PROFESSIONAL LEARNING THROUGH TALK IN PRACTICE

1. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING THROUGH TALK IN PRACTICE Hammersvik, Helstad og Jensen Lillehammer 2008 Department of Teacher Education and School Development Universitet i Oslo/University of Oslo Workin progress

2. Kristin Helstad: Developing teachers` Knowledge. Between school subjects, relations and repertoire Knocking on the classroom-doorsShadowinga significant tool for knowledge-building? Project 1 Project 2

3. School is on the agenda!

4. Professional learning • “Teachers must have pedagogical, didactical and subject knowledge to support students’ learning, and they must have a wide variety of teaching methods” (UFD, 2004, s.94) • Teachers use professional resources to a lesser extent than other professions • Teachers’ strategies for learning seems to rely on personal and subject knowledge and discussion with colleagues • Teachers’ wish to learn is driven by the opportunity to act • Resources and models for good professional practice is important to keep up the engagement for learning http://www.pfi.uio.no/prolearn/docs/prolearn_resultat_2007.pdf (Haug 2004, Klette, 2003, Klette og Lie 2006)

5. Organisational learning • Policy-documents challenge schools to facilitate for organisational, professional as well as student´s learning (UFD, 2003, 2006) • In-service training organised by institutions can only supplement the continuous education provided by the work place, which should be a basic and integrated part of the school’s activity(Åberg 2007, s.81-82). • There seems to be a low degree of workplace learning amongst teachers compared to other occupations (PROLERARN) • School development seems to be detached from classroom- activities (Imsen 2003).

6. Developing teachers` knowledgeBetween school subjects, relations and repertoire

7. The FAGER – projectFagskriving i grunnopplæringen(”Writing across the curriculum”) The purpose is to improve students’ writing in all subjects to improve knowledge building among teachers to explore the influence on and of teacher collaboration and school leadership Focus on writing in subject specific genres teachers’ discussions and assessment of texts how leadership and supervision can support this work

8. Design • An upper secondary school, a group of 10 teachers meet regurlarly to share students’ writing, the school leaders follow the project • The research project, 2 professors, 2 phd-students, 2 master students • Action research project: Close collaboration between the researchers, the teachers and the school leaders • Lasting 2 years: 2007-2009

9. Research questions • How does teachers’ knowledge develop in practice? • What kind of actions and professional language is revealed? • How can knowledge building be stimulated by school leaders and external support?

10. Theoretical framework • A socio-cultural perspective (Møller 2006, Wenger 1998, Vygotskij 1971) • Subject didactics and organisational didactics (Dysthe 1995, 2001, Smidt 2004, Dale 1999) • “Didactics is not primarily planning or seeing the world through a particular subject, but a social practice in which knowledge construction can be made visible” (Lund 2004, p.80)

11. Data • Observation and field notes • Interviews with teachers and school leaders • Logs from teachers and school leaders • Video-/sound recordings • Texts from the project

12. School leaders` evaluation so far From a school leader meeting in February, 2008: • SL1: The most important thing in this writing group is that they see the benefits of it directly in their teaching and that it provides concrete help to improve student performance • SL2: And that they started it themselves • SL1: The writing group is unique in the sense that they see results much faster

13. What works? The researcher sums up: You have said something about why the writing project works. You have said something about what creates the drive in the project, what makes it relevant for teaching a subject, who takes charge and provides for advancement, and how you get external resources.

14. Leadership H: This is what I think should happen on the next writing meeting; I will sum up what has happened in the departements - because now we think we have an idea of what is going on, but we do not really know (…) H: But of course, to follow up is different from just sitting there. It is to ask about subject matter, walk around to find out what they are doing and know what their work is about

15. Reflections so far Good conditions around the project as such: The teachers are enthusiastic about it, the school leaders support it by giving time and space, the reseachers collaborate and they work out new connections between subject knowledge, school development and leadership Latent tensions between teachers and leaders about time, resources, ownership, advancement, products The teachers and the leaders make use of the university expertise and report knowledge building

16. Challenges • For teachers: to cooperate so teachers from different subjects learn from each other and give up some of their territory • For school leaders: to provide conditions for cooperation and makes demands for it • For teacher education: To teach writing across the curriculum and prepare future teachers for different forms of cooperation

17. Knocking on the classroom-doorsShadowinga significant tool for knowledge-building?

18. What is the aim for the study? THE ACTION RESEAERCH: The aim of the study: To investigate how shadowing mediate knowledge- building amongst teachers. THE ACTION: The aim of the school: To analyse learning situations and to develop teacher practice that promotes productivelearning amongst pupils

19. Shadowing - what is it? • Shadowing is a research technique which involves a researcher closely following a member of an organization over a extended period of time (McDonald 2005, p.456). • McDonalds (Ibid) distinguishes between: shadowing as experimental learning, shadowing as a means of recording behaviour and shadowing as a means of understanding roles or perspectives. • We define shadowing as a way of collaboratively orchestrate professional and organisational learning by following practitioners actions. Feedback is given as ”mirrors” that visualise practice to practitioners. Based on these mirrors practice is analysed in collaboration between researchers and collegues.

20. Shadowing- how? 1.The ”shadow” is shadowing the actions of the practitioners. 2.The shadowing is converted into a ”mirror”. 3.The ”mirror” is presented to the practitioner alone or in groupes to look deeper into practice. 4.The presentation (”mirror”) is followed up by discourses. 5.The practitioners explore new (ways of) actions.

21. The Research design MEDIATING TOOLS: ACTION RESEARCH Aims at investigating knowledge-building in practice. ACTION LEARNING Aims at analysing and developing productive learning- situations. Workshops for the teachers To develop professional and organisational learning Shadowing Teacher´s practices To communicate scientific results on knowledge-building

22. Arenas for knowledge building The school Leadership Staff Team Teacher

23. Data

24. Contextualisation, support and revising The teacher and the student

25. Contextual Interviews? These dialogues were based on a situation experienced by the one who was being shadowed as well as the researchers (Hultman 2006)

26. Theoretical frames A socio-cultural perspective on learning • Theories on “the zone of proximal development” • Theories on mediation (Vygotsky 1986) • Theories on patterns on discourses • Theories on scaffolding • Theories on knowledge-building • Theories on shadowing (Bruner 1990, Cazden 2001, Leont’ev 1981, McDonald, S. 2005, Säljö 2002,Vygotsky1986, Wertsch 1991 and).

27. Analysis The Spiral of Knowing (Wells 2008, p.8)

28. Conclusions so far Shadowing seems to have a potential to promote professional and organisational learning. • Knocking on class-room doors, opens up and unfolds teachers´ practices • When teachers’ practices unfolds, practice is shared and visualised • Shadowing and mirroring visualise teachers´practices • By analysing practitoners practices, tacit knowledge becomes explicit • When teachers´practices become explicit, a professional language is developed • But - does it contribute to knowledge building that improve teacher practice and pupils´learning, is still an open question?

29. Further investigations • Might spiral of knowledge and progressive discources be fruitful to look deeper into knowledge-building? • What role does leadership play in • professional and organisational knowledge-building? • designing sustainable learning-system in the organisation?

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