ABS158 - Teacher development in community constellations as a tool of ZPD
Track:
1.3 Learning, knowledge and agency
What:
Paper
When:
11:20 AM, Tuesday 29 Aug 2017
(20 minutes)
Where:
Convention Center -
2105
How:
To enhance the quality of learning for meeting the challenges of the 21st century (OECD, 2015), teachers must create lessons in which students try to solve problems collaboratively. Such new educational practices cannot be achieved without teachers’ reflection (Schön, 1983). The purpose of this study is to illuminate how teachers reflect on their practice within their “communities of practices” (Wenger, McDermott Snyder, 2002).
A case study method was used. The participant was a teacher in an elementary school. He taught grades 5 and 6 over a 2-year period, and he held the position of coordinator of “lesson study”, in which teachers observe each other’s lessons. He was also a graduate student whose practical research I supported by participating in lesson studies. Data included my field notes and the teacher’s practical reports.
The teacher transformed his lessons through reflection within communities. In “the graduate school community”, he reviewed his own practice and discussed it with teachers from other schools. Through the process of crossing boundary of each school, he reconstructed his beliefs about learning and he came to reflect on his role as coordinator and facilitator. “The classroom community” changed in response to his reflectivity. The students’ relationships shifted to a greater emphasis on joint thinking and mutual respect. At the same time, “the community of teachers at his school” moved toward greater collaborative inquiry.
It was suggested that the constellation of these communities encouraged the teacher’s reflection and that it would support teachers’ development as a tool of ZDP.
A case study method was used. The participant was a teacher in an elementary school. He taught grades 5 and 6 over a 2-year period, and he held the position of coordinator of “lesson study”, in which teachers observe each other’s lessons. He was also a graduate student whose practical research I supported by participating in lesson studies. Data included my field notes and the teacher’s practical reports.
The teacher transformed his lessons through reflection within communities. In “the graduate school community”, he reviewed his own practice and discussed it with teachers from other schools. Through the process of crossing boundary of each school, he reconstructed his beliefs about learning and he came to reflect on his role as coordinator and facilitator. “The classroom community” changed in response to his reflectivity. The students’ relationships shifted to a greater emphasis on joint thinking and mutual respect. At the same time, “the community of teachers at his school” moved toward greater collaborative inquiry.
It was suggested that the constellation of these communities encouraged the teacher’s reflection and that it would support teachers’ development as a tool of ZDP.
