Knowledge Brokering Pivotal in Professional Learning: Quality Use of Research Contributes to Teacher-Leaders’ Confidence (Poster 4)

• In Event: Revitalizing Education Through Knowledge Brokerage and Relational Networks

Abstract

Purpose: This poster describes a knowledge brokering initiative that resulted within a design-based research study (McKenney & Reeves, 2019) with one school district committed to repeated cycles of design-based professional learning (DBPL) with teacher leaders. Knowledge brokering involves disseminating and transforming research knowledge, cultivating collaborative relationships, and empowering stakeholders to enact meaningful change (Rycroft-Smith, 2022). This form of knowledge brokering is carried out by relational professional learning networks through the professional learning they provide (Cooper, 2014).

Educational professional networks, such as Galileo Educational Network Association (GENA), provide opportunities for peer interaction, collaboration, and learning in the company of peers (Friesen, 2009; Jacobsen, 2006). GENA is known for advancing leadership and learning through collaborative research-practice partnerships and participatory forms of research, through knowledge brokering activities embedded in professional learning (Friesen & Brown, 2023). DBPL, developed by GENA, is research-informed, inquiry-focused, and involves iterative cycles of design, enactment, evaluation, and redesign (Brown et al., 2020, 2021; Friesen & Brown, 2021, 2022, 2023). DPBL provides educators with professional learning grounded in knowledge creation/building cycles (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2022), design (Dorst, 2019), and collaborative inquiry (Katz & Dack, 2013; Timperley, 2011).

Theoretical Framework: Our theoretical perspective draws on Rickinson et al.’s (2022) Quality of Research Evidence Framework (QURE), which was developed to inform knowledge brokering activities in professional learning.

Methods: We surveyed 374 teacher leaders at the end of a year-long DBPL series, asking two open-text questions: (1) In what ways has the professional learning series supported your learning? (2) In what ways has attending these sessions prepared you for leadership? We observed that research use was coded in 285 of the responses. The following question guided our inquiry: How do teacher leaders utilize research within DBPL, supported by knowledge brokering initiatives according to Rickinson et al.’s (2022) Quality of Research Evidence Framework (QURE), to enhance their professional learning and practice?

Results: Results indicated that using research embedded in the DBPL series contributed to: (a) teacher leaders’ individual confidence in practice (skillsets, mindsets, and relationships), (b) confidence in collaborative and reflective approaches to instructional leadership at the school level, (c) confidence in leading professional conversations at the organizational level, and (d) confidence in staying updated with educational research at the system level and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Professional learning supported by knowledge brokerage that is research-informed and designed to engage participants to use and interact with research is one way to embed and use research in teacher practice and support practitioners with an evidence-based practice.

Scholarly Significance: This poster presentation highlights the importance of embedding knowledge brokering activities in professional learning and the role of relational professional learning networks in educational renewal. The scholarly significance of this work has implications for policy development relative to the quality use of research evidence, innovative models for professional learning, and future directions for relational networks and the function of knowledge brokerage as a way to strengthen the theory-to-practice connections.

Authors

• Sharon Friesen, University of Calgary

• Barbara Brown, University of Calgary