A ‘Train-The-Trainees’ Model for Organizational Learning: Identifying Factors for Success Across Levels

• In Event: Global Contexts for Research-Practice Partnerships: They Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Abstract

Objectives
In many countries, educational reforms are linked to teacher professional development (PD). However, these models often lack alignment with effective PD research, leading to modest results (e.g., Andresen et al., 2024). The gap between funding and outcomes highlight the need for new, research-based models.
Research underscores research-practice partnerships (RPPs) and PD efforts that foster local empowerment and sustainability (Farrell et al., 2022; Penuel et al., 2017), and the formation of teacher learning communities (Hendrick et al., 2017). This paper utilizes Farrell et al.'s (2022) framework for organizational learning in RPPs, examining boundary spanners, -practices, and -objects to identify success factors across organizational levels in a Norwegian RPP for teacher PD.
Methods
This paper reports on a RPP and PD model involving researchers from the University of Oslo, Oslo Municipality administrators, school leaders, facilitators, and teachers from seven schools.
The focus is on enhancing teaching quality through video-based coaching using a shared framework (the PLATO observation protocol (Grossman, 2015)). The PD uses a “train-the-trainees” model, where researchers train school leaders, administrators and facilitators, who in turn conduct video-clubs with their teachers in cycles.
Data sources include (i) national strategy plans, (ii) organizational features (i.e. roles, responsibilities and key practices, and (iii) classroom videos (N=50), (iv) teacher interviews (N=5)
Analyses utilize Farrell et al.'s (2022) framework for organizational learning in RPPs along with data-driven methods to assess success factors across levels.
Findings
Findings show strong support from national policies fostering a holistic, research-informed approach to teacher education reforms, including funding for research and mentoring programs, and PD with a focus on bottom-up perspectives. Local support was robust, marked by a collaboration agreement between the University and municipality signed before the RPP's initiation.
The RPP and PD featured boundary spanners (Farrell et al., 2022) in various roles, allowing research-informed competence to be shared across levels. Facilitators and researchers, along with a designated project leader from the municipality, played crucial roles. Key boundary practices included tool-development workshops, co-planning meetings, and reflection sessions within the PD cycles. Classroom videos created by teachers, an adapted observation protocol, and a Teams channel for communication acted as essential boundary objects.
Discussion and implications
To maximize the impact of investments in RPPs and PD programs, it is essential to employ research-informed strategies. While a train-the-trainees model promotes the distribution of knowledge and power, it is vulnerable without adequate access to expert support during PD (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). Monitoring the level of researcher support is crucial for successful scaling of these efforts.
References
Andresen et al. (2024). Report on funding for local professional development in Norway. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3169975
Darling-Hammond et. al. (2017). Effective teacher professional development. Learning Policy Institute.
Farrell et al. (2022). Learning at the boundaries of research and practice. Educational Researcher, 51(3), 197–208. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X211069073
Grossman, P. (2015). Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observations (PLATO 5.0). Stanford University.
Henrick et al. (2017). Assessing research-practice partnerships. William T. Grant Foundation.
Penuel et al. (2017). How school and district leaders access, perceive, and use research. AERA Open, 3(2).

Authors

• Kirsti Klette, University of Oslo

• Inga Staal Jenset, University of Oslo, Norway