Linking this study‟s findings on the factors which influence transformative teaching practice based on the findings of this study, with the literature on effective professional development, leads to the possibility of conceptualizing a cycle of learning for transformative practice. The alignment of the findings of this study with Huberman‟s (1995) model of professional development indicates its utility in explaining the learning process. The need to include all eight principles of effective professional development (Hawley & Valli, 1995) in the cycle of learning, to ensure change in practice is coupled with improved student outcomes, signals the potential of co- and self-regulatory learning practices in order to achieve this. Thus, an amalgamation of Huberman‟s model of professional development, and in particular the open collective cycle of learning, with
Strategy Normative-re-educative approach
Structure Communities of practice
Professional learning community Learning conversations
Inquiry as stance
Process Co- and self-regulatory learning through a cycle of inquiry into:
Student needs Teacher needs
Impact and effectiveness of practice
Product Local knowledge-of-practice
Figure 1: Framework of underlying principles of influence on transformative teaching practice
with workplace conditions that support adopted to work in to build
Timperley and Alton-Lee‟s (2008) cycle of inquiry could provide a helpful diagrammatic representation. Such a model extrapolates what teachers currently do, based on the findings of this research, to include what they need to do to ensure that transformation in teaching practice simultaneously achieves improved student outcomes. A diagrammatic representation of the learning cycle that builds knowledge-of-practice is provided in Figure 2 (see over).
Teachers who individually and collectively build knowledge-of-practice based on the framework in Figure 1 and use the knowledge-building learning cycle in Figure 2 have the potential to continuously enhance the quality of their teaching and improve learning outcomes for students. Knowledge-building in this manner could pave the way for a new form of professionalism where communities of practice become the site and source (McLaughlin, 2002) of life-long teacher learning.
6.4 Recommendations for Influencing Transformative Practice
Building knowledge-of-practice should be embedded in teachers‟ daily work. This is dependent upon teachers having a theoretical understanding of a richer
conception of knowledge that distinguishes between three forms of knowledge: knowledge-for-practice, knowledge-in-practice, and knowledge-of-practice. Building knowledge-of-practice requires a deep learning process that goes beyond solving problems of practice. It is intellectual work where communities of practice generate local knowledge-of-practice by interrogating and analysing their own teaching practice and the practice of others, interrogating and interpreting research knowledge, and analyzing and interpreting rich assessment data to determine the impact of their teaching practice on student learning. To build knowledge-of- practice, teachers must adopt a new language, develop a new mind- and skill-set, and actively engage in cycles of inquiry that generate local knowledge-of-practice.
Figure 2: Knowledge-building learning cycle
Adapted from Professional Development in Education: New Paradigms and Practices (p. 213), by T. Guskey and M. Huberman, 1995, New York: Teachers College Press, and “Reframing Teacher Professional Learning: An Alternative Policy Approach to Strengthening Valued Outcomes for Diverse Learners,” by H. Timperley and A. Alton-Lee, 2008, Review of Research in Education, 32, p. 354.
Developing New Methods
Trial and Error Experimentation Learning
Outcomes
Theoretical Understandings of Content Knowledge and Assessment Knowledge Demonstrations Observations Data Analysis and Interpretation Inquiry 1 Student Learning Needs Deliberation and discovery Challenging Discourse Challenging Discourse Reflective exchanges, critique and refinement
Inquiry 2 Teacher Learning Needs Inquiry 3 Impact and Effectiveness of Teaching on Learning
The mind-set necessary is one that tolerates uncertainty and ambiguity, and which welcomes risk-taking and creativity. The skill-set required is a form of discourse that invites challenge to existing norms of practice, and accepts silence as a means of processing new ideas, and considering alternative beliefs and values.
Communities of practice, engaging in the intellectual work required to build knowledge-of-practice, will need skilful facilitators who can assist them in embedding the knowledge-building cycle into their daily work. These facilitators will be leaders of learning who have a sound theoretical knowledge and
understanding of the approach, structures, purpose, and product of teacher learning (Figure 1). Leaders of learning will need the skills to activate teacher learning by promoting challenging discourse, creating disequilibrium,
encouraging interrogation of theory and research, and facilitating teacher
questioning of and challenge to their existing practice. They will need to do this in a way that builds a culture of learning based on an ethic of collaboration.
Leaders of learning, who facilitate the knowledge-building cycle, may be internal experts with inside knowledge or external experts with outside knowledge. Irrespective of the source of knowledge, leaders of learning must expand the depth and breadth of teachers‟ knowledge across the four content knowledge domains (subject-specific knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and knowledge of how students learn) and extend teachers‟ assessment knowledge. Rich assessment knowledge gathered from a range of sources must inform each of the three inquiries which make up the sequence of the knowledge-building learning cycle (Figure 2).
Leaders of learning must ensure that transformative teaching practice is not an end in itself. The end point and ultimate goal of transformative practice is to improve student learning outcomes. Leaders of learning must ensure that the knowledge- building learning cycle is the essence of sustainable professional development and continues throughout teachers‟ careers, thus promoting a new form of