Action Research as Teacher Leadership: Teacher Experience in Professional Learning Communities

• In Event: Teachers Leading for Change: Reclaiming the Discourse and Practice of Teacher Leadership in a Neoliberal Context

Abstract

Recent developments in education have contributed to the de-skilling and de-professionalizing of teachers, from computer-based scripted curriculum that positions teachers as babysitters while kids mindlessly click through low-level cognitive activities to one-off professional development experiences that are unconnected to complex problems of practice. Scholars have urged a shift toward “teachers as intellectuals” (Giroux, 1988), and research suggests that valuing and supporting teachers as reflective intellectuals and professionals can help to improve educational practice and student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Mohr et al, 2004; Schon, 1987). Researchers have operationalized the idea of teachers as intellectuals by urging teachers to conduct their own teacher inquiry and action research (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009; Goswami, Lewis, Rutherford, & Waff, 2009). Although we know that teachers can support each other by forming professional learning communities and innovating together (McLaughlin & Talbert, 2001) less is known about the action research experiences of teachers in these settings (Weinbaum et al, 2004). This study attempts to fill a gap in the literature by shedding light on the experiences of teachers conducting action research in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).
This paper presents a case study of a PLC of teachers that supported each other in conducting action research projects. The teachers in this PLC were all founding-teachers of a new, public, high school in a major metropolitan area. Teachers from all subject areas formed the PLC and met regularly throughout the spring semester. The research questions for this study were, “What intellectual methods of inquiry do teachers use in this professional community to meaningfully improve practice?” and “How do these teachers describe their inquiries as supporting their practice, their students, and their profession?”
Methods of data collection included semi-structured interviews with each teacher about their experiences in the PLC and the collection of artifacts from the meetings of the PLC (agendas, minutes, presentations, written reflections, teacher’s individual research projects). These data were analyzed using a qualitative, inductive, empirically-grounded, coding process (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The researcher performed analytic checks including a rigorous hunt for disconfirming evidence and bringing tentative findings to the PLC for feedback on truthfulness and trustworthiness.
Findings show that teachers used a range of inquiry approaches including: 1) methods of oral inquiry like Critical Friends Protocols and Descriptive Review (Himley & Carini; 2000); 2) methods of classroom inter-visitation including instructional rounds and clinical supervision; and 3) methods of qualitative research including ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, and formative and design experiments. Regardless of the methods they used, findings suggest that teachers saw inquiry as closely supporting their practice, their students, and their profession. Teachers also pointed to concrete ways that inquiry helped to support students gain skills with which they had previously struggled. Teachers articulated the importance of this intellectual work as a way to be both excellent teachers and also leaders who add seriously to the profession. Teachers saw this work as a way of (re)claiming the profession and working toward both democracy and justice.

Author

• S S, Harvest Collegiate High School