Building Collective Expertise Within Teacher Teams

• In Event: Describing and Situating Teachers' Collaborative Learning

Abstract

As the teaching profession becomes increasingly complex, effective professional learning experiences are vital to support teachers’ ongoing learning needs. Opportunities for collaboration hold the potential for rich professional learning, and yet teachers often struggle to find value in these learning opportunities. This study investigates the experiences of secondary teachers in a site-based, ongoing, collaborative professional learning experience who engaged in weekly, teacher-driven inquiry into effective disciplinary literacy instructional practices. Specifically, we focus on what either facilitated or hindered teachers’ ability to frame and share expertise within their teams and how, when these collaborations were effective, teams developed collective expertise through their collaboration.

Authors

• Megin Charner-Laird, Salem State University

• Christina L. Dobbs, Boston University

• Jacy C. Ippolito, Salem State University