Teachers as learners – with a little help from a critical friend     

Ann-Christine Wennergren 《Educational Action Research》2016,24(2):260-279

Professional learning is intended to improve teaching, benefit student learning and in the longer term improve achievement of targets in schools. When teachers take responsibility not only for their own learning but also for their colleagues’, it can lead to a shift in attitudes towards collaborative learning. This study presents an example of a professional learning community (PLC) based on teachers’ engagement in systematic inquiries. The aim of the study was to explore crucial factors during the process of critical friendship that could be related to a PLC. The research context was a series of shadowing sessions where teachers were expected to document teaching and provide feedback. The analyses are mainly based on documentation, in the form of shadowing logs produced when teachers study each other in action. Findings indicate that the role of critical friend was hard to internalise and that most of the teachers did not use it to its full potential for learning, according to the Vygotskian concept of the zone of proximal development. Three crucial factors for learning in a PLC are addressed: active choices related to teachers’ and students’ learning during different phases in the inquiry; the complexity of mastering several skills in action research at the same time; and the teachers’ attitudes to professional learning.  相似文献   

The relation between tools used in action research and the zone of proximal development     

Ann‐Christine Wennergren  Karin Rönnerman 《Educational Action Research》2013,21(4):547-568

This article describes a national school improvement project involving five compulsory schools for hard‐of‐hearing pupils, located in different parts of Sweden. Using action research, the teachers tried to change the communication patterns among the pupils by changing their own classroom practices, In this process the teachers tested and used different tools, such as writing, shadowing and facilitating each other, over a three‐year period. The purpose of this article is to examine how tools used in action research can be used to promote learning in relation to the concept of the zone of proximal development. The theoretical framework of the study is based on action research, as a collaborative way of creating knowledge, and on sociocultural learning theories. The basic assumption is that teachers, by using different tools, also challenge each other’s learning. The results show the importance of internalising tools that become owned by individuals or communities of practise. To be able to assume an active role in the zone of proximal development, and to produce knowledge collaboratively, a meaning‐making process was needed. It was found that this could be realised if the participants had an awareness of how to function as a critical friend among colleagues. Furthermore, the results revealed that, by using different tools, different voices can be heard. Three categories of voices were identified.  相似文献   

Between two stories: assessment of and for learning     

Ann-Christine Wennergren 《欧洲特需教育杂志》2013,28(4):541-550

The study was conducted in a school for special education with small classes of six to 12 students. The aim was to illuminate how students’ understanding of written assessments could be related to assessment for learning. Twenty-nine students were asked to describe their understanding of written assessment in three different subjects and, further, to describe their perceptions in follow-up interviews. The two-step analysis first focused on individual understanding. Thereafter Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) was used as analytical tool. In the first analysis three categories were identified. Students’ understandings were related to subject matter knowledge, generic skills and attitudes. The findings of the second analysis indicated that written assessment often lacked formative features and cannot be seen as learning in the ZPD. Difficulties with schoolwork were seen as problems of the individual and the measures were directed towards the student. Even though the guidelines ask for a relational perspective a categorical perspective sometimes was adopted in the assessments. The implications of the study relate to the ways teacher’s assessment competences can encompass students’ understanding and how this can be translated into action.  相似文献   

Teachers and students together in a professional learning community     

Ann-Christine Wennergren  Ulf Blossing 《Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research》2017,61(1):47-59

Students represent the majority of the people in a school organisation, but are rarely considered as participants in literature on professional learning communities (PLC). This article explored a PLC with the legitimate participation of students in the classroom. Data was based on interviews with 11 teachers. Community of practice theory provides 3 dimensions that were used as analytical tools: shared repertoire, mutual engagement, and joint enterprise. Shared repertoire refers to how teachers introduce and develop tools for learning; mutual engagement to how to establish relationships and atmosphere with a respect for learning; and joint enterprise to how students’ associations and experiences are used to shape content knowledge in planning for learning. We conclude that the theory of community of practice is useful to describe and understand the formation of a PLC.  相似文献