Exploring a Transformative Model of Professional Learning to Support Early Career Teachers Committed to Inclusion

• In Event: Seeking Social Justice: Teacher Leadership for Equity, Inclusion, and Advocacy

Abstract

While acknowledging the increasing emphasis on teacher leadership in many contexts, its role in pre-service programmes is given little attention (Author, 2017; Pucella, 2014). Within the Republic of Ireland there is a growing recognition and policy focus related to the development of leadership at all levels from teacher leadership to system leadership (Centre for School Leadership, 2017). Additionally, teachers are increasingly expected to develop as leaders for inclusion (Hick et al., 2018) which arguably calls for leadership from below with top-down support (King and Stevenson, 2017). In this paper we aim to contribute to the scant literature on newly qualified and early career teachers exercising teacher leadership (Forde & Dickson, 2017) and to foreground the work of teacher leadership for social justice by presenting a conceptual framework for supporting transformative professional learning to promote teacher leadership for social justice. The model arose from findings from a qualitative study of 7 early career teachers who had undertaken a module in leadership for inclusion as part of their pre-service programme and are now currently in their third year of teaching. However, it is widely acknowledged that the application and cascadence of learning can be professionally challenging (Chevalier & Buckles, 2013). Therefore, to support teachers in this regard and to prevent ‘washout’ of learning from pre-service (Zeichner, 1987) these 7 teachers engaged in a ‘participatory action learning action research’ (PALAR) (Zuber-Skerrit & Passfield, 2016) ‘leadership for inclusion’ community of practice (Lin-CoP), attending three-four workshops each year for two years. Each of the teachers worked in a different school context and were supported to cascade their learning from the Lin-CoP to their own school context both within and beyond their own classrooms.

Workshops were audio-video recorded and transcribed, associated artefacts such as google documents, individual target setting and action plans and Whats App were analysed using constant comparison of categories and codes. Analysis found that the development of the CoP dimensions: domain, practice and community, employment of PALAR processes, critical theory, hope and empowerment theory and knowledge and skills of Grudnoff, Haigh, Hill, Cochran-Smith, Eil and Ludlow’s (2017) evidence based facets or inclusion were central to developing a language of critique and possibility (Shotter & Gustavsen, 1999) and were significant in preventing ‘washout’ (Zeichner, 1987)of learning related to leadership for inclusion. Teachers evidenced teacher leadership as described by Poekert, Alexandrou and Shannon (2016, p. 307) who explored “the overlapping constructs of growth as a teacher, researcher and leader.” Participants also identified challenging conditions to their engagement, application and cascadence of professional learning, for example relationships, school structures and school cultures.

Following analysis and synthesis of data this paper proffers a multi-process professional learning model which supported teachers to exercise leadership for inclusion while addressing identified challenges. It may be of interest to other individuals, teams, communities and the wider profession aiming to foreground issues of social justice and inclusion with a view to operationalising same in various school contexts.

Authors

• Fiona M. King, Dublin City University

• Eimear Holland, Dublin City University