A tool for capacity building: teacher professional learning about teaching writing. Issue 5 (20th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Johnston, Jenny; George, Stephanie
• Is Part Of: Teacher development. Volume 22:Issue 5(2018)
• Page Start: 685
• Page End: 702
• Publication Date: 2018-10-20
• Subjects: Teacher professional learning -- capacity building -- data-driven decision-making -- leadership -- school culture; Teachers -- In-service training -- Periodicals; Teachers -- Training of -- Periodicals; Career development -- Periodicals; 370.711
• DOI: 10.1080/13664530.2018.1484389
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1366-4530

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on qualitative research from an Australian, K-6, faith-based school about teachers' experience of a job-embedded professional learning initiative (the Whole-School Benchmarking of Writing, WSBoW) that was designed to improve teachers' capacity to apply data-driven decision-making to achieve improvements in student learning. Teacher interviews provided the data about experiences and influences on teching practice. The findings demonstrated that the professional learning initiative provided teachers with a supportive pedagogical tool for focusing their teaching practices on improving student learning. A research based evaluative framework was used as a heuristic to analyse the change initiative. This study used the framework and employed a social constructivist and sociocultural epistemology that recognised the importance of leadership and school context in the development of a culture focused on collaborative communities of practice and data-driven teacher decision-making. The study has significance for leaders, schools and systems that engage teachers in professional capacity building.