Reconceptualizing the Mechanisms of Change in Professional Learning and Practice

• In Event: Conceptual and Statistical Models for Professional Development

Abstract

Effecting change in classrooms to implement new practices has been found difficult even when teachers want change. Research finds many professional development (PD) interventions to be ineffective. Through analytically comparing and synthesising the findings across a range of studies, our own and from the literature, a new conceptual model for teacher professional change is developed here. It is based on a theoretical understanding of the collective and sociocultural nature of professional beliefs and change. Instead of a traditional model, which assumes a sequence from PD via change in teacher beliefs to change in practice, a new conceptual model is proposed and exemplified: Implementation-Surprise-Professional Dialogue-Change in beliefs. Furthermore, an three-dimensional implementation model to facilitate professional change along this pathway is developed.

Author

• Riikka Hofmann, University of Cambridge, U.K.