Giving Teachers a Language and Vision of Practice Through Professional Development Based on an Observation Protocol

• In Event: From Measurement to Improvement: Leveraging Observation Protocols to Improve Teaching in Middle School English Language Arts

Abstract

Framework and Objectives

In 1975, Lortie observed: “teaching is not like crafts and professions, whose members talk in a language specific to them and their work” (p. 73). Scholars (e.g., Ball & Cohen, 1999; Author, 2008) agree that teachers, as a whole, struggle to capture the complexities of classroom practice in words. The current study examines the potential of an observation protocol (PLATO) to provide teachers with a more specific language and vision of practice in the context of professional development. Specifically, we ask the following:

• To what extent did participating teachers adopt the terminology, concepts, or vision of PLATO?
• To what extent do teachers’ understandings of targeted PLATO practices align with that of PLATO? In what ways did understandings differ?
• Did teachers selectively adopt certain PLATO terms or concepts, and, if so, what factors may explain this selection?
• How do teachers talk about the targeted PLATO practices (e.g., using PLATO terms, representations or model lessons from the PD, citing specific elements of instruction)?

Methods and Data Sources

The data for this paper are drawn from two years of a PD intervention with two cohorts of ELA teachers at 6 middle schools in a mid-sized urban district. We conducted teacher interviews with all 29 teachers at the beginning of their participation in the PD and then again at the conclusion. Interviews focused on their views of teaching ELA and how ELA was taught in their schools. Transcripts of interviews and school site meetings were coded in Nvivo for references to instruction, definitions of core practices, visions of ELA teaching and curriculum, and responses to PD. Analyses were conducted to examine variation in the quantity and quality of teachers’ references to PLATO practices and visions of high-quality ELA instruction.

Results

Preliminary analyses of interviews indicate that teachers adopted more of the concepts and concepts behind PLATO than PLATO terminology. Comparisons of fall and spring interviews for teachers demonstrate increased specificity in how the teachers described their visions of high-quality ELA instruction and greater use of key PLATO concepts within the targeted practices. We also found variation in terms of (1) the number of references to representations and model lessons presented in the PD and (2) the degree of alignment with the PLATO rubric. Factors that appear to influence this variation include: duration of involvement in the PLATO intervention, years of teaching experience, and number of school colleagues participating in the intervention.

Significance

Results reveal that a structured observation protocol like PLATO can help provide teachers with a more detailed language and vision of practice. The current study raises a number of questions applicable to other protocol-based PD efforts, particularly regarding the appropriate grain-size and representation of targeted practices. This work challenges Lortie’s (1975) classic claim by suggesting that teachers’ lack of technical vocabulary is not a fixed characteristic of the profession, but amenable to change, at least on the local level.

Authors

• Erika Moore Johnson, Stanford University

• Jamie O'Keeffe, Stanford University

• Pamela L. Grossman, Stanford University