Towards the end of our inquiry cycles, Lucy indicated that she was not only satisfied with her engagement in SBPL, but that she would also like to make this practice an essential part of her role as a teacher. However, despite the fact that Lucy revealed a shift in her mindset and engagement in SBPL, she was uncertain if PL programmes would be formally arranged in her school. She argued that without obtaining a formal recognition of PL practices at school, perhaps by allocating sessions in the annual calendar, it would be difficult for teachers to sustain this practice. She stated:
My thinking is: This SBPL should be managed by the school itself. All PL matters should be included in the school calendar. During the course of the year, there should be the calendar that shows what to be done for the whole year. By doing so, teachers will consider it coming from the school management and everyone should participate (Lucy/INT-F).
For example, Lucy emphasised that forming a PL community across subjects would need school permission: “It is possible, but you need to involve the management. That
means it should be included in the school timetable or calendar” (Lucy/INT-F). Her comments suggest outstanding concerns about teachers’ ability to conduct some PL practices.
Lucy believed, however, that together with her colleagues they were ready to offer SBPL expertise, “Definitely! I can do it confidently! Ha ha! Yes, I am the SBPL expert” (INT-F). However, her major concern centred on the obligation of the school to support their will:
160
Supervision is important, the main supervisor of PL is supposed to be an Academic Master… they always make follow up to ensure that teachers have written lesson plans, scheme of work and the like. They can also supervise this one (Lucy/INT-F).
Lucy’s concern was left with the school management and the other teacher participants in this study who promised to ensure that PL would be an ongoing activity at school. A sample of a SBPL policy was supplied to the school management to encourage them to prepare the school’s PL guidelines for the following year.
5.7
Chapter summary
This chapter has explored Lucy’s engagement in SBPL through three inquiry cycles and illustrated the way her practices and understandings of PL had been transformed. The results in this chapter indicate that prior to the study, Lucy had engaged in some SBPL activities, which were not formally organised. Throughout her inquiry phase, Lucy focused on teaching students about “reading for understanding” as a vehicle towards promoting her competency for engaging in effective SBPL. In the course of her learning, Lucy demonstrated significant changes in her PL practices. Lucy’s understandings of the SBPL also changed gradually as she engaged in her inquiry. Changes in her PL understandings happened along with transformations in PL practices. Regardless of the factors that hindered Lucy’s participation in her SBPL (see details in chapter six), her increasing ability to work with other teachers, her desire to learn, and overall support she obtained enabled her to improve her PL. The next chapter therefore, moves on to present findings about the changes and impact of engaging in effective SBPL on the other three teachers who participated in this initiative.
161
CHAPTER SIX
THREE TEACHERS’ CHANGED ENGAGEMENT WITH AND
UNDERSTANDING OF SBPL
6.1
Introduction
Findings from three teachers (Tausi, Magdalene and Mourine) are presented here in relation to the three research questions:
What changes do Tanzanian secondary school teachers make to their school- based professional learning practices as they engage in an inquiry and knowledge-building cycle?
What changes do Tanzanian secondary school teachers make in their understanding of their school-based professional learning as they engage in an inquiry and knowledge-building cycle?
What factors constrained and enabled Tanzanian secondary school teachers to engage in school-based and professional learning?
In the previous chapter, Lucy’s participation in a school-based professional learning (SBPL) was presented in detail, as a focused case study of the changes she had made in her professional learning (PL) practices and understandings. This chapter highlights the changes of practice and understandings made by the other three teacher participants, Tausi, Magdalene and Mourine who have engaged in an inquiry and knowledge- building cycle (IKBC) within their school. The three teachers worked within the same school setting that Lucy worked in, hence were exposed to quite similar learning culture. This chapter also presents the factors that constrained and enabled all the four teachers to engage in SBPL.
Each of the participants, Tausi, Magdalene and Mourine, identified different teaching areas to focus on in their inquiry in order to improve their teaching competencies, while
162
enhancing their skills of engaging in PL. Regardless of their distinct PL focus areas, the three teachers found that their teaching foci were interrelated. Consequently, teachers tried to integrate their teaching areas to optimise their learning experience. Of particular interest to this study is how the teachers developed new understandings of their teaching and PL practices, which resulted in quite distinctive transformations.
The following sections summarise the characteristics of the three individual teachers who are all female, and then examine their changed participation in SBPL. The overall changes in the three teachers’ understanding of SBPL are presented, followed by factors which enabled and constrained their engagement in SBPL.