Professional Learning Conversations: Challenges in Using Evidence for Improvement

Abstract

Chapter Overview In this chapter Judith Warren Little andMarnie Curry critique a conversation among secondary teachers in a critical friends group in the USA. The conversation is driven by a problem of profes- sional practice using artifacts of teaching and learning with the discussion guided by specifically designed protocols. These conditions both promoted opportunities for them to learn while at the same time limiting that learn- ing. Through the discussion some teachers recognized and revealed their tenuous grasp of important aspects of discipline content knowledge but the protocols did not provide for this unexpected development. The authors raise the important issue of expertise in facilitation if such protocols are not to take on a formulaic or ritual character that limits rather than enhances professional learning.