purposively sampled data set. This taxonomy provides a coding scheme for other researchers, as well as a map for workgroup facilitators aiming to deepen collaborative conversations.

Instructional Improvement and Teachers’ Collaborative Conversations: The Role of Focus and Facilitation

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Christine Andrews-Larson ◽  
Jonee Wilson ◽  
Adrian Larbi-Cherif
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Instructional Quality ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Support Teacher ◽  
Support Students

Background/Context School districts are increasingly expected to support students in meeting ambitious mathematical learning goals. Many schools and districts are investing significant resources in the provision of time for teacher collaboration in the hope that this will help teachers improve their instruction in ways that support students in meeting ambitious learning goals. While existing research points to the potential of this collaboration time to support teacher learning, findings from previous work suggest that use of this time varies in ways that are likely to be consequential for teachers’ learning. Research Question In this analysis, we investigate the question: In what ways do focus and facilitation shape teachers’ opportunities to learn during collaborative conversations? Research Design The data for this analysis comes from a 4-year study of 4 large urban school districts that examines what it takes to improve the quality of middle school math instruction at scale. Our analysis draws on the broader data set by first using teacher-level data (observed instructional quality) from 30 schools to identify schools that exhibited the most growth in instructional quality. We then analyze audio recordings of teacher collaborative meetings at those schools to better understand how the conversations that take place in these meetings might function to support teachers’ professional learning. In particular, we examine differences in facilitator questioning and subsequent facilitator press on teachers to elaborate their pedagogical reasoning. Findings/Results We observed two foci in identified sessions: writing learning targets and lesson co-planning. As enacted, the lesson co-planning sessions held greater potential for supporting teachers’ professional learning. Use of an activity-structuring tool was related to higher quality facilitator questions in these sessions but was not related to improved facilitator press on teachers to elaborate on their responses to these questions. These facilitator moves are marked by (1) solicitation of detailed representations of teachers’ classrooms and practice, (2) orientation toward students as sense-makers, and (3) press for teachers to articulate rationales for instructional decisions that are tied to goals for student learning. We provide examples of facilitator questioning and press that are generative for teacher learning. Conclusions/Recommendations This work contributes to the research on the ways collaborative time can support teacher learning. It identifies specific practices that facilitators can draw on to support teachers’ professional learning—which has the potential to inform both teacher learning and the training of facilitators. This work can additionally inform the design and use of tools (protocols) that can help productively structure teacher collaborative time and also reveal the limitations of such tools. Importantly, we offer a coding scheme for analyzing the quality of facilitation through questioning and press that can subsequently be challenged, problematized, and built upon in the field.

Teacher collaboration, differing expectations, and emotions in school improvement

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Weddle ◽  
Marie Lockton ◽  
Amanda Datnow
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Instructional Improvement ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emotional Process ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Emotional Geographies ◽  
Emotional Dimensions

Purpose While the benefits of teacher collaboration are well documented, less is known about how emotions intersect with teachers’ collective work. Educational change is an emotional process, as reform efforts often involve shifts in teachers’ daily routines and professional identities. To better understand these complexities, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the emotional dimensions of teachers’ collaborative efforts to improve instruction. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on qualitative data, this longitudinal case study of one teacher team explores how teacher collaboration for instructional improvement intersects with emotional geographies. Data analyzed include three years of meeting observations and annual interviews with teachers and school leaders. Findings An analysis of data reveals how emotions both shaped and were shaped by teachers’ collaboration experiences. Varying beliefs about practice, expectations about collective work and identity (in this case, gender) impacted collaboration and subsequently opportunities for instructional improvement. Practical implications This study demonstrates how attending to the emotional aspects of teacher collaboration could serve as an effective strategy for bolstering capacity-building efforts. Findings highlight the interplay between emotional geographies, suggesting that common ground across one geography could potentially be built upon to close gaps across others. Originality/value This study provides a unique longitudinal exploration of the emotional dimensions of teachers’ collective work. The study also contributes to new knowledge about the ways in which teachers’ emotions and collaborative experiences intersect, including the interplay between emotional geographies.

Development of an intervention framework for school improvement that is adaptive to cultural context

2021 ◽  
pp. 136548022110519
Author(s):  
Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir ◽  
Börkur Hansen ◽  
Berglind Gísladóttir
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
High Level

The challenge of educational improvement, due mainly to the complexity of educational systems, is well-known. The aim of this study is to provide knowledge regarding the process of change within schools to better understand how it might depend on cultural context and the characteristics of individual schools. Based on interventions in four compulsory schools (6–15 years old students) in Iceland, the study uses both qualitative and quantitative data. The process of change was guided by a framework grounded in professional learning community principles and designed to be adaptive for cultural contexts as well as the interdependence of different factors of educational systems. Theories of drivers of change and indicators of schools as professional learning communities were used to understand cultural conditions within them. The main findings indicate that the change process in team-driven schools with relatively high levels of teacher collaboration and engagement works well in the framework. By contrast, the change process seemed restrained in the profession-driven and problem-driven schools characterised by either a high level of teacher autonomy and lack of collaboration or engagement in solving several generic problems. The study provided valuable insights regarding the complexity of facilitating change, particularly, the importance of identifying main drivers of change affecting an intervention process at the initiation stage.

Teacher Collaboration in School Improvement

Education ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Weddle ◽  
Marie Lockton ◽  
Amanda Datnow
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Improving Instruction ◽  
Improve Instruction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

Research on teacher collaboration as a lever for capacity building is vast, spanning international contexts. To facilitate collaboration, many districts and schools have dedicated time for groups of teachers to meet and exchange ideas, with the goal of improving instruction and promoting student learning. Collaboration meetings serve as opportunities for teachers to shape ideas together through sharing perspectives, knowledge, and strategies. The potential benefits of collaboration are well researched and include decreased isolation, the development of supportive relationships, and increased understanding of content knowledge as well as pedagogical approaches. Engagement in formal collaboration is linked to changes in classroom practices, impacting learning environments in potentially transformative ways. Several studies exploring the impact of teachers’ collective work on student learning have found a strong relationship between collaboration and student achievement. Teachers’ collaboration experiences are influenced by a variety of factors, including leadership, interpersonal dynamics, external accountability pressures, and the availability of time and space. Close relationships with colleagues based on trust and respect are also pivotal for teachers navigating collaborative efforts to improve instruction. Such relationships must allow for disagreement and debate, as these characteristics are key to promoting growth and deprivatizing practice. This article explores the features and outcomes of teacher collaboration for instructional improvement and includes an overview of foundational literature shaping current research on teachers’ collective work. While teacher collaboration has the potential to improve both teacher practice and student learning, this review of literature demonstrates that achieving such outcomes is challenging. Given complexities related to policies, relationships, and infrastructure to support collective work, teachers’ collaborative efforts often fall short of espoused goals.

Professional Learning Plan: A Tool to Facilitate Teacher Collaboration and Improve Instructional Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 155545892110211
Author(s):  
Dustin Miller ◽  
Anika Ball Anthony
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Instructional Practice ◽  
Achievement Test ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Achievement Test Scores ◽  
Learning Plan

This case study is designed to support the preparation of school administrators and teacher leaders enrolled in courses pertaining to school improvement, instructional leadership, and educational change. The principal of an urban middle school has been charged by the district superintendent to study a downward trend in math state achievement test scores. The case involves a middle school principal and how he might choose to work with his faculty to analyze the issue and develop an appropriate professional learning plan to improve instructional practice. This case scaffolds leader preparation candidates in (a) collaboratively identifying a problem underlying declining state achievement test scores and (b) developing a professional learning plan to support school improvement efforts.

scholarly journals Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge, Networks, Practice, and Change in Instructional Visions

2020 ◽  
pp. 002248712094983
Author(s):  
Charles Munter ◽  
Anne Garrison Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Mathematical Knowledge ◽  
Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Knowledge For Teaching ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Instructional Vision

An instructional vision is the discourse that teachers or others currently employ to characterize the kind of “ideal classroom practice” to which they aspire but have not yet necessarily mastered. In mathematics education, prior work has demonstrated relations between teachers’ instructional vision and a variety of aspects of their classroom practice and professional pursuits. We examined what might contribute to teachers’ development of mathematics instructional visions through a quantitative analysis of a longitudinal data set collected in four urban school districts. Controlling for instructional vision in the prior year, we found middle school mathematics teachers’ current instructional vision to be related to their prior mathematical knowledge for teaching, their prior instructional practice, and their colleagues’ prior instructional visions—with the strength of the relation depending on the density of teachers’ advice networks. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for both inservice teacher professional development and preservice teacher education.

Global Perspectives

2017 ◽  
pp. 89-105
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Context ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Campus Administrators ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Program Content ◽  
Ongoing Assessment

When looking to the future, leaders need to keep in mind that when dealing with change, challenges and opportunities continue to evolve. The dynamic ebb and flow of cultural, social, and economic issues play a role in the school context, which requires ongoing attention to pedagogy, technology, and content and knowledge. Predicted future collaborations and program content will focus on global competencies causing a shift toward campus administrators serving as lead learners with staff, and encouraging teachers to implement innovation in disciplined ways, while keeping an eye to ongoing assessment to meet school improvement needs. Time should be devoted to personalized professional learning through coaching and reflection incorporating voice and choice. Chapter 5, devoted to global perspectives, examines the state of personalized professional learning opportunities in varied contexts.

Light touch, heavy hand: principals and data-use PLCs

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Huguet ◽  
Caitlin C. Farrell ◽  
Julie A. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
School Level ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Principal's Role

Purpose The use of data for instructional improvement is prevalent in today’s educational landscape, yet policies calling for data use may result in significant variation at the school level. The purpose of this paper is to focus on tools and routines as mechanisms of principal influence on data-use professional learning communities (PLCs). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a comparative case study of two low-income, low-performing schools in one district. The data set included interview and focus group transcripts, observation field notes and documents, and was iteratively coded. Findings The two principals in the study employed tools and routines differently to influence ways that teachers interacted with data in their PLCs. Teachers who were given leeway to co-construct data-use tools found them to be more beneficial to their work. Findings also suggest that teachers’ data use may benefit from more flexibility in their day-to-day PLC routines. Research limitations/implications Closer examination of how tools are designed and time is spent in data-use PLCs may help the authors further understand the influence of the principal’s role. Originality/value Previous research has demonstrated that data use can improve teacher instruction, yet the varied implementation of data-use PLCs in this district illustrates that not all students have an equal opportunity to learn from teachers who meaningfully engage with data.

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