Participatory teacher development at schools: Processes and issues

Abstract

This article describes an action research study on reflective development at school and discusses methodological and pedagogical issues arising from teacher beliefs and expectations. Teachers and researchers participated in four cooperative cycles of inquiry, where situated learning and reflection supported their conceptual change and meaning-making. Teachers underwent a gradual shift from imposed, predefined teaching and learning to reflective collaboration and response to different needs of different students, while researchers gained a contextualized understanding of teachers' attitudes and beliefs about teaching and learning and examined their own and the teachers' roles as action researchers. Issues related to school ethos, teachers' defensive attitudes and trust-building among teachers are discussed in light of the reflective paradigm of participants' development. © 2008, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.