Practice changing practices: influences of Master’s programme practice on school practices

Abstract

This article investigates how knowledge, competence and actions develop among teachers enrolled in a Master´s degree programme in action research who have an interest in changing practices in the schools in which they teach. We draw upon the insights of seven teachers who completed the programme (part-time over four years) to examine how the Master’s programme as a practice, shaped and was shaped by other practices–in this case, each teacher’s practice. We employ the theory of practice architectures to analyse the ways the programme enabled and constrained the teachers’ developing knowledge, competencies and actions. We show how the teachers: a) developed perspectives on their own practice through studying literature, b) collaborated and engaged in dialogue with each other, c) actively inquired into their own practice. Second, we present distinctive stories, built on the ideas of past (earlier education experiences and motives for enrolling in the programme), present (the practice of the master’s programme) and future (what teachers were doing after completing their master’s degrees). To conclude, we claim that professional learning for teachers needs to continue over time and that important features such as structured dialogues and inquiry-based tasks are necessary to enable change in another practice.