Teacher–Researcher Collaborative Reflections Around Problems of Practice in Supporting Middle School Students' Historical Inquiry

• In Event: 72.018 - Teacher–Researcher Partnerships: Advancing Research, Practice, Ownership, and Agency in Disciplinary Literacy Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Purpose
This paper reports findings from an investigation of collaborative reflections between a middle-school history teacher and university researcher centered on the teacher’s attempt to design and implement curriculum supporting students’ historical inquiry. Both teacher and researcher were History Design Team members for a research grant focused on supporting students’ multiple text argumentation across disciplines. This paper describes how teacher-researcher discussions reflected and contributed to the Design Team’s work.

Theoretical Framework
Reform initiatives in history education call for instruction that fosters students’ historical inquiry, or analysis of multiple sources to construct text-based arguments (Monte-Sano, 2008; Wineburg, 2001). For many history teachers, historical inquiry represents a shift in practice, as traditional instruction relies on transmission of uncontested “facts” through authorial sources such as teachers and textbooks (De La Paz, 2005; VanSledright, 2002). Researchers aim to facilitate teacher professional growth to align with educational theory. However, the complexity of teaching presents challenges for researchers to support teacher change. Collaborative reflection (Baird, 1992) between teachers and researchers provides opportunities for teachers to systematically address problems of practice specific to their contexts, and provides insight for researchers about how teachers develop practical knowledge in relation to theory.

Methods
The teacher-researcher collaborative reflections occurred in pre and post observational planning/debriefing meetings of 66 classroom observations over 2.5 school years (spring 2012 through 2013-2014) in the teacher’s classroom. Analysis of researcher’s field notes from planning/debriefing meetings involved grounded theory approaches (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) to identify “critical issues,” or specific problems of practice, that emerged in the teacher and researchers’ talk about her practice (NEWMAN, 1998; TRIPP, 2011). Additional data sources (e.g. planning/debriefing meeting audio-recordings, Design Team meeting notes) were used to triangulate findings.

Findings
Four areas of critical issues emerged in the collaborative reflections: supporting close reading, understanding/supporting historical inquiry, shifting intellectual work from teacher to students through dialogic discussion, and teacher agency in curriculum design. These areas contributed to Design Team decisions, particularly in relation to changing approaches to curriculum design and teacher professional development. Design Team work influenced the teacher’s process of resolving issues, specifically through deepening her understanding of historical inquiry and shifting her instructional focus to supporting students’ intellectual work through dialogic discussion.

Authors

• Jacquelynn S. Popp, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Jodi Hoard, University of Illinois at Chicago