Abstract:
Contemporary education settings in Australia are characterized by a continuous school improvement agenda driven by the pervasive influence of neoliberal ideology. School leaders and teachers face increased accountabilities and pressures to raise student performance in a high stakes assessment culture. In this environment, the importance of utilizing professional learning to develop individual and collective capability is a common feature of all school education systems. At a systemic level, a number of Australian states and territories endorse action research and coaching processes for school and teacher improvement and effectiveness. In Queensland, there is evidence that State, Independent and Catholic systems have implemented action research, coaching and other forms of teacher inquiry to support their improvement agendas. What is unclear, for many school leaders and teachers involved in these approaches towards collaborative professional learning, is how to make sense of the learning (for themselves and others) and leading practice in which they are engaged.
This paper reports on a recent Queensland study (Leading practice in professional learning - LPPL) that provides deepening insights into leaders’ practices associated with the facilitation of school-based professional learning, with a specific focus on action research and practitioner inquiry initiatives. The paper provides an overview of the major aspects of the 2017-18 LPPL research program in two large schools and critically analyses findings associated with the main research question:How are leading practices contributing towards creation, enactment and evaluation of collaborative professional learning at school level?
The LPPL study used a research design based on a participatory action research model, in which the external researcher engaged with internal school participants as an integral part of the data gathering, observing and reflecting process. Positional leaders and teachers from case study schools constitute the main data sources. Aspects of the data collection are directly linked to an interpretive learning framework developed to understand action research, coaching and inquiry projects conducted by teacher researchers in their Queensland schools. Analysis and deeper interpretation of data is informed by drawing on a specific theoretical framework of practice architectures and ecologies of practice. Two main aims of the LPPL research project were: 1. To establish an empirical foundation to begin understanding the dynamic nature of leading practice in collaborative professional learning.2. To allow the participants to engage with a suite of reflective tools to assist in understanding how they initiated, implemented and evaluated their professional learning at individual, team and whole school level.
This paper reports on a recent Queensland study (Leading practice in professional learning - LPPL) that provides deepening insights into leaders’ practices associated with the facilitation of school-based professional learning, with a specific focus on action research and practitioner inquiry initiatives. The paper provides an overview of the major aspects of the 2017-18 LPPL research program in two large schools and critically analyses findings associated with the main research question:How are leading practices contributing towards creation, enactment and evaluation of collaborative professional learning at school level?
The LPPL study used a research design based on a participatory action research model, in which the external researcher engaged with internal school participants as an integral part of the data gathering, observing and reflecting process. Positional leaders and teachers from case study schools constitute the main data sources. Aspects of the data collection are directly linked to an interpretive learning framework developed to understand action research, coaching and inquiry projects conducted by teacher researchers in their Queensland schools. Analysis and deeper interpretation of data is informed by drawing on a specific theoretical framework of practice architectures and ecologies of practice. Two main aims of the LPPL research project were: 1. To establish an empirical foundation to begin understanding the dynamic nature of leading practice in collaborative professional learning.2. To allow the participants to engage with a suite of reflective tools to assist in understanding how they initiated, implemented and evaluated their professional learning at individual, team and whole school level.