Supporting Teachers' Professional Learning Through Collaborative Inquiry: A Case Study

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Five
  In Roundtable Session: Collaboration and Capacity-Building for Teacher Professional Learning (Table 5)

Abstract

Collaborative inquiry (CI) has been proposed as a promising approach to professional learning because it incorporates principles of effective professional learning. This case study research examined how an innovative Community of Inquiry (CoI) was structured to support professional learning, the ways educators took up the learning opportunities available to them, as well as impacts to their learning and practice development. Multiple data sources were collected from across one academic year among participating educators (n=8). Findings were that: 1) the CoI was designed with attention to teachers' needs for agency and support; 2) teachers exercised agency as they engaged in collaboration and inquiry processes they valued; and 3) teachers experienced positive impacts to their learning, practice and for their students.

Authors

• Kimberley MacNeil, University of British Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Deborah L. Butler, University of British Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Leyton Schnellert, University of British Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author