Critical Moments in Teacher Educators' Professional Learning: The Dynamics of Change

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Learning With and From Each Other: Teacher Educators’ Development Through Their Participation in Communities of Practice

Abstract

This study examines the process of change among teacher educators in a professional learning community aimed at integrating thinking education into college teaching. We employed storyline methodology and other qualitative methods. Findings reveal critical moments in professional learning that are characterized by evaluation of multiple feedback loops. Professional growth results from interaction and negotiation of meaning within the community and also from messages received from outside the communal context. A two-factor model taking into account implementation and feedback is used to show the dynamic process of evaluation and negotiation in teacher educators’ professional learning trajectories. This study deepens understanding of professional learning within communities, while providing insight into the learning of teacher educators as a distinct professional group.

Authors

• Linor Lea Hadar, University of Haifa

• David L Brody, Efrata College of Education