Content uploaded by Nikki Aharonian
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Nikki Aharonian on Jan 05, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Dialogic professional learning for Israeli teachers: A narrative inquiry
... The literature in the field of teacher professional learning is contested, mostly along ideological lines. Qualitative studies often report and affirm teachers' rich and productive engagement in dialogic professional learning in communities (Aharonian 2017;Charteris and Smardon 2014;Nehring, Laboy, and Catarius 2010;Parr 2010;Parr et al. 2014;Smith and Wrigley 2012). And yet other paradigms of research dismiss as inconclusive evidence what they frame as the impact or 'effect size' of this learning (Hattie 2009). ...
... Similar projects have run in other countries at more local levels, such as the stella2.0 programme in Australia (Parr andBulfin 2015, 2019;Parr et al. 2014) and the 'Literacy Studies: Writing for the Development of Learning and Thinking' (WDLT) programme in Israel (Aharonian 2017(Aharonian , 2019a. ...
... Some are in dot point form, such as 'Just like you can't learn to walk sitting down, you can't develop in writing simply by talking [about it]'; others are embedded in prose of a personal nature, such as 'It is so important to know that I am not alone.' Significantly, Rebecca's reflections appreciate how her talking, writing, and interacting with colleagues have been crucial to the shifts in her pedagogical thinking and in the way she sees herself as a teacher (Aharonian 2017;. ...
There has long been international consensus amongst policymakers and researchers that schoolteachers need to pursue professional learning throughout their careers. While debates continue in the literature about what forms of professional learning are valuable and why, policymakers are intent on prioritising only those forms of teacher learning whose value can be easily measured, thus rendering the teachers more accountable. This is contributing to the widespread standardisation of professional learning that pays little heed to the
backgrounds, needs or existing knowledge of participating teachers or the institutions where they teach. Meanwhile, a growing body of studies advocates for non-prioritised forms of professional learning, drawing on evidence that is compelling but rarely expressed in quantitative terms. This transnational case study investigates a non-prioritised form of dialogic professional learning praxis, called ‘writing-based professional learning in communities’. The authors analyse the writing produced by teachers in these communities (including their own writing), showing how they reflexively and dialogically engaged with their work as educators in heavily standardised professional environments. The study is a counterpoint to prioritised models of professional learning that are shaped by the need to meet standardised outcomes, arguing instead for a praxis approach that promotes teachers’ agency, collegiality and identity.
... More recently, smaller writing-based professional learning communities have operated in other countries, such as the "stella2.0" project in Australia (Parr and Bulfin 2015) and the "Writing for the Development of Learning and Thinking (WDLT)" project in Israel (Aharonian 2017). ...
This short chapter is an explanation of professional learning communities (containing both English teachers and English teacher educators) that make particular use of writing to focus and promote the educators' professional learning. The authors show how the growing literature about writing-based professional learning communities features five lines of argument:
1. the practical value of participating in these PLCs
2. the affective value of participation
3. participation as helping to develop professional identity
4. contribution of writing-based PLCs to the knowledge base of teaching
5. critical questions about writing-based PLCs.
To illustrate the concept, Parr and Bulfin draw on their own praxis work with the stella2.0 professional learning community project, in Australia. An example of creative-critical writing data from the stella2.0 project is analysed to show how all five categories of literature can be usefully employed to advocate for the value of writing-based PLCs.
... This article reports on a longitudinal PhD study (Aharonian 2017), a narrative inquiry, conducted in Israel. As a researcher and teacher educator, I explored the ways primary school teachers, who had one professional learning experience in common, understood the significance of learning in their professional lives. ...
There is broad international recognition of the importance of ongoing professional learning opportunities for educators. Despite this seemingly global consensus, there is disagreement regarding the best ways to conceptualise teacher learning, and what kinds of learning should be promoted or counted. This article reports on a narrative inquiry which explores how three Israeli primary school teachers experience and understand the role and significance of professional learning in their professional lives. In interviews and written narratives, the participants share experiences of profoundly important learning in what I call liminal spaces, beyond schools and formal professional development programmes. In this article, I explore powerful learning occurring on the border between the personal and professional lives of teachers. This study conceptualises teacher learning as complex and messy. The findings contribute to and challenge some of the existing knowledge base of teacher learning, especially studies that seek to standardise and quantify learning and thereby overlook potent forms of professional learning. I offer practical recommendations for individual teachers, school leadership, fellow researchers and policy makers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many aspects of life globally. Similarly, the imposed travel restrictions and border closures in Australia have prevented me from travelling to Indonesia for my Ph.D. fieldwork. Due to this issue, I had to move my interviews, focus groups, and narrative writing online. I conducted my interviews and focus group discussions with English teachers in Indonesia through synchronous platforms such as WhatsApp and Zoom. In addition, I utilised a private Facebook group to facilitate narrative writing activities which were pivotal in my data generation process. Many research studies (see, for example, Archibald et al., 2019; Deakin and Wakefield, 2014; Tuttas, 2015) have documented how online research has afforded both the researcher and participants with flexibility, cost effectiveness, and convenience in a research project with time restraints, geographical distance, and other logistical issues. However, a story about online data generation in the COVID-19 context from a Ph.D. student’s perspective remains underexplored. In this autoethnographic account, I will reflect on the process of online data generation in the context of my Ph.D. study. I argue that the online data generation in my research has yielded a “guarded optimism” (Madge and O’Connor, 2004, p. 9) for synchronous online data generation as an equal, rather than secondary option for qualitative research data generation which often uses face-to-face interviews and focus groups as the “gold standard of interviewing” (Hine, 2005, p. 4). Through this story I hope to enrich conversations about the possibilities and challenges of doing online data generation for a Ph.D. study during a global pandemic.KeywordsOnline data generationVideo-conferencingNarrativeCritical reflectionCOVID-19Qualitative researchResearch methods
This article explores the importance of relationship in professional development and professional learning. The four-year relationship between the author and an experienced elementary school teacher is examined. Central to the research puzzle is how the relational stance adopted by the author contributed to the dramatic professional renewal of the teacher. Field notes and journal entries are primary sources of data for this narrative inquiry. Relational teacher development, seven learnings identified as contributing to their shared professional growth, is used as a framework for analysis of the data and is then interpreted in relation to continuing professional learning and school improvement.
For Rebecca Bowers Sipe and Tracy Rosewarne, collaboration proved to be the key to effective professional development. Working together on evaluating the effectiveness of a writing workshop in the high school classroom helped them achieve insights about their beliefs and
The area of teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) is of growing interest internationally. However, while an increasing range of literature focuses on particular aspects of CPD, there is a paucity of literature addressing the spectrum of CPD models in a comparative manner. This article therefore considers a wide range of international literature, together with some specific examples from the Scottish context, in proposing a framework built around key characteristics of individual models of CPD. The framework identifies nine key models, which are then classified in relation to their capacity for supporting professional autonomy and transformative practice. The article considers the circumstances in which each of the nine models of CPD might be adopted, and explores the form(s) of knowledge that can be developed through any particular model. It also examines the power relationships inherent in the individual models and explores the extent to which CPD is perceived and promoted either as an individual endeavour related to accountability, or as a collaborative endeavour that supports transformative practice. Finally, it is argued that there is a need for greater interrogation of both the purpose and the potential outcomes of CPD structures - the framework outlined in this article is offered as one way of supporting such analysis. © 2014 © 2014 International Professional Development Association (IPDA).
Teacher Learning and Leadership asserts that teachers should be put at the center of creating, developing, organizing, implementing, and sharing their own ideas for school change rather than being passive recipients of knowledge from the outside. It argues that there is tremendous potential for the good of students and the professionalization of teaching, when teachers work collaboratively to develop their own and their colleagues' professional knowledge and practices and are supported by school and system leaders, unions and government. The book draws on the groundbreaking work of the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program in Ontario and uses an in-depth case study to illustrate its points. It demonstrates how professional development built around collaboration, teacher leadership, curriculum development, technology and pedagogy can be organized in a way that redistributes control and responsibility to teachers, thereby instilling a genuine sense of pride and accomplishment in their work. This book is a sincere outreach from the authors who advocate for the professional development of, by and for teachers as individuals and, importantly, as a collective profession. The authors argue that projects like the TLLP (a joint initiative between the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Ontario Teachers' Federation) can radically, and positively, transform teachers' knowledge, skills and practices. The book provides an important model for school change led by teachers, rather than experts, in partnership with school and system leaders and is a fascinating read for all those concerned with teaching, teacher development and educational change. © 2017 Ann Lieberman, Carol Campbell & Anna Yashkina. All rights reserved.
"Stories of Transformative Learning is intended to encourage people to explore the potential for transformative learning in their lives, practices, and communities. This book illustrates the transformative learning process through ten stories of individuals from both inside and outside of the classroom. Adult educators and adult learners will find the book to be personally insightful and professionally useful. There have been many accounts of transformative learning experiences, but it is not often that we have the opportunity to hear first-hand personal stories of transformative learning. Here, ten stories are told directly by the people who experienced them, with additional commentary from the authors. These stories are intended to resonate with readers and to inspire people to create the conditions where transformative learning can occur in their lives and professional practice. Storytelling is one way in which both educators and learners can understand the process of transformative learning. Telling stories, reading others' stories, and contemplating our own stories all help us to become aware of alternative perspectives, a process that is at the heart of critical reflection and critical self-reflection, which is, in turn, central to transformative learning. We hope to increase readers' sense of agency and more self-directed, self-fulfilling lives. By demonstrating how others have examined and reconsidered otherwise hidden assumptions that constrained the quality and potential of their lives, we show readers how they may do the same."