Abstract
This study sought to address a Problem of Practice (PoP) at the Rift International School (RIS) related to a lack of subject-specific professional learning (PL) for secondary teachers. To address this PoP, the study explored the value of a professional learning model where teachers engaged in peer-guided, deliberate, and reflective cycles of their own practice with the goal of growing their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). The study referred to the model as the Peer-Guided PL Cycle.
The study employed a conceptual framework rooted in the theory of PCK (Shulman, 1986, 1987), which posits that teachers grow professionally, refining their teaching craft, as they develop their PCK. The literature suggests that teachers’ PCK development is tied to their wisdom of practice, and can be enhanced through guided, deliberate, and reflective attention to their classroom practice. The study’s conceptual framework used the Refined Consensus Model (RCM) of PCK (Carlson et al., 2019) and focused on growing teacher personal PCK (pPCK).
The study employed an exploratory case study design involving interviews and classroom observations with secondary English and social studies teachers, and interviews with administrators at RIS. The researcher, in addition to exploring the value of the Peer-Guided PL Cycle, guided the participating teachers through the model. While exploring the value of the model for contributing to teacher PCK growth, the researcher also foregrounded the experiences of the participating teachers as they engaged with it.
The study found that through their participation in the Peer-Guided PL Cycle, the participating teachers exhibited greater focus on the conceptual big ideas of their subject matter and on connecting their subject matter to student prior knowledge. The participating teachers also concluded each round of the Cycle with new or refined knowledge on how to teach the subject matter more effectively. The participating teachers characterized the collegial discussions during the Cycle as central to their experience. Based on these findings, the study concluded that the Peer-Guided PL Cycle can help to address the PoP at RIS by promoting subject-specific PL for secondary teachers. The study provided some recommendations and resources to facilitate the implementation of the Cycle at RIS.
