Teachers’ Working Collaboratively to Support Adolescent Literacy: A Case Study of a Multi-Level Community of Inquiry

• In Event: Researching Self- and Coregulated Learning as Situated in Contexts: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice

Abstract

This poster reports findings drawn from a longitudinal research program. At its core, this program has focused on supporting adolescent literacy in subject area classrooms (see Butler et al., 2011; Cartier, 2000; Lewis, 2007; Lindberg, 2003; Moje, 2007). But, simultaneously, attention has focused on how teachers have worked together within a community of inquiry (Cochran Smith & Lytle, 2004; Guskey, 2000; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2006; Morrell, 2004) to enhance their learning and professional practice to achieve desired outcomes for students.

More specifically, across time we have been studying how teachers in one local school district have been working together to make changes in practice and then monitor and account for outcomes. We have applied a socioconstructivist lens (Gergen, 1985; Paris, Byrnes, & Paris, 2001) to track how situated changes in practice could be associated with improved student learning (see Butler, Schnellert, & Cartier, 2008-a, 2008-b). Simultaneously, we have investigated how new, more effective practices were being co-constructed. We have provided portraits of co-regulation, evidenced when two or more teachers worked collaboratively to set goals, collect and interpret resources, co-plan and/or co-enact practices, monitor outcomes, and reflect on implications for further learning and action (see Butler et al., 2004; Butler et al., 2007; Schnellert et al., 2008).

In this poster, we report findings from the last year of the project. In this year, our 47 participants included not only teachers but also school- and district-based leaders responsible for supporting teachers’ professional learning. We extended our research to consider: (1) conditions that were supporting teachers’ engagement in collaboration and co-regulation; (2) associated shifts in learning and practice; and (3) how perceptions of agency (Bandura, 1993) were emerging for individuals in different roles and positions. Multiple forms of data were collected and triangulated to address these research foci, including: (1) semi-structured interviews; (2) artifacts representing teachers’ practices and engagement in inquiry; and (3) field notes from meetings (see Merriam, 1998; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Yin, 2003).

As in previous years, findings again revealed how teachers were engaging in co-regulation of learning and practice within a complex social network. Considering our three research foci, we found: (1) that conditions supportive of collaborative inquiry were structural, (inter)personal, and situational, and that particular partnerships developed when participants felt drawn to qualities of a collaborator (e.g., knowledge; enthusiasm), shared something important (e.g., common goals; similar values), wished to reach out to another, or, conversely, access resources (e.g., knowledge; emotional support), and/or for logistical reasons (e.g., proximity); (2) participants described significant gains in practice and learning that were also reflected in artifacts, many of which they associated directly with collaboration (e.g., pushing their thinking); and (3) most participants expressed increased agency (e.g., perceived ability to achieve outcomes for students) that was anchored in their monitoring of outcomes within inquiry cycles (e.g., observing gains for students associated with practice changes), and/or in reported gains in knowledge or theoretical perspectives. Important implications for structuring, supporting and researching teacher professional development initiatives will be highlighted.

Authors

• Deborah L. Butler, The University of British Columbia

• Leyton Schnellert, The University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus

• Kimberley MacNeil, The University of British Columbia