s-team: collected papers no.2: teacher collaboration in pairform@nce and action research

8/8/2019 S-TEAM: Collected papers no.2: Teacher collaboration in Pairform@nce and action research

1/46

S-TEAM

WP 4 Traini

Pairform@nce

October 2010Report

Deliverable 4c

dfundingfrom

[FP7/2007-

234870.

rojec

thasreceive

Com

munity's

ewor

kProgramm

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agreementn

TheS-Teamp

theEuropean

SeventhFram

2013]under

g materials Part 2


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3/46

S-TEAM deliverable 4c: Pairform@nce and teacher collaboration

1


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2

Preface.......................................................................................................................................................3Inserviceteachereducation,collectiveteacherworkandinvestigationinsciencewithPairform@nce........4

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................5Section2:InvestigationandICTinmathematics:exampleofatrainingpath..........................................92.a

Investigation

in

mathematics

and

ICT

.................................................................................................

9

2.bPresentationoftheInvestigation withICTinmathematicspath...................................................10VirtualGlobes:exampleofatrainingpathingeology............................................................................21Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................23

STEAMProduct4.6:ReportonTeachersasResearchers...............................................................................25WorkshopReportonactionlearning..............................................................................................................25

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................27Theoriesonlearninganddevelopment..................................................................................................28

Changingpractice:aprocessinprogress....................................................................................................30Theprocessleadingtoaformalizedplan................................................................................................30Theformalizedplan.................................................................................................................................30The

method

used

to

capture

the

processes

experienced

by

teachers

....................................................

32

Anexamplefrompractice:observationandreflection...........................................................................33Thereflectiondialogues:contentandform............................................................................................34Theteacherslearning.............................................................................................................................35

Concludingcomments.................................................................................................................................37WorkshopReport:Introduction..................................................................................................................39Presentationanddiscussion........................................................................................................................39Discussion....................................................................................................................................................42References...................................................................................................................................................43


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3

Preface

Thisdeliverablebringstogetherthreeproducts,whichinvolveteachercollaborationintheimprovementof

practice.Products4.3and4.4,respectivelytheDVD(inFrench)andreport(inEnglish),describethe

Pairform@nceproject,whichcombinesawebplatformwithcomputersimulationsandcollaborative

teacherdevelopment

activities.

Product

4.6

describes

asmall

scale

project

in

teacher

action

research,

whichpointstothebenefitsofcollaborativeresearchintoteachersclassroompractice. Thisisparticularly

importantwhenteachersarebeingcalledupontoimplementinquirybasedmethods(IBST)inscienceand

mathematics.AssomeoftheotherSTEAMdeliverableshaveshown1,teacherconfidenceiskeytothe

effectiveimplementationofIBST. Mutualsupportandimprovementthroughcollaborativeresearchinto

practicecanprovidethisconfidence.

Thetwosubprojectsreportedhereapproachteachercollaborationfromtwodirections.Pairform@nce

startsfrom

the

provision

of

anationally

available

website

and

set

of

design

resources,

whereas

the

other

subprojectreportsonanactivitystimulatedbyasingleresearcher.Bothmethodsareshowntobe

effective,withtheirownstrengthsandweaknesses.Thedeliverablepresentedherewillhelppolicymakers

andotherstoassesshowbesttoencourageandsupportteachercollaboration,inordertopromoteinquiry

basedscienceteachingmethods.

October2010

1See,e.gdeliverable5ainthisgroup,availablefromwww.ntnu.no/steam


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4

Inserviceteachereducation,collectiveteacherworkandinvestigation

insciencewithPairform@nce

GhislaineGuedet&DominiqueForest

Technical realisation by Vincent Brandsma

Centrede

Recherche

sur

l'Enseignement,

l'Apprentissage

et

la

Didactique

(CREAD,

EA

3875),

UFRSTAPS,UniversitdeHauteBretagneRennes2,France


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5

Introduction

Thissectionofthedocumentprovidesabriefdescriptionofsometeachertrainingactivitiesbasedaround

thePairform@nceplatforminFrance.ItsparticularinterestforSTEAMisthatitisdesignedtoencourage

inquirybasedscienceteaching,orclassroominvestigation, throughtheuseof:

Teachercollaboration

Aspecificsoftwareplatformtosupportteachercollaboration

Softwaretoolsembeddedintheplatformforclassroommodellingandsimulations

Facetofaceteachermeetingsoveranextendedperiod

Builtinprovisionforredesignasaresultofuserrequirementsorfeedback

AllthesefeaturesareconvergentwithotherSTEAMtrainingorteacherprofessionaldevelopment(TPD)

activities.Fordisseminationpurposesthenextphaseofactivityinconnectionwiththisdeliverableisto

circulateitwithintheproject,inorderfornationalpartnersoutsideFrancetoassessitsusefulnessasa

designconcept.

At

the

same

time,

the

STEAM

project,

and

in

particular

Work

Package

4led

by

Michel

Grangeat,hascreatedanumberofdisseminationroutestomakePairform@ancebetterknownand

acceptedinFrance.

ThereisanaccompanyingDVD,whichdescribesthemainfeaturesofPairform@nce,includinginterviews

withteachers,trainersanddesigners.ThiswillshortlybeavailableviatheSTEAMvideoportal.


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6

Pairform@nce,aninnovativeteachertrainingprogrammeinFrance.

TheFrenchnationalprojectPairform@nce2(http://national.pairformance.education.fr/) isaimingto

developinserviceteachersskillsinusingICTinclasswiththeirstudents.Pairform@nceproposes

professionaldevelopmentprograms,forallclasslevelsfromprimarytosecondary,andalltopics(Gueudet

etal.2009).

Figure1.ThePairform@ncenationalplatform

ThePairform@nceprogrammesarebasedonthreemainprinciples:

(i)Collaborationamongteachers:professionaldevelopment,especiallyconcerningICT,cannotonlybean

individualprocess;itresultsfromthecollectiveactivityandexperienceofpeers;

(ii)CodesignoflessonswithICTandimplementationinclass:ateacherdevelopmentprogrammecannot

simplybebaseduponoutofschooltraining,itnecessarilyimpliesexperimentationwithresourcesinthe

fieldandsubsequentsharedreflection;

(iii)Continuousprocess:workingefficientlyonresourcesrequirescollaborationtobemaintained,

combiningfacetofaceandonlineactivities.

Pairform@ncehasthecentralfeatureofbeingorganisedaroundtrainingpathsavailableonanonline

2 ThewordPairform@nceisamodificationoftheFrenchwordperformance,wherethefirstpartperhasbeen

replacedby

the

word

pair.

Per

and

pair

have

the

same

pronunciation

in

French

but

pair

means

peer.

An

English

translationcouldbePeerform@nce,pointingouttheprincipleofcollaborationamongteachers.


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7

platform.Thetrainingpathsgathercontents,resourcesandtoolsforcollaboration,enablingteacher

trainerstosetupPairform@ncetrainingsessions.

All Pairform@ncepathscomprise7stages.These7stagesarenotjustsuccessivesteps;someofthemare

stronglyintertwined.Theyaremorelike7differentobjectivesofthetrainersandtraineesactivity,during

thetraining.

Thefirststageistheintroduction,thebeginningofthetraining.Duringthisstage,thetraineesmeeteach

other,andmeetthetrainers.Theyalsofindoutaboutthetraining.Thisintroductionmustinvolvefaceto

faceinteraction.Someexchangescanbedoneusingemail,orawebforum.Forexample,eachtraineecan

uploadapersonalpresentation,anddiscusshisorherexpectationsonsuchaforum.

Thesecondstageisthecreationofteams,andselectionofthetopics.Thetrainerscandecideonagiven

compositionfortheteams.Forexample,theycanformteamswithteachersworkinginthesameschool.

Theycan

also

leave

the

responsibility

of

forming

the

teams

to

the

trainees.

When

the

teams

have

been

formed,theystarttodiscusspossiblecommonthemesforthelessontheywilldesigntogether.Choosing

thethemecanrequiresometime,facetofaceandatadistance.Theteamcanstartwithageneralidea,

whichwillbeprogressivelyelaboratedduringdiscussions.

Stage3iscalledselfandcotraining.Duringthisstage,thetraineesaretrained,andtrainthemselves,

accordingtothepathobjectives.OntheonehandtheylearntousetheICTtoolsintegratedintothepath.

Allthepathshavedidacticalobjectives,inadditiontotheobjectiveoftechnicalmastery.Inthepathswe

considerhere,

the

trainees

learn

about

setting

up

inquiry

based

activities

in

class

at

this

stage.

For

this

stage,thepathoffersmanyresources:quickstartdocumentsforthesoftwareused;articlesabout

educationalresearch;examplesoflessons.Thetrainerscontributions,duringthefacetofacesessions,are

essential.Naturally,however,themostimportantpartofthetrainingisthedesignandtestingofthelesson.

Thedesignofthelessonisstage4.Thetrainees,intheteam,elaborateaspecificcontentforthelesson

duringtheirfacetofacemeetingsandelectronicdiscussions.Forthesediscussions,apathspecificforum

canbecreatedontheplatform,foreachteam.Specificspacesforuploadingfilescanalsobemade

available.The

trainers

offer

their

support

during

the

whole

design

phase.

Stage5isthestageofclassroomimplementation.Thelessondesignedmustbetestedinclassatleastonce;

butseveralvariationsarepossible.Forexample,severaltraineesintheteamcanimplementthelessonwith

theirpupils.Oronetraineecantestitindifferentclasses.Ifthelessonistestedseveraltimes,itisbetterto

organiseascheduleenablingmodificationsbetweensuccessivetests,assuggestedbyobservations.The

potentialfaultscanthusbecorrectedandimprovementscanbeproposed.


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Stage6iscalledreflexivelookback.Inthisstagethetraineeslookbackatthelessondesigned,theyreflect

aboutwhatwentwrong,andwhatshouldbemodified.Oftenalessondoesnotworkwellthefirsttime;

sometimesaclassroomactivityrequiresmoretimethanintended;sometimesthetraineesmustleaveout

someparts,duetotimepressure.

Stage7,

the

final

stage,

is

an

evaluation

of

the

training.

During

this

stage,

the

trainees

fill

in

questionnaires,

explainingwhetherthetrainingmettheirexpectationsornot.Theyalsosuggestmodifications.Thetrainers

alsoevaluatethetraining.Theycansendtheirremarksandsuggestionstothepathdesigners.

Allthequestionnairesthatwestudiedindicatethattheteachersappreciatecollectivework.InFrance,

teachersarenotusedtodesigninglessonstogether.Thisworkrequiresstrongcommitment.Butthe

differentlessonsdesignedcanthenbesharedbetweenteams,sotheydonotfeelthattheyhavewasted

theirtime.Afterthetraining,theygenerallydeclarethattheyintendtogoonworkingtogether.

Atraining

path

proposes,

for

trainers

and

for

trainees,

specific

training

resources

of

various

kinds:

examples

oflessons;guidesforusingtheICTtools;articlescomingfromeducationalresearch;andmanycollaboration

tools.Wepresentbelowtwotrainingpaths,oneinmathematicsandoneingeology.


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Section2:InvestigationandICTinmathematics:exampleofatrainingpath

2.aInvestigationinmathematics andICT

Investigationinmathematicstakesspecificforms,sincemathematicsisnotanexperimentalscience(Dias,

2007,Kuntz,2007,NCTM,1989,2000).Itisstronglyconnectedwithproblemsolving(Schoenfeld,1985).

Implementinginvestigationinthemathematicsclassroomrequiresanappropriatesituation,allowingthe

studentstomanipulatenumbers,orgeometricfigures,orequations.Themovefromthesituationtothe

manipulationsisoftennotstraightforward, requiringfirsttheimportantworkofmodelling.Drawingon

manipulations,studentscanobservepossibleproperties,suggestedbyspecificpatterns.Theseconjectured

propertieshavetobetested;findingcounterexamples,whichenablewrongassumptionstobediscardedis

animportantabilityforpupilstodevelop.Whenapropertyislikelytobetrue,thenextstep,specificto

mathematics,istobuildaformalproof.Isthisformalproofnecessary,orisitpossibletopropose

investigationswithout

proof?

This

is

an

important

topic

of

debate

for

mathematics

teachers.

The

other

topicsofdiscussionarelessspecifictomathematics:

Howcaninvestigationbeintegratedintotheprescribedcourses?

Isinvestigationlimitedtothebeginningofachapterintherelevanttextbook?

Canitbeusedasanapproachtonewtopics?

Canitalsobeusedforpractisingwitholdnotions?

Howshouldinvestigations beassessed?

Specificsoftwarepackagesseemtobehelpfulfordevelopinginvestigationinmathematics.

Ingeometry,

dynamic

geometry

software

(DGS)

permits

the

construction

of

dynamic

geometrical

figures.

Thestudentscanthentestmanypossiblecases;theycanalsodisplaynumericalresults,suchas thevalue

ofanarea,orthegraphofafunction,etc. AccordingtoLeung(2003),thesimultaneitybetweenthe

student'sactionandtheDGSfeedbackisapromisingagentforbridgingthegapbetweenexperimentaland

theoreticalmathematics,orthetransitionbetweentheprocessesofconjectureandformalization:


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Figure2.IntroducingsinewithGeogebra.ThestudentsmovethepointBandobservethatBC/ACdoesnot

change.

Spreadsheetsareanotherkindofmathematicalsoftwarewhichcanbeusedforinvestigation, inparticular

intheareasofstatisticsandprobabilities.Spreadsheetsallowthestudyofstatisticaldata;theycanalso

simulateprobabilisticmodels.

Investigationisnotoftenpractisedbymathematicsteachersinclass,andtechnologyisnotoftenusedfor

investigation(Ruthven,2007).SoproposingachangeofpracticeassociatinginvestigationandICTisa

doublechallenge,whichrequiresspecifictraining.WehavethereforedevelopedaPairform@ncetraining

pathforthispurpose.

2.bPresentationoftheInvestigationwithICTinmathematicspath

TheInvestigationwithICTinmathematicspathhasbeendesignedbyateamassociatingresearchersand

teachertrainers.

It

is

addressed

to

mathematics

teachers,

teaching

from

grade

6to

9(lower

secondary

school).


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11

Figure3.InvestigationwithICTinmathematics,atrainingpath

Theproposedtraininglasts13weeks(holidaysarenotincluded);itcomprisesthreefacetofaceworkshops.

Wegivebelowachronologicaldescriptionofthetraining.

Beforethefirstfacetofaceworkshop

Thetrainingstartswithanemailcontact,oneweekbeforethefirstfacetofaceworkshop.Attachedtothis

email,thetrainersendsafirstquestionnaireforthetrainees.Thisquestionnaireisdesignedtorecordthe

traineesexpectations,andtocollectinformationaboutthematerialstheyuseintheirschools.Thetrainers

alsocollectinformationsaboutthetechnicalskillsofthetrainees.Forthetraineeswhoarenoviceswiththe

software,aspecificsessionwithatrainercanbeorganised.

Inthequestionnaire,thetraineesarealsoaskedabouttheirideasandexperiencesconcerninginquiryin

class.

Theresultsfromthisquestionnairearepresentedanddiscussedduringthefirstfacetofaceworkshopwith

thegroupoftrainees.

Thefirstworkshop

Duringthefirstworkshop,thetrainingprogrammeispresented.Thetrainersmustensurethatalltrainees

arefamiliarwiththeprinciplesofthetraining.Theymustpresenttheplatform,andcheckthatallthe

traineesareabletoconnect,andtodownloadanduploaddocuments.

Theresultsfromtheinitialquestionnairearepresented;thisleadstoanopeningdiscussion,aboutthe

traineesbeliefs

and

attitudes

towards

inquiry

in

class.

This

is

just

the

beginning

of

along

process,

which

will


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12

continueduringthewholetrainingprogramme!

Thetraineesteamsarethenformed.Theteams,ifpossible,comprisefourteachers:twofromoneschool,

andtwofromanotherschool.Thisway,theteacherswilleasilybeabletomeetinpairs;buttheywillalso

beobligedtousedistancecommunication,viatheplatform.Thiswillensureregularconnectiontothe

platform,which

is

necessary

in

order

to

view

the

resources

suggested

by

the

trainers.

Examplesoflessonsarepresented.Theseexamplespermitthedevelopmentofthediscussion,by

emphasizingimportantaspectsofinquiryinmathematics:

Howisitpossibletoarticulateinquiry,andtheusualcurriculum?Howcanteachersavoidlosingtimefor

teachingthemathematicalcontentofthecurriculum?

Whatisthelinkbetweeninvestigationandproof?Isthereariskthatinvestigationhindersthelearning

ofmathematics?

Thesamplelessonsarecentralresourcesinthepath.Theyarepresentedbythetrainers,leadingtodebates

inthetraineesgroup.Thesedebatesareveryimportant,astheyencourageessentialreflections,andare

likelytoyieldimprovementsintheteacherspractices.Duringthefirstworkshop,thetraineescanalso

improvetheirtechnicalskillsonthesoftware.

Finally,twomathematicalsituationsarepresentedbythetrainersintheformoftexts.Eachteamwillhave

tochooseoneofthesesituations,andplanascenarioforimplementingitinclass,withaninquirybased

approach.Thescenariodesignisthefirstdistancecollaborativeworkfortheteamsoftrainees.Ittakes

placebetweenthefirstandsecondfacetofaceworkshops.Theobjectiveistoinitiatecollaborationaround

thedesign

process

for

the

chosen

scenario.

The

proposed

scenario

must

include

an

element

of

inquiry.

Betweenworkshops1and2

Betweenthefacetofaceworkshops1and2,thetraineeteamsdesignascenario,correspondingtothetext

chosenduringworkshop1.Thisdistanceworkusesaspecificforum,andafolderforexchangingthefileson

theplatform.Thetrainerssupportthisdistancework,butdonottrytoinfluencethedecisionsoftheteam.

Afterthefirstworkshop,thetraineruploadsareportofthisworkshoptotheplatform.Iftheyconsiderthat

thetraineesaregettingbehindinthedesignofthescenario,theysendemailreminders.Theycan

formulateadviceaboutthescenariospropositions.Theyalsoanswerrequestsforsupportfromthe

trainees,ifnecessary.

Thesecondworkshop

Duringthesecondworkshop,thetrainerspresentaslideshowaboutinquiryinclass,groundedinresearch

results.Thescenariosproposedbytheteamsarethenpresentedandcollectivelyanalysed,usingcategories

presentedin

the

slide

show:


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13

Aproblemwitharealchallenge,butonethatispossibletotackleinclass;

Organisationofanappropriationphase,contructionofanexperiment,

Observation,formulationofconjectures;

Testingoftheconjectures,searchforelementsofproofs;

Debate,argumentation.

Moreovertheroleofthesoftwareisinvestigated:dothestudentsbuildanexperimentwithit?Dotheyonly

manipulateandobserve?Isthecomputerusedforbuildingtheproof?Alltheseelementsyielddiscussions

amongstthegroupoftrainees,andsuggestedmodificationsforthescenarios.

Duringthesecondworkshop,thetraineeteamsalsostarttodesignthelessonstheywilltestinclass.

Betweenworkshops2and3

Eachteamelaboratesthefirstversionofalesson(duringexchangesonthepreparationforum).Thislesson

issetupinclassbyoneofthetrainees;atleastoneothertraineeobservesthelessonandtakesnotes.

Suggestionsfor

improvements

are

formulated.

If

possible,

another

test,

incorporating

the

modifications,

is

organized.Newsuggestionsforimprovementsareformulated.Thedescriptionofthelessonisuploadedon

theplatform,atleastoneweekbeforethelastworkshop.

Trainersandtraineesreadallthelessondescriptions.Thetraineeteamsareassociatedinpairs,andeach

teamhastoprovidefeedbackaboutthelessonoftheotherteam.

Thethirdworkshop

Duringthisthirdworkshop,thelessonsarediscussedandproposalsforimprovementsareformulated.

Duringthisworkshop,thetraineesalsocontributetotheevaluationofthetraining,bycompletinga

questionnaireandalsodirectlyexpressingtheiropinion:doesthetrainingmeettheirexpectations,dothey

havesuggestionsorcriticismstoformulate?

Theresourcesofthepath

Inthepath,resourcesareproposedforthetraineesandforthetrainers.

Foreachstageatrainingassistancepackisofferedtothetrainer.Itoffersadescriptionofalltheactivities,

ofthetrainersandofthetrainees.Italsoincludesalltheresourcesnecessaryforthetrainers:slideshows,

analysisgridsetc.


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Figure4.Pedagogicalnotes,includingresources.Thesenotescanonlybeseenbythetrainers.

Manyresources

are

also

provided

for

the

trainee,

such

as

technical

notes

for

the

software

and

research

articles.Someoftheseresourcesareessentialforsupportingthecollaborativework.Thepathproposesa

systemof3grids:

gridforlessondescription;

gridforobservationofaninquirybasedlesson;

finalreportgrid.

Thesegridscanbeproposedbythetrainers,orelaboratedwiththetrainees.Theyareessential,sinceif

eachteam(orworse,eachteacher)choosesapersonaltemplatefordescribingthedesignedlesson,the

discussionsbecomedifficultorevenimpossible.Itisalwaysadifficulttaskforoneteachertounderstanda

lessonconstructedbyanotherteacher.Choosingacommontemplateisthusnecessary.

2.cTeacherscollaborationinatrainingactivitybuiltontheInvestigationwithICT

inmathematicspath.

Teachercollaborationtakesseveralforms,inatrainingactivitycorrespondingtothis path.

Collaborationwithintheteams

Thecollaborationwithintheteams,todesignthelesson,isveryimportant.Ittakesplaceduringthe

workshops,inthetraditionalmanner.Betweentheworkshops,theteamsusetheplatform,fordiscussions

ontheforumsandtosharefiles.Thesediscussions,eventdistant,arealwayseasierforteachersworkingin

thesameschool.Withintheteamsoffourteachers,infactthedistantcommunicationhappensmostly

insidethepairsofteachersworkinginthesameschool;thecollaborationofthewholeteamrequiresface

tofacemeetings.


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Collaborationwithinthewholetraininggroup

Thewholetraininggroupcomprisesbetween16and24teachers.Theymostlyworktogetherduringthe

facetofaceworkshops.Anessentialtoolforthesecollaborationsistheuseofcommongridstodescribe

thelessons,toreportclassroomobservationsandtoproposelessonanalyses.

Withinthe

whole

group,

very

different

positions

towards

investigation

and

ICT

always

appear,

leading

to

interestingdebates.

Figure5.Discussiononaforumduringthetraining

2.d

The

river:

example

of

a

situation

in

geometry

for

investigation

in

the

Investigation

with

ICT

in

mathematicspath.

Problemtext

Theriverisawellknownmathematicsproblem.Wegivehereanexampleofthewayitcanbeimplemented

inclass.Thisexamplecanbepresentedtothetraineesanddiscussedwiththem.Thescenarioproposed

hereisatthelevelofthegrade7curriculuminFrance.

Paul'sandLouise'sgrandmothercannotwalkanymore.Eachday,oneofthemgoestotheriver,take

waterand

bring

it

to

Grandmother.

One

day,

Paul

goes

to

the

river,

takes

water,

and

goes

to

Grandma.


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16

Thefollowingday,Louisegoes.Thechildrenarealwayshurrying;theywanttofindtheshortestway.

CanyoudrawtheshortestwayforLouisetogototheriverandthentoherGrandma'splace?

CanyoudrawtheshortestwayforPaultogototheriverandthentohisGrandma'splace?

Letusrecallthemathematicalsolutionoftheproblem.Paul'spositionisrepresentedbyapointP,Grandma

byapointG;theriverisastraightlineD.IfPisreflectedalongD,itgivesapointL.LisonasideofD

opposedtothesidewhereGis.ThentheshortestwayfromLtoGisthestraightline.LetRbethepoint

obtainedbytheintersectionofDandthestraightline(LG).ThedistanceLGequalLR+RG,sincethethree

pointsarealignedinthisorder.ThisdistanceequalsPR+RG.HencethepointRfoundhereexactlyprovides

theminimaldistance.

Forgrade7students(butalsolater,sincethisproblemcanevenbeusedatuniversity),thereisamajor

difficultywith

this

problem:

the

point

Pmust

be

reflected

along

the

line

D,

which

is

not

natural.

How

can

dynamicgeometryhelp?

Proposedscenario

Theproposedscenariostartswithapaperandpencilexercise.ForLouise,livingontheothersideofthe

river,thesolutionissimple!Theshortestwayisthestraightline,goingfromGrandma'shousetoLouise's

home.Naturally,weconsiderherethattheriverisastraightline,andthatLouisecancrossitwhereshe

wants.

Thestudentsfindthesolutionquickly.ForPaulitismorecomplex.Eachstudentmakesoneortwoattempts

onpaper.Theyplaceapointontheriver,measurethetwosegmentsobtainedandaddthelengthstofind

thelengthofPaul'sway.Studentsdiscussthelengthsofthepathsfound,andhowtochoosetheshortest

path.

Afterthisstage,thestudentswilllookforasolutionwithdynamicgeometry.First,theyreceiveafilewhere

pointsP,GandthelineDhavebeenconstructed,inthesamewayastheywereconstructedonpaper.They


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17

dotheconstructioninthesoftwareastheydidonpaper.TheyplaceapointRonthelineD.Theydraw

segmentsPRandRG,anddisplaythedistancesum:PR+RG.TheymovepointRandobservetheevolutionof

thesum'svalueasitapproachesthepointRatwhichthelengthofthepathisataminimum.

Afterthis

stage,

the

aim

is

that

the

students

find

how

to

construct

the

correct

point

R.

Thissearchisorganisedaroundablackbox(Laborde2001).Theconstructionhasbeendone(withpoint

L),butthestepsareconcealedinthesoftware.Studentshavetofindthesesteps,bymovingthepointsand

observingthepropertiesofthefigure.Theycanforexampledisplaytheline(PL)andobservethatitis

perpendiculartoD.TheycandisplaythelengthsPRandLRandobservetheyareequal.

Figure6.Theblackboxfileprovidedtothestudents

Atest

in

class

has

proven

that

this

work

remains

very

difficult

(for

pupils

in

grade

7)

Even

with

the

black

box,

somestudentsdidnotidentifythepointLanditsrolebytheendofthesession.

Fortrainingpurposes,thislessonexampleisveryrich,becauseitraisesanumberofissues,andstimulates

thetraineesreactions.Manytraineeswonderhowtheycanhelpthestudents,withoutsuppressingthe

investigationaspects.Withthisaim,proposingablackboxisinteresting.However,blackboxesconstitutea

particularformofinvestigation, whichalwaysleadtoreactionsfromthetrainees.Someofthemconsider

thatitinvitesthestudentstoguess,whichseemsopposedtotheirideaofrigorousmathematics.Some

trainees

also

say

that

they

cannot

imagine

how

to

insert

this

problem

in

the

curriculum.

These

last

trainees


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18

areusuallyconvincedbyothers,whoshowthemthatstudentscanusemathematicalknowledgeabout

distance,symmetryetc.

2.eTheliquoriceexampleofasituationinprobabilityandstatisticsfortheInvestigationwithICTin

mathematicspath:

Investigation

in

probability

and

statistics

with

aspreadsheet.

ThestatisticstaughtatsecondaryschoolinFrancehaveseveralaspects.Theycanontheonehandbe

descriptivestatistics.Inthiscase,asetofdataisgivenandstudied.

Numericaldatacanbepresentedinatable,groupedinclasses;percentagescanbecomputedetc.Statistical

measurescanbepositioncharacteristics,likemeanormedian.Theycanalsobedispersioncharacteristics,

likethestandarddeviation,orquartiles.Representations canalsobeusedforstudyingthedata:barchart,

piechart,etc.Aspreadsheetallowsthenecessarycomputationstobemade.Whenalargequantityofdata

isgiven,

it

cannot

be

studied

without

aspecific

software

tool

such

as

aspreadsheet.

Moreover,

the

spreadsheetenablesstudentstocreatealltherepresentationsevokedhere.Thespreadsheetcanbe

consideredasatoolofdatainvestigation.

Otheraspectsofstatisticsarealsotaught. Ininferentialstatistics,hypotheses,associatedwithaprobability,

aredrawnfromthedata.Thearticulationbetweenstatisticsandprobabilityiscomplex,andcanbetackled

bystudying,forexample,thefluctuationofthestatisticalresultsobtained,fordifferentpopulations.For

largepopulations,thisfluctuationisreduced.Forthesimulationoflargepopulations,aspreadsheetis

needed.

Severalpossibleusesofthespreadsheet

Usingthespreadsheetinclassrequiresthatthestudentshavetechnicalskills;someofthesecanbe

complex.Theymustbeabletowriteformulas.Forsimulations,theymustknowtheRANDOMfunction.

Theymustbeabletotestiftheresultofaexperimentispositive,andabletocountthenumberofpositive

results,tocomputethefrequency.

Forworkinginclasswithaspreadsheet, theteacherfacesthesamequestionsthatarisewithotherkindsof

software:dothestudentsworkonthecomputer,ordoestheteachermanipulatethecomputer?Foran

inquirybasedlesson,itisimportantthatthestudentshavecontrol.


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19

TheLiquoriceexample,problemtext:

Three friends want to share a stick of liquorice.They decide to cut it in two places obtained randomly, eyes closed, placing simultaneously two marks on thestick.The most voracious wants to take the piece in the middle. He says that it is likely to be longer than the half of

the whole stick.What is the probability, for the piece in the middle, to be longer than the half of the stick?

Severalmathematicalmodelscanbeassociatedwiththisexperience.Weretainherethefollowingone:two

numbersxandyarerandomlychosenbetween0and1,withauniformlaw.Letxbethesmallestvalue.We

mustcomputetheprobabilityfor(yx)tobegreaterorequalto,whichmeansygreaterthanx+1/2.

Reasoningontheareaoftriangles,itiseasytocomputethatthisprobabilityis0.25.

Thepupilsdonotnecessarilycomputethisprobability.Theyelaborateasimulationwiththespreadsheet.

Thissimulation

allows

pupils

to

perform

alarge

number

of

experiments.

They

will

observe

this

way

that

the

frequencyofapositiveissueseemstovarygreatly,whenasmallnumberofexperimentsisdone.Foralarge

numberofexperiments,itstabilizesaround0.25.

Proposedscenario

Withthestudents,theteachercanstartbyaskingpupilstoperformaphysicalexperiment,forexample

withspaghetti.Eachpupilcutstenpiecesofspaghettiinthree,andthenumberofpositiveissuesis

computed.This

concrete

experiment

can

be

used

to

discuss

the

model.

Thenwesuggestswitchingtothegeometricalinterpretation:thepupilsmustfindawayofmodellingthe

situation,intermsofsegmentsandpoints.Thentheycomplementthemodellingwithaninterpretation in

termsofsegmentlength.Theliquoricestickismodelledbyasegmentoflength1.TwopointsMandNare

randomlyplacedonthesegment,theirabscissaarebetween0and1.

Figure7.Thegeometrical representation ofthesituation

Thestudents

compute

the

length

MN.

The

result

is

positive

if

this

length

is

greater

than

.

This

modelling


22/46


20

phaseisdifficultforthestudents,anditisnotoftenpractised.

Oncethisgeometricalmodellingisdone,thestudentsworkonthespreadsheet.Theteachermusthelp,for

thetechnicalaspects,ifthestudentsarenotfamiliarwiththetwoimportantfunctionsusedhere:

thesimulationofarandomnumberbetween0and1;

thetestofapositiveoutcome,hereyxgreaterthan.

Figure8.Aspreadsheetfile,usedbythestudents

Whenthemodellingwiththespreadsheetisdone,thestudentscandoseveralsuccessivesimulations,with

thesamenumberofdraws.Theystartwith10,then20draws.Theyrecordeachtimethefrequency

obtained.Thenthenumberofdrawsisraised,andthestudentsobservethatthefrequencystabilizes

around0.25.

Thecontextofprobabilityandstatistics,andofthelinkbetweenboth,permitstheimplementationof

investigationinclass.Indeedmathematicsteachersgenerallyagreewiththeideathatanintuitiveideaof

theGreatNumbersLaw(thefrequencytendstowardstheprobability,foralargenumberofexperiments)

hastobebuiltbythestudents.


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21

VirtualGlobes:exampleofatrainingpathingeology

TheVirtualglobespaths(therearefoursuchpaths)havebeenelaboratedbyateamassociating

researchersandteachers(Sanchez2009).TheyconcernEarthsciencesandGeography,andareaddressedto

secondaryschoolteachers,andteachertrainers.Theaimofthesepathsistosupporttheintegrationof

geotechnologies,in

particular

virtual

globes,

like

Google

Earth.

We

focus

here

on

the

fourth,

Virtual

globes

4,whichassociatesICTandinvestigation.

Figure9.Virtualglobes4,atrainingpath

Thispathconcernsthedesignofafieldclass,inEarthscienceorgeology;ithastwokindsofobjectives.

Firstobjective:fieldclassandinvestigation

Thefirstobjectiveislinkedwiththenatureoffieldclassesinscienceoringeography.Astudymadein2007

hasshownthatveryoften,fieldclasseswereinfacttraditionaloutdoorclasses.Theoutdooraspectwas

usedtoprovideaspecificatmosphere,butinfactitwasverydifficultfortheteacherstohavethestudents

makerealuseoftheirfieldobservations.

Naturally,thiswasnotsurprising,becausefieldsituationsareoftenverycomplex,andstudentsoftenreport

thattheyfinditdifficulttodrawrelevantelementsfromtheirobservations,inordertoanswerscientific

questions.

Forthisreasonateamofresearchersandtrainers(EricSanchez,INRP,LudovicDelorme,Acadmiede

Montpellier)decidedtodesignatrainingactivityshowingtheimportantelementsneededtoorganizea

fieldclass,withthestudentsleadinginvestigations themselves.


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22

Secondobjective:useofgeotechnologies

Thesecondobjectiveofthepathistheintroductionofgeotechnologies.Geotechnologiesareallthedigital

meanspermittingtostudygeolocalisedinformation.GPS,virtualglobeslikeGoogleearth,etc.Allthese

technologiesarewidelyusedinmodernsociety,theyareeasilyavailableinclass,thecorresponding

software

is

not

expensive,

and

it

is

sometimes

free

of

charge.

Presentationofthepath

Thepathstartswithafacetofaceworkshop.Thetraineesfindoutaboutthetraining,itsprinciples,

objectivesandcontent,andtheplatformused.Theteamsoftraineesareformed;theydiscussanddecide

theobjectivesofthelessontheywillelaborate.Afterthisworkshop,aphaseofindividualdistancework

begins.

Theteachers

work

on

aset

of

resources

offered

by

the

path.

These

resources

are

very

diverse.

There

are,

forexample,researcharticles,videosoffieldclasses,showingstudentsbeforeorduringafieldclass,

photographstakeninthefield,audiofiles,etc.Thissetofdocumentswillleadtheteachertoreflecton

didacticalandpedagogicalquestions,andtoreflectabouttheelementsthatmustbetakenintoaccountto

permitstudentautonomyduringthefieldinvestigations.

Thephaseofindividualdistanceworkalsohasasecondaspect:thetechnicaltraining.TheICTtoolsare

sometimesquiteeasytouse,butsometoolsaremorespecific.Thepathoffersresourcesforthistechnical

training.These

resources

are

instructions

for

use,

regularly

updated.

This

means

that,

when

anew

version

ofasoftwarepackageusedinthepathispublished,theinstructionsforuseareupdatedinthepath,and

thetraineescanaccessthisupdatedversion.Thedesignersofthepathareawareofthequickevolutionof

theICTtoolsused,whichrequirefrequentupdatinginthepath.

Aseconddistancephasefollows,thistimemorecollaborative.Theteamsoftraineesdesigntheirlesson.

Theyexpresstheirpointofview,debate,sometimesindifferentdomains,suchasEarthscienceand

geography.Whenthisdesignphaseisfinished,andtestedinclass,eachgrouppresentsitswork,andtests

itsopinion

against

the

opinion

of

the

whole

group.

This

phase

is

very

rich,

and

it

will

enable,

on

the

one

hand,thediscardingofsomechoicesor,ontheotherhand,theidentificationofinterestinginnovations,

whichdeservetobebetterknown.

Resourcesofthepath

Aninterestingaspectoftheresourcesofthepathisthatwehavetriedtoarticulatetheworkofresearchers,

whodesignedsequencesandanalysedfieldclasses,withtheworkofpractitioners.Wehavetriedtohelp

teachersbenefit

from

the

research

results.


25/46


23

Forexample,itissuggestedthatvideosorphotographsofstudentsareconnectedtotranscriptsofthe

studentsaudiorecordings. Thesetextsshowthatstudentshaveserious,indepthdebates,froma

geologicalpointofview,andthattheyarerelativelyautonomous.Theteacherisinvitedtothinkaboutthe

elementsthatpermitstudentautonomy.Theseelementsareoftwokinds.Firstly,ICTtools,suchasdigital

cameras,

enable

the

taking

of

pictures,

which

can

then

be

localised

on

a

virtual

globe.

The

second

element

isthewaythelessonhasbeendesigned.Thefieldclasshasbeenprepared,andthestudentsknowexactly

whattheywillhavetocollectinthefield.Thesedimensionsareveryimportant,inordertosupportareal

investigationbythestudents.

Conclusion

Pairform@nceiscertainlyateachertrainingadvancedmethod.Itsadvancedcharacteristicsdonotonly

correspondto

the

use

of

adistant

platform.

The

global

structure

of

the

training,

in

particular

the

role

attributedtoteamsoftraineesisadvanced.

Pairform@nceisnotespeciallydirectedtowardsinvestigationinscience.Thetwopathsselectedhere,in

differentdisciplines,arethemostinquiryoriented,amongstthe34publishedpaths.Newpathsfor

investigationcouldbedevelopedbyotherteams,inphysicsorbiologyforexample.

Pairform@nceisacomplextrainingsystem,organisedinFrance.Itusesanationalplatforminconjunction

withlocalplatforms.Butsimilartrainingprogramscanbecreated,withouttheneedforthewholesystem.A

commercialplatform(e.g.moodle3)isenough,solongasitallowsdownloadinganduploadingoffilesand

discussionforums.Suchatoolpermitsthecollaborativedesignofclassroomlessons,whichisthemost

importantprincipleof Pairform@nce.

3http://moodle.org/


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24

References

Dias,T.(2005),Ladimensionexprimentaleenmathmatiques:mytheouralit?InActesdes4mes

rencontresdel'ARDIST,Lyon.http://www.inrp.fr/ardist2005/ressources/contributions/21.pdf

Gueudet,G.,SouryLavergne,S.,&Trouche,L.(2009),Soutenirl'intgrationdesTICE:quelsassistants

mthodologiquespourledveloppementdeladocumentationcollectivedesprofesseurs?

[email protected]&M.J.PerrinGlorian

(Eds.),Approchespluriellesendidactiquedesmathmatiques(pp.161173).UniversitParis

Diderot,LaboratoirededidactiqueAndrRevuz.

Kuntz,G.(2007),Dmarcheexprimentaleetapprentissagesmathmatiques,dossierdelavieille

scientifiqueettechnologique.

http://educmath.inrp.fr/Educmath/ressources/etudes/experimentationmath

Laborde,C.(2001),Theuseofnewtechnologiesasavehicleforrestructuringteachersmathematics,in

T.Conney&F.L.Lin(eds.),Makingsenseofmathematicsteachereducation(pp.87109).Dordrecht,

KluwerAcademicPublishers.

Leung,A.

(2003),

Dynamic

geometry

and

the

theory

of

variation,

in

N.A.

Pateman,

B.J.

Dougherty

&

J.

T.

Zilliox(Eds.),Proceedingsofthe27thPMEInternationalConference,3,pp.197204.

NationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematics.(1989),Thecurriculumandevaluationstandardsforschool

mathematics. Reston,VA,NCTM.

NationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematics.(2000),Theprinciplesandstandardsforschool

mathematics.Reston,VA,NCTM.

Ruthven,K.(2007),Teachers,technologies,andthestructuresofschooling.InD.PittaPantazi&G.

Philippou(Eds.),ProceedingsoftheFithCongressoftheEuropeanSocietyforResearchin

MathematicsEducation(pp.5267),Lanarca,Cyprus,CERME5.

Sanchez,

E.

(2009),

Innovative

teaching/learning

with

geotechnologies

in

secondary

education.

World

conferenceonComputersinEducation,BentoGonalves,Brazil.

Schoenfeld,A.H.(1985),Mathematicalproblemsolving.Orlando,FL:AcademicPress.


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25

STEAMProduct4.6:ReportonTeachersasResearchers

WorkshopReportonactionlearning

MayBrittPostholm

Programmefor

Teacher

Education

NorwegianUniversityofScienceandTechnology


28/46


26

Background:

Thisreportcomprisesfirstly,abackgroundpaperdescribingindetailtheauthorsexperienceofworking

withteachersasactionresearchersinNorway.Itisfollowedbyadiscussionofmutualexperiencesof

teacherresearcheractivityattheworkshopheldduringtheSTEAMconferenceinGlasgow,1315October

2010.

Theaim

of

this

research

is

to

make

teacher

collaboration

central

to

the

process

of

implementing

inquirybasedscienceandmathematicsteachingmethods.Italsoremindsusthatcollaborationcanproduce

interdisciplinarylinkageswithinandoutsidetheSTEMsubjects.Thisisincreasinglynecessary,particularlyin

workingwithscientificliteracy,which,astheSTEAMWP8deliverableswillconfirm,involveseducational

dimensionsbeyondthetraditionalscopeofscienceeducation.


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27

Introduction

Wevelearnedthatwehaveahighdegreeofcompetencewhichbecomesmorevisiblewhenweshare

itwithothers.Weresoclever.Wereallyare.Whentwopersonsobserveyourteaching,itdoes

somethingtoyou,youthink,youreflectonyourownpractice,youobserveothers,Ithinkwow,thereI

gotatip.Andwevediscoveredthatwhenwegettogether,webecomemorevisiblycompetent.We

managealot,weknowasmuchaswecanreadinbooks,wejusthavetoletitcomeoutandshareit

withtheothers.Wevereflectedonourownpracticewiththefocusonlearningstrategies,and

learningstrategieshavebeenwellknowninthewholeteam.Itsmuchmoresalientduringplanning,

andwethinkoflearningstrategiesmuchmorethanbefore.Ithasbeenuseful,wevegotalotoftips

andahaexperiencesbothduringfeedbackfromothers,throughobservationsandthrough

reflectiononourownpractice,andnotleastwhenweworkedacrossclassteams.Wevegainedmore

insightintoourcolleaguesandthepupils.Wetrusteachotherevenmore,andsupporteachother.

Veryuseful.Itswe,theteachers,whoaregoingtolearnfromthis,butouractionlearningwillalso

makethelearningbetterforthepupils.Thereforewewanttocontinuedoingthisnextyear,following

thesameplan.

Theabovestatementcomesfromtheteamleaderforteachersofstudentsintheeighth,ninthandtenth

grades.Whenshesaidthis,theteachersatthewholeschoolhadgatheredtoexchangeexperiences.Atthat

timetheteachersandI,theresearcher,hadworkedonaresearchanddevelopment(R&D)projectfora

wholeyear.AtthebeginningoftheprojecttheteachersandIjointlyformedaresearchquestiontoguide

andframethework.Thequestionwearrivedatwas:Howcanvariousworkmethodswiththefocuson

learningstrategiescontributetoeachpupilssubjectandsocialdevelopment?Bothlearningstrategiesand

adaptededucation

are

key

parts

of

the

national

curriculum,

so

the

teachers

could

satisfy

national

requirementsforlearningandsupportforlearningbychoosingthisresearchquestionasaframeworkfor

theirteaching.

Inherstatement,theteamleaderpointsoutthatthedevelopmentprocess,includingobservationand

reflection,hasmadethemmorevisiblycompetent.Theyhaveallowedtheircompetencetoemerge,and

theyhaveshareditwithothers.Whatsheissayingisthattheyhavebeenabletoputtheirexpertiseinto

wordsandthusdescribeittoothers.Thus,theirpersonalcompetenceemergedfromitstacitform(Polanyi,

1967).This

teacher

also

maintains

that

learning

strategies

have

been

more

salient

in

the

planning

work,

and

thateverybodyintheteamhaslearnedaboutit.Theteamleadergoesontosaythattheyhavegained

moreinsightintoeachotherandthepupilsthanbefore,andthisincreasesmutualtrust,thusmakingthe

foundationfordevelopmentevenmoresolid(Krogh,Ichijo&Nonaka,2000).

Therearealtogether12teachersinthisteam,namedTeam3,andtheyalsobelongtotheirownclass

teams.Thesocialclimatebetweentheteachers,andbetweentheteachersandthepupils,isverygood.The

teachersareeagerlyinvolvedintheirjob,andhaveheateddiscussionsabouttheirpupilsandtheirplanning

ofthe

teaching

processes.

Krogh,

Ichijo

and

Nonaka

(2000)

say

that

development

has

to

be

built

on


30/46


28

confidence,trust,learninganddialogue,andaccordingtoArgyris(1990),anatmospherethatinvitespeople

tospeakopenlyisapremiseforprogressinlearningwork.Ateacherinthetenthgradesaysinthe

beginningoftheproject:Wecantrusteachother,weareloyaltoeachother,andwecanallowourselves

tohaveabadday,youneverfeelthatsomeoneisafteryou.Wehaveatoleranttone.Youcanbeyourself.

With

the

supportive

and

open

atmosphere

in

Team

3

the

foundation

for

development

was

present

already

fromthestart.

Theselectedschoolissituatedinasuburbanareaandhaspupilsfromthefirsttotenthgrades.Forty

teachersareworkingattheschool,whichhas500pupils.Thepupilsareforthemostpartfrommiddleclass

families,andtherearefewimmigrantsattheschool.Theteachersaredividedintothreeteams.Iam,as

mentioned,connectedwithTeam3andthereforethismicrosociety(Kroghetal.,2000)isthefocusinthis

text.ThepurposeofthisarticleistoshowwhatandhowteacherscanlearnduringanR&Dworkproject.

FirstIpresent

theories

on

learning

and

development,

which

also

became

known

to

the

teachers

during

a

courseinthefirstsemester,beforeIdiscusshowaformalizedplanforobservationsandreflectionswas

developed.NextIdescribehowIcollectedmaterialtodescribeandunderstandtheprocessesunderlying

theR&Dwork,beforeIpresentanexampleonreflectionfrompractice.Finally,Ifocusontheteachers

learninginthework,andendwithadiscussionabouttheteachingprofession.

Theoriesonlearninganddevelopment

Revans(1982;1984)callsteacherslearningindevelopmentworkactionlearning,andthisimplieslooking

forwardaswellasback.AccordingtoRevans,reflectionmeansaskingquestionsaboutonesownpractice,

andforeseeingpossibilitiesforchangeanddevelopment.Thus,itisimportantforteacherstolookahead

andnottogetstuckontheirexperiences.Tiller(2006,p.51)statesthat:

Thestrengthofactionresearchisthatpeopleintheorganizationcanbeawareofandutilizewhatis

alreadytherewhenitcomestoknowledgeandgeneratelearningoutofexistingexperiencesby

rethinkingyesterdaysexperiencesinthelightoftodaysandtomorrows[experience].4

Inthiswayteacherscanutilizeknowledgetheyalreadyhaveintheirteachingcommunitytolookaheadand

developtheirpractice.

InthesameveinasRevans(1982;1984),Engestrm(1999,2001)maintainsthatteachershavetosee

possibilitiesintheirteachingandaskquestionsaboutit,withanoverallgoalinmind.Thus,theymusthave

someideasandforeseesomeconsequences,asDewey(1916)putit.Takingalookbothbackandforwardis

alsoshowninEngestrms(1999,2001)expansivelearningcircle,aswecanseeinFigure1below.

4InthisarticletheconstructsactionresearchandR&Dworkareusedsynonymously.Inmyopinionbothresearchand

learningbasedonactionsarepartoftheactionresearchconstruct.Learningbasedonactionsoftenleadsto

developmentof

practice

and

thus

both

research

and

development

of

practice

are

integrated

processes

in

action

researchandR&Dwork.


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29

Figure1:Engestrmsexpansivelearningcircle

TheoverallgoalorvisionfortheteachersinTeam3istovarytheworkmethodsandfocusonlearning

strategiestocontributetoeachandeverychildsacademicandsocialdevelopment.Figure1showshow

researchersandresearchparticipantsaskquestionsabouttheircurrentpracticeattheoutset.Thereis

sometension,therearesomeconflictsthathavetoberesolvedandthereareevenpossibilitiesthathaveto

bestrivenfor.Theseaspectsarethebasisfordevelopmentinactivitytheory(Leontev,1981),atheorythat

Engestrm(1987,1999,2001)hasdevelopedgraphicallyintotheactivitysystem.Theactivitysystem

comprisesanumberoftriadicrelations.Theminimumelementsinthissystemare:subject,artefacts,

object,rules,communityanddivisionoflabour.Allthesefactorshavemutualeffectsoneachother,andin

thecompleteactivitysystemwealsofindconnectinglinesacrossthedifferenttriangles.Thereareconflicts,

tensionsor

possibilities

between

the

factors

visualized

in

the

system

that

are

the

starting

point

for

the

developmentprocessshownintheexpansivelearningcircle.

Tomakeprogress,Engestrm(1999,2001)suggeststhatbothhistoricalandactualempiricalanalyses

shouldbeconductedbeforeanewsolutionisframed.Thenextstepistoanalysethenewmodelfrom

variousanglespriortoimplementingthenewpractice.Aftertheimplementationprocess,theinvolved

parties,bothteachersandresearchers,reflectonthepracticebeforethenewpracticeiseventually

consolidated.Newthesisquestionswillagainbedirectedoncurrentpracticetomoveittowardsthevision

forthe

work.

In

this

way

the

expansive

circle

will

be

the

foundation

in

spirals

of

development

illustrating

1.Questioning

2A.Historicalanalysis

2B:Actualempiricalanalysis

3.Modellingthenewsolution

4.Examiningthenewmodel

5.Implementingthenew

6.Reflectionontheprocess

7.Consolidatingthenew

Newquestions


32/46


30

constantlychangingpractices.Theexpansivecirclebecameathinkingtoolfortheteacherswhenthey

plannedlessonsthatshouldbeobservedandreflectedon.InthefollowingsectionIdiscusshowthe

teachersandIcametoaformalizedplanforobservationsof,andreflectionson,practice.

Changingpractice:aprocessinprogress

Theprocessleadingtoaformalizedplan

Whentheprojectstarted,neithertheteachersnorIcouldimaginehowtheprocesswouldcontinue.During

thefirstsemestertheteacherstriedhardtoidentifywiththeresearchquestion,eventhoughtheyhad

takenpartintheconstructionofit.Theteamleaderstatedthatitwouldtakesometimebeforethe

teachersidentifiedwiththequestionandbeforeitwasrootedintheirpractice.Andshewasright.Ittook

almostasemesterbeforetheteachersactedupontheresearchquestionastheirown(Postholm,2008a).

Theschool

had

allocated

awhole

day

at

the

end

of

November

in

the

first

semester

for

the

teachers

and

me

toworkontheproject.Theteamleaderplannedtheagendaforthedaywithme.Theteamleaderhadthe

lastwordwhenwedrewuptheschedule.Previously,Ihadbeenremindedbytheteachersthatthiswas

theirproject,andIrealizedthatmyplacewastoobserve,supportandpushthem.Theteamleaderwasalso

theonewhochairedthiswholedayseminar.Iwasthere,observing,commentingandaskingquestions.

Duringthedaytheteacherstalkedabouttheiractualsituationwithrespecttothefocusoftheirwork,and

furthermoredefinedtheoverallgoalthatguidedtheirteaching.Inthiswaytheycouldbothdevelopa

common

understanding

of

their

situation

and

what

they

should

aim

for.

Furthermore,

they

discussed

how

theyshouldarrangetoshareideasonworkmethodsandlearningstrategiesamongstthemselves.

AccordingtoSenge(2006),acommonunderstanding,asharedvisionandthesharingofideasinteamsare

decisivefactorsfordevelopment.Duringtheplanningday,theteachersdecidedthattheywantedtoshare

ideasinclassteammeetings,inTeam3andinmeetingswhereonlyteachersofthesamesubjectwere

present.Theteacherswantedtousetimeonfocusedreflectionstoimprovetheirteaching.Theprojectwas

nowmovingforwardandtheteachershadreallytakencontrol.Theyperceiveditastheirownproject.

Theformalized

plan

ForthenextmeetinginTeam3thefollowingweekIdrewupaplanthatformalizedtheteacherswishesto

observeeachother'steaching,reflectonitafterwardsandthenshareexperiencesandideas.Theplan

becameasshowninFigure2(below).


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31

Math

Norwe

gian

English

Norwe

gian

English

Math

English

Math

Norwe

gian

8.grade 9.grade 10.gradeObservation

Implementing the

teachingplan

Reflec

tionin

Team3

Springsemester

Team3

Reflection

in

classteams

Jan/Feb

March

April/

May

Figure2:Formalizedplan

Reflectioninsubject

teammeetings


34/46


32

Figure2showsthattheteachersteachingthesamesubjectshouldobserveeachotherandafterwards

reflecttogetherontheobservedactivity.Forinstance,asshown,whentheteacherinmathematicsinthe

eighthgradeteachesthepupils,themathematicsteachersintheninthandtenthgradesobservethem

(visualized

by

arrows

from

math

in

the

ninth

and

tenth

grade).

Before

teaching

the

class,

the

teacher

sent

a

planningdocument(shownbytheblacksquares)totheobservingteachersandtome,asIwasalsotaking

partintheobservationandreflectionprocesses.Thisdocumentdescribedthesubject/themeandtheaims

ofthelesson,andtheteacherwrotequestionsabouthisownplannedpracticeandwhathewanted

feedbackon.Asweseefromthefigure,theintentionwasthattheteachersshouldreflecttogetherintheir

ownclassteamaftereachobservation(visualizedbytheverticalarrowscombiningthevarioussubjectsin

thesamegrade)andintheteamwithalltheteacherswhenonethirdoftheprocesswascompleted

(visualizedbythehorizontalarrowspassingthroughthethreedifferentsubjectsobservedandreflectedon

inthethreegrades).Additionally, theteachersteachingthesamesubjectreflectedontheobservedactivity

onthesamedayastheirmeeting(visualizedbyblackcirclesinthefigure).

Thereflectiontimeaftereachobservedteachinglessonlastedforaboutonehour,andthistime

representedworkontopofwhattheteachershadtodo.Thereforetheywerepaidextraforthetimethey

usedonreflectionaftereachobservationsession,fromtheschoolbudget.Thelongtermintentionwasthat

theteacherswouldfindthisactivitysousefulthattheywouldaddittotheirrepertoireonapermanent

basisinthetimetheyalreadyhadattheirdisposal.Asyoucanseeinthecitationattheverybeginningof

thetext,

the

teachers

wanted

to

follow

the

same

plan

the

next

year,

meaning

that

they

wanted

to

observe

eachothersteachingandreflectonitwithoutanyextrapay.Inthefollowingsection,Iprovideapicture

fromaclassroombasedonobservationofalessoninmathematicsandaglimpsefromthereflection

dialogueinthesubjectteamfollowingthislesson.ThenIpresentthemethodusedtocaptureand

understandtheprocessandhowtheteachersexperiencedtheprocessandlearnedintheirwork.

Themethodusedtocapturetheprocessesexperiencedbyteachers

DuringtheresearchprocessIwrotelogbookentries,observationnotes,transcriptionsandpreliminary

analysesandinterpretations. Iobservedtheteachersduringlearningactivities,andIalsoobservedand

reflectedtogetherwiththeteachersinclassteammeetingsandinthemeetingswherealltheTeam3

teacherscametogether.Ialsohaveobservationnotesfromtheseminaronactionlearning(Revans,1982;

1984),andaudiorecordingsfromthewholedayseminar.Thismaterialhelpedmetogetanunderstanding

oftheprocessesduringtheobservationandreflectionactivity,asillustratedinFigure2.

Thematerialgatheredfromtheactivityfollowingtheplaninfigure2includestheteachersplanning

documentsforthelessonsthatweretobeobserved.Iobservedeverylessonandtookobservationnotes.I


35/46


33

activelytookpartinthejointreflectionsafterwards,whichweretaperecorded.Attheendofevery

semestertheteachersattheschoolattendedameetingtopresenttheirexperiencesasparticipantsinthe

projectsofar.Thesepresentationswerealsotaperecorded,andalltheaudiorecordingshavebeen

transcribed.

Throughoutthe

process

these

texts

helped

me

to

distance

myself

from

the

ongoing

activity

(Riceour,

2004).

Themainfeatureswhichhadadecisiveimpactontheprojectandthelearninganddevelopmentthattook

place,werethestartupphasewhichlastedalmostthewholeofthefirstsemester(Postholm,2008a)and

theobservationsandreflectionsfollowinglessonsandmeetings(Postholm,2008b).Next,Ipresenta

descriptionofalessonasanexampleofteachingpracticeandhowitwasreflectedon.

Anexamplefrompractice:observationandreflection

Thestorybelowisashortdescriptionofwhatwasgoingoninaclassroomwhenstudentsintheeighth

gradewerehavingamathematicslesson.Theteacherhadplacedthestudentsingroups,andtheaimsfor

thelessonweretogivethestudentstrainingintheuseofmathematicalwordsandconceptsorally,togive

themexperienceinformulatingmathematicalquestionsandtogivethestudentstrainingtounderstand

anduselogicalargumentation.TheninthandtenthgrademathematicsteachersandIwereobservingthe

lesson:

Thestudentsaresittinginthreegroupsorstations,astheteachercallsthem,andtheyaregoingtodo

variousthingsastheymovefromstationtostation.Theyhavetenminutesateachofthesestations.

Attheendofthelessontheyaregoingtosumupalloftheactivities.Itistheteacherthathas

establishedthegroupsinwhichthestudentsgettraininginmathematicalconcepts.Inoneofthe

groupsthestudentsareworkingonasmallboardonwhichitispossibletomakegeometricalfigures

witharubberband.Whentheyhavemadeatrianglewithoutsomeonelooking,theysittogetherin

pairs,toexplaintheprocesstoeachother.Oneofthestudentstriestomakethesamefigureasthe

otherwithoutsayingaword,justlistening.Itisjustthepersonwhoexplainsthatdoesthetalking.

Oneofthestudentssaysduringthesummarydialogueafterwardsthatitwasdifficulttomakethe

otherunderstand,butallofthemagreethatthepersonstryingtobesilentwithouttalking,diditwell.

Theteacherthenasksthestudentsiftheyknowthenamesofvarioustriangles,andtheyeagerlyput

uptheirhands.

BelowIpresent

an

extract

of

the

dialogue

that

took

place

after

the

accomplishment

and

observation

of

this

lessoninmathematics.Theteacherssay:

Teacher1: (10thgrade).Didthepupilslearnanything?

Teacher2: (8thgrade):Communicationskillsweredeveloped,Ithink.

Teacher3: (9thgrade):Ithinkthepupilsbenefitedagreatdealfromthislesson.

Teacher1: Whatdoyoumeanbythat?

Teacher3: Isatnexttoagroup,Imsurethattheybenefitedfromit.

Teacher1: Theyhadtheopportunitytorepeattheirconcepts.Andworkedtogetherto

findsolutions,

thus

the

knowledge

they

already

have

was

confirmed.

They


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34

didntlearnanythingthatwasnewtothem.

Teacher2: Itsacommunicationtrainingexercise.Ifeelthattheyalsohavetolearn

communicationskills,thatitsimportanttoexplainwhatyouknow.Theyneed

tohaveknowledgeaboutthistomanagetocommunicate.Ifitscompletely

newknowledge,itshardtocommunicate.Itsreproduction,butitcouldbe

thatitsitsbetterupherewhentheyundertakesuchanexercise.

Theteachers

discuss

back

and

forth

whether

or

not

the

pupils

have

learned

anything.

In

this

dialogue

they

hadagoodopportunitytodiscussPiagetsconceptsofassimilationandaccommodation(Piaget,1970),but

theydidnot.

WhenIaskedtheteachersabouttheuseoftheorytheyhavelearnedduringtheireducation,someofthem

saidthatitisintheirbones.Oneofthemstated:Andifyoubegintoconsiderwhyyoudovariousthings,

whydoIdoitlikethisandlikethat,andthenyouhaveit,becauseyouhavesubstantiateditforyourself,not

justputitintowords.Theteachersobviouslythoughtthattheirknowledgeistacit(Polanyi1967).Oneof

theteachers

said

that

she

has

it,

but

she

cannot

put

it

into

words.

This

means

that

the

knowledge

she

is

referringtoisaccessible,perhapsnotbeingcompletelytacitbutbeingsilentknowledgethatcanbeput

intowords.AccordingtoDreyfusandDreyfus(1986),peoplewhoactwithproficiencythinkanalytically

aboutwhattodo.Theteacherwhosaidthishasseveralyearsofexperienceasateacherandcould

thereforebeperceivedasanexpert.Allthesame,sheplansandreflectsonheractions.Thismeansthat

expertsalsocanreflectontheirdailypractice,andaccordingtoDewey(1916)andTiller(2006)thisiswhat

theyshoulddoiftheyaretocontinuouslyimprovetheirteaching.

Thereflection

dialogues:

content

and

form

Butwhattoolscanteachersuseinthisframeofreflection?AttheoutsetIbelievedthatmyrolewastopush

andsupporttheteachers,andfurthermore,connecttheorytotheirexperiencesfrompractice.Ihadto

changetheappreciationofmyrole.Theteachershadtofirstbecomeacquaintedwiththeirownandothers

practice,andthesituation.AfterawholesemesterwithobservationsandreflectionsIfeltthatthe

discussionsinthesubjectteamshadtobegivensomeimpetus.Theirreflectionsseemedtobegoingin

circles,anditwastimefortheorytomovethedevelopmentforwardinspiralsofimprovement.Atthis

point,the

teachers

stated

that

they

knew

what

was

going

on

at

the

various

levels

in

the

three

subjects.

In

a

way,theyhaddevelopedacollectiveactualdevelopmentlevel(Vygotsky,1978).Itwastimefortheoryto

functionasadevelopmenttoolintheteacherszoneofproximaldevelopment(Vygotsky,1978).AsIwill

show,boththeformandthecontentofthereflectiondialogueschangedduringtheprocess.

Inthebeginning,theformofthereflectiondialogueswasfairlystrict.Everyonewastospeakinturnduring

thefirstsession.First,theteacherwhohadgiventhespecificlessonspokeabouthisorherexperienceofit,

focusingontheaimandcontentofthelesson.Intheircomments,theteachersweretopayattentiontothe

aspectson

which

feedback

was

wanted,

for

instance

how

they

perceived

the

slow

learners

learning

activity,


37/46


35

andhowthisactivitycouldbedevelopedforthesepupils.Inthefirstandopeningsession,theteacherswho

hadobservedweretogivepositivecommentsontheteaching,followedbygoodadviceandtips.

Duringthefirstsemesterwithobservationsandreflections,theteacherswerenotencouragedtochallenge

eachotherabouttheteachingsituation,butjustsupportedeachother.Therelationsinthefirst

conversationscould

therefore

be

called

symmetrical

(Bateson,

1972).

Being

in

such

arelationship

means

to

giveeachotherpositiveaffirmation.Itseemednecessarytohaveasemesterinwhichtheteacherswere

allowedtoobserveandreflecttogethersothattheygainedinsightintoeachothersteaching.Theysaidthis

alsomadethemevenmoreconfidentineachother,andthefoundationfordevelopmentbecamemore

solid(Krogh,Ichijo&Nonaka,2000).

Duringthenexttwosemestersthecontentofthereflectiondialogueswasexpanded.Inthese

dialoguestheteacherschallengedeachotherwithquestionsconnectedtotheobservedpractice.Inthe

reflectiondialogue

presented

above,

we

can

see

that

one

teacher

challenged

the

observed

teacher

by

askingaboutthestudentslearning.Beinginrelationswhereparticipantsarechallengingeachotheris

calledcomplementaryrelations(Bateson,1972).Theteachershadatthispointbecomefamiliarwiththe

formofthedialoguesandeachotherspractice,anditwastimeforquestions,theoryandtheoretical

conceptstobeintroducedintothereflections.Theoriesaboutlearningandmotivationwerediscussedto

betterunderstandandarguefortheactivityintheclassroom.Suchconceptsasselfregulatedlearning,

learningstrategiesandmetacognitionwerealsointroduced.Inthiswayacommonunderstandingamongst

colleagueswascreatedthroughtheconceptsintroducedindiscussions.Hence,theteachershadlearneda

formofreflectionwherebydialoguescantakeonacommonunderstandingandmeaningwithrespectto

theoriesandconnectedconcepts.Learningwasobviouslyprevalentinthereflectiondialoguesbasedonthe

observations.InthefollowingIelaborateontheteacherslearningthroughouttheR&Dwork.

Theteacherslearning

Actionlearningis,asmentionedabove,andaccordingtoRevans(1982;1984),definedasanactivityin

whichteacherslearnonthebasisofconcreteactions.Theteacherssaytheyhavelearnedthatreflections

onteaching

practice

are

meaningful.

This

is

specified

more

in

the

following

statements

made

by

the

teachers.Theysay:

Itsnicetoreflectonspecificexperiences

Youbecomemoreawareofsubstantiatingyourteaching

Itmakesyoumoreawareofwhatisgoodornot

Wehelpeachotherinabusyworksituation


38/46


36

Sharingideasmakesyoumoresecure.Perhapssomeonewillusetheplanyouvemade;othersmay

useyourideas.ItsgoodtoknowthatotherslikewhatIdo.Andwhenweshareideas,we

accomplishalottogether

Thereflectionprocessbecomespartoftheplanningwork

Theteachersprefertoreflectonspecificpracticesandsaythattheybecomemoreawareofarguingfor

theirteachingandwhataregoodorbadlearningactivities.Theyperceivethereflectionprocessashelpful

inabusyworksituation,andalsoappreciatethatothersliketheirideas.Furthermore,theteachers

experiencethereflectiondialoguesaspartoftheirplanningwork.Hence,theattentioninthedialogues,

directedbothbackandforward,helpstheteachersinfutureactions.

Duringtheprojecttheteachersgainedthepossibilityoffocusingonvariousworkingmethodsand

learningstrategiesoveralongperiodoftime,andtheyhavelearnedthatthisisdecisivewhentryingto

improvetheirteachingpractice.Theteachershavealsolearnedtoaskquestionsabouttheirownpractice

andtothinkahead,notjusttoreflectontheirteaching,butalsotousetheseexperiencestoplanfurther

teachingactivities.NotonlydidtheyreflectthatreflectionstemsfromLatin(reflectio)andmeans"toturn"

(flectio)"back"(re),buttheyalsoaskedquestionswhenthinkingforwardintimeaboutsomethingthat

shouldbedone,inthedirectionofgoals."Pro"inGreekmeansforward.Proflectionthenmeanstoturn

forward.Whenpreparingaplantoreachanewgoal,thefocuswasthenturnedbothforwardandback.

Theywecansaythat"reproflection"wastakingplace,whichmeansadialecticrelationbetweenthepast,

presentand

future.

Duringthereflectionprocessestheteachersdevelopedtheirbeliefsintheories,andafterawhiletheories

becameatoolfordevelopment.Theteachersgottheopportunitytostrengthentheirlearningwhen

lecturingtostudentteachersabouttheirproject.Duringtheselecturestheteachersusedtheoretical

conceptssuchasactionlearning,selfregulation,metacognitionandlearningstrategiesasiftheyhavebeen

includedintheirrepertoireforaverylongtime.Theteachershaveobviouslyinternalizedthesetheoretical

concepts,andusedthemastheirown.

Duringthe

action

learning

course

the

teachers

learned

how

they

could

put

their

observations

into

writing.

Beforetheprojectstarted,someoftheteachershadmadethispartoftheirownpractice,butallofthem

receivedtraininginjottingdownwhattheysaw,accordingtothefocusoftheobservation,andwhatthe

teacherofthelessonwantedfeedbackon.Whenobserving,theteachersalsofounditnecessarytowrite.It

helpedthemtorememberwhattheysaw,andthenthesenotesbecameahelpfultoolinthereflection

processeswhengivingfeedback.Hopefullytheteacherscontinuedtowritedownthoughtsandreflections

connectedtotheirownteachinganddailypractice,becausesuchnotescanhelpthemtoreflect

systematically

on

their

own

teaching

(Tiller,

2006).


39/46


37

Accordinglytheteacherslearnedtofindtimeforobservationsandreflections.Theylearnedthatthishadto

beplannedatthebeginningofeachsemestertomakeitpossible.Furthermore,theteacherslearnedhow

reflectionprocessesbetweenteachersmightbeconducted,howtipsandexperiencescanbeexchanged,

andalsohowtogiveeachotheradviceorchallengeeachotherbyaskingconstructivequestions.Oneofthe

teachers

stated:

This

is

very

useful.

It

is

we,

the

teachers

that

are

to

learn

from

this,

but

our

learning

will

alsoensurethatthestudentswilllearnmore.InthefinalsectionofthispaperIwillelaborateonteachers

learningandwhatknowledgeorcompetencescouldbepartoftheirprofessionalism.

Concludingcomments

InthistextIhavedescribedwhatandhowteacherscanlearnduringanR&Dproject.Theteachersgotthe

opportunity

to

observe

each

others

teaching

and

reflect

together,

and

thus

learn

from

each

other

in

their

dailypractice.Theteachershadaproblemformulationoracommonobjecttoacton.They,furthermore,

askedquestionsabouttheirparticularlessonsthatwereobservedandreflectedupon,inrelationtovarious

workingmethodsandlearningstrategiestoenhancethestudentssubjectandsocialcompetence.Inthe

NorwegianGeneralTeacherEducationPlan(2003)itisstatedthatcontinuingchangeanddevelopment

competenceshouldbepartofteachersprofessionalism.Thismeansthatteachersareexpectedtohavea

criticalandfocusedgazeontheirownpracticetocontinuouslychangeandimproveit.Inturn,teachers

havetobeactiveandresponsibleintheirteachingprocesses,theyshoulddesiretheirowngoalsand

furthermorestrivetoreachthem.Theprojectshowsthatifthedriveforchangeanddevelopmentcomes

frombelowandfromwithintheteachersthemselves,theywillfinddevelopmentworkmeaningful.This

doesnotmeanthatteachersworkoutsidethenationalcurriculum.Itmeansthattheycanmaketheirown

decisionsaboutthethemesandcompetenceslistedintheplan,andfightforwhattheyreallybelievein.In

thiswaythedrivecancomefromtheteachersthemselves,andreallylaythefoundationsforlearningand

enduringdevelopment.

Whentheteachersdecidewhattoworkonthemselves,itismorelikelythattheywillfindthework

meaningful,andthattheywillcontinuetodevelopitwithoutanyexternalmotivationorrequirements.

Whenthisisnotthecase,developmentworkmostprobablyfadesoutwhenexternalpressureisremoved.

InthepresentR&Dprojecttheteachersdevelopedtheproblemformulationonthebasisoftheirinterests

atthesametimeasthenationalcurriculumpresenteditschosentopicsascentralforteaching.Ithinkthat

forthemostpartteachersfindsupportandgroundingfortheirteachinginthisplan,butthecontentand

argumentsforteachinghavetocomeprimarilyfromwithintheteachersthemselves.Thentheycanfeel

freetoactasteachers,andthemostimportantmotivationalfactorswithregardtoteachingactivitiescan

belocated

within

the

teachers

daily

practice

and

not

outside

it.

And

as

previously

stated,

these

two


40/46


38

perspectivesdonotnecessarilycollide.

Theresultsfromthisprojectshowthattheteachers,oneandahalfyearsaftertheresearcherhas

withdrawn,exchangeknowledgebetweenthemselves,andtheteachersfeelthattheatmospherelaysthe

groundforamoreopendialogue.Theteacherstrusteachotherevenmorethanbeforetheprojectstarted.

Theyhave

continued

to

reflect

on

daily

practice

in

various

teams,

and

learning

strategies

are

still

afocus

for

theirreflections.Thisshowsthatwhenteachersexperienceapracticeasmeaningful,theywillcontinueto

doit,eventhoughexternalpressuresor,evenmoreimportant,supportmechanismsguidedbythe

teachersownmotivationhavefadedout.Resourcepersonsfromteachereducationcangivethissupportin

continuingeducationforinserviceteachersintheirpractice,andR&Dworktakingtheteachersinterestsas

itsstartingpointprovidesagoodbasisforteachersdevelopingtheirownpractice.


41/46


39

WorkshopReport:Introduction

DuringtheSTEAMconferencetheauthor,togetherwithtwoparticipatingteachers,presentedexperiences

fromaresearchanddevelopment(R&D)workprojectinNorway.ThisprojectwasfundedbytheNorwegian

ResearchCouncil,andwasconductedinaschoolwithabout400studentsand40teachers.Theselected

schoolis

situated

in

asuburban

area

and

has

students

from

the

first

to

tenth

grades.

The

teachers

are

dividedintothreeteams.IwasconnectedwithTeam3,consistingofteachersteachingstudentsingrades8

10,andthereforethismicrosociety(Krogh,Ichijo&Nonaka,2000)wasinfocusinthepresentationandin

thediscussionsduringtheworkshop.Therearealtogether12teachersinthisteam,towhichthepresenting

teachersbelong.TeachersfromGlasgowandteachereducatorsfromGlasgow,Turkey,Denmarkand

Swedentookpartinthisworkshop.

Presentationanddiscussion

FirstIgaveapresentationonhowtheR&Dprojectwasstartedup.IInformedthegroupthatwe,the

teachersandI,inthebeginningoftheprojectjointlyformedaresearchquestiontoguideandframethe

work.Thequestionwearrivedatwas:

Howcanvariousworkmethodswiththefocusonlearningstrategiescontributetoeachstudentssubject

andsocialdevelopment?

Furthermore,

I

descibed

the

start

up

phase

and

how

the

teachers

struggled

with

time,

and

how

they

developedasenseofbelongingtotheprojectduringthefirstsemesterofcooperation.Duringaplanning

dayinNovember,theteachersdecidedthattheywantedtoshareideasinclassteammeetings,inTeam3

andinmeetingswhereonlyteachersofthesamesubjectwerepresent.Theteacherswantedtousetimeon

focusedreflectionstoimprovetheirteaching.Idescribedhowtheprojectnowwasmovingforwardand

thattheteachershadreallytakencontrol.Theyperceiveditastheirownproject.Itoldtheparticipantsin

theworkshopthatforthenextmeetinginTeam3,theweekafterthisplanningday,wedrewupaplanthat

formalizedtheteacherswishestoobserveeachother'steaching,reflectonitafterwardsandthenshare

experiencesandideas.

Nextthepresentationturnedtoactionresearchingeneral.Inthisconnection,activitytheory(Leontv,

1981)andEngestrms(2001)expansivelearningcirclewasintroduced.Ipresentedthemainfindingsinthe

projectasfollows:

Teachershavealotoftacitknowledgethatcanbeusedinreflectiondialoguestoimprovepractice

Reflectionisanimportantactivityintheplanningofteaching


42/46


40

Intentionshavetobeformalized/putintoaplaniftheyaretobeaccomplished

Ifteachersexperiencedevelopmentworkasmeaningfultheywilluseittheirdailywork.

Theappreciationofmeaningisdecisive

Itisimportanttoidentifywiththework(fromwithin,frombelow)

FurthermoreIlistedupfortheparticipantswhatI,asaresearcher,hadlearnedduringtheproject:

Ittakesalongtimefortheteacherstoidentifywiththeresearchquestion.

Therecanbeanimbalancebetweentheunderstandingsthatteachersandresearchershaveabout

theory.

Theresearchershouldtrytounderstandthesituationfromtheteachersperspective,andadaptthe

processstartingfromtheirstandpoint.

Thetiming

of

the

introduction

of

theory

is

significant.

Theoryinthinkingprocessesrepresentsthehereandnowsituationwithaviewbackwardsand

forwardsatthesametime.

Developmentworkhastobeprocessdriven.

Ittakessometimebeforetheteachersgettoknowtheirownandtheotherteacherspractice.

Observationsandreflectionsmadethemevenmoreconfidentineachother.

Itisimportantthatreflectionsonteachingtakeplaceonthesamedayastheteachingisaccomplished.

Theresearchersrole:supportandpushtheteachers.

Challenge:Findthisbalancesupporttheteachersintheirteachingandatthesametimeaimfor

development.

Nextitwastheteachersturntotalkabouttheproject,howitproceededaftertheresearcherhad

withdrawnfromthepracticefieldandwhattheyhadlearnedduringtheproject.Abouttheirownlearning

theysay:

Experienceswithfocusingononethemeduringalongperiodoftime

Experiencein

thinking

ahead

of

practice

Developedourviewontheory

Theorywashelpfultoanalyseourteaching

Welearnedhowtowriteobservationnotes

Wesawhowtheresearchersgathereddata

Westillchallengeeachotherwithquestionsaboutpractice

Duringthepresentationtheteachersalsocitedwhatoneoftheotherteachersintheteamhadsaid.She

hadsaid:

This

is

very

useful.

It

is

we,

the

teachers,

who

are

going

to

learn

from

this,

but

our

action

learning


43/46


41

willalsomakethelearningbetterforthestudents.Whencommentingonwhatthesituationistodayone

ofthepresentingteacherscommented:

Theresearchershavewithdrawn

Teachersandstudentsstillfocusonlearningstrategies

Wecooperate

in

subject

teams

Weshareexperiencesdailyandtrusteachother

Thereisachangeinteachers'strategiestowardsinquirybasedteaching

Thepresentingteachers,oneteachingEnglishandtheotherscienceandmathematics,describehow

studentsuselearningstrategiesduringtheirwork.Theteachersreportthattheyhavechangedthewaythey

teachsothattheirstudentsaremoreactiveintheirownlearningbecausetheyuselearningstr

s-team: collected papers no.2: teacher collaboration in pairform@nce and action research

Documents