Supporting Teachers' Learning Trajectories: The Model of Domain Learning as an Analytic Lens to Examine Exemplary Programs

• In Event: The Model of Domain Learning: Understanding the Development of Expertise

Abstract

Purpose

We used the Model of Domain Learning (MDL) as a conceptual framework to examine three programs in teacher education recognized for their success in the development of teacher expertise. The MDL considers both the cognitive and affective components related to expertise development and assumes that expertise develops along a continuum of stages; thus it has the potential to provide deeper understanding of the continued expertise development of teachers within layered, intersecting contexts (Alexander, 1995; Alexander et al., 2004).

Mode of Inquiry

We identified three teacher learning programs targeted to teachers at the three stages of professional development identified by Feiman-Nemser (2001): preservice, induction (0-3 years of teaching), and continuing professional development (4+ years). We chose these three stages in an attempt to mirror the stages of acclimation, competency, and proficiency in the MDL such the teacher education programs were targeted to develop overall expertise for and during each of the MDL stages. The programs included in this investigation included:

• Acclimation: Extended Teacher Education Program
• Competency: Knowles Science Teaching Fellows
• Science Teaching Foundation a private foundations funded by an endowment
• Proficiency: Reading Recovery

These programs highlight teachers’ ways of thinking and acting with particular knowledge, over time, using cognitive processes, within myriad, intersecting, and overlapping contexts (Greeno, 1997).

Data Sources and Analysis

Using program information available on the organizations websites, published empirical articles on these program, primary research of the first author, and consultations with current and past program personnel we developed a corpus of information on the nature of the professional learning experiences offered by each of these programs. We then engaged in an interpretive analysis of the program particulars using the components of the MDL as a lens to identify the developmental supports offered by each program and the ways that each seemed to address (or not) the MDL components.

Substantiated Conclusions

We identified program structures and supports that facilitated the developmental nature of teacher learning through the advancement of teachers’ knowledge, interest, and strategic processing. We compare the structural systems of the programs and how each implements a system of supports that promote the development of teaching expertise relevant to the stage of development in which the teachers are situated or are striving to become. We found that a cohort structure, continuous, targeted feedback, shared protocols, normative tools, and a common vision served to support teachers in their stages of development across their career. Following the analysis of the programs, we discuss implications for teacher education and development programs and for the MDL.

Significance

The work presented here is significant in that it (1) extends the MDL to a domain of professional practice, (2) illustrates how the MDL can be used as a theoretical and practical framework for the design of adult learning experiences, and (4) provides specific examples for learning targeted to the learners aiming to achieve varied levels of expertise.

Authors

• Tammy Mills, University of Maine

• Helenrose Fives, Montclair State University