This study focuses on pre-service teachers’ views of the conditions that foster their participatory action research practices in secondary schools and on how these conditions can inform the... Show moreThis study focuses on pre-service teachers’ views of the conditions that foster their participatory action research practices in secondary schools and on how these conditions can inform the development of a teacher education program for a participatory approach. By using the Theory of Practice Architectures as an analytical lens, eight cases of participatory action research projects were studied at two interrelated sites of pre-service teachers’ learning: the teacher education institute and the internship school. Findings shed light on the conditions for fostering participatory action research practices in a teacher education context in terms of three kinds of arrangements, i.e. cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political. Based on the findings, a set of 17 principles for supporting participatory research practices is presented that can be used to assess the viability of preservice teachers’ participatory action research within a teacher education program, and that also supports a well-aligned institute-school collaboration. Show less
A multiple case study has been carried out of four teacher groups who engaged in collective lesson design, observation, and reflection to support their professional learning. The teacher groups... Show moreA multiple case study has been carried out of four teacher groups who engaged in collective lesson design, observation, and reflection to support their professional learning. The teacher groups were examined on what and how they learned from their collaboration over time. For each meeting, teachers’ learning logs and transcripts were analysed. The results show that the groups differed in the amount, consistency, and stability of self-reported learning outcomes throughout the meetings. Differences between groups also relate to the number and type of dialogic moves between the teachers within each group. A main conclusion includes that challenging each other in their dialogues supported teachers’ learning. Additional explanations of learning outcomes relate to teachers’ collective participation and facilitation in the group. Show less
Stollman, S.H.M.; Meirink, J.A.; Westenberg, P.M.; Van Driel, J. 2020
To better align teacher learning with teachers' learning needs, teachers' sense-making of an innovation during which teachers experimented with differentiated instruction was studied during two... Show moreTo better align teacher learning with teachers' learning needs, teachers' sense-making of an innovation during which teachers experimented with differentiated instruction was studied during two school years. Using answers to a questionnaire, 15 teachers' sense-making processes were characterised by three types of search for meaning: assimilation, adaptation, and toleration. We further specified the teachers' sense-making through their experienced sources of ambiguity and uncertainty (limited resources and conflicting goals) and a detailed description of their personal frames of reference. We concluded that the teachers varied in their types of search for meaning during both school years, though most teachers were found to use assimilation in the second school year. Their experienced sources of ambiguity and uncertainty and their personal frames of reference, though becoming more similar to each other, still differed after two school years. A possible reason for the variety in teachers' sense-making is the freedom they had in the implementation of differentiated instruction: several teachers were positive about this from the start, others needed more support and guidance. This study hereby provides additional insight into the advantages of freedom in the implementation of an innovation, but also show the importance of proper support and guidance to ensure effective implementation. Show less
Kampen, E. van; Meirink, J.A.; Admiraal, W.F.; Berry, A. 2020
This study aims to characterise teachers’ integrated content-language learning pedagogies teaching the skills-focused subject Global Perspectives (GP) in Dutch bilingual upper-secondary-schools.... Show moreThis study aims to characterise teachers’ integrated content-language learning pedagogies teaching the skills-focused subject Global Perspectives (GP) in Dutch bilingual upper-secondary-schools. Eleven teachers from seven bilingual schools across the Netherlands participated in the study in the school-year 2016-2017. To obtain insight into teachers’ pedagogies, semi-structured interviews and observations of GP lessons were used. Dalton Puffer’s Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDF) construct [(2013). A construct of cognitive discourse functions for conceptualizing content-language integration in CLIL and multilingual education. European Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 216–253. https://doi.org/10.1515/eujal-2013-0011], in combination with a focus on subject-specific Culture, was used as a heuristic to analyse the integrated content-language pedagogies of teachers. Main findings include that the participating schools had three distinct Intended Curriculum foci and, within these, five different types of integrated content-language learning pedagogies were identified. Main implications discussed are that focusing on subject-specific culture and using the CDF Construct is a useful heuristic to allow analysis of teachers’ integrated content-language pedagogies, and that it may also provide a useful framework for both pre- and in-service teachers in CLIL contexts to emphasise the integrated nature of CLIL teaching. Show less
This study addresses the nature and level of school student participation at various stages of participatory action research conducted by pre-service teachers (PSTs). PSTs’ research reports were... Show moreThis study addresses the nature and level of school student participation at various stages of participatory action research conducted by pre-service teachers (PSTs). PSTs’ research reports were analyzed by means of the SPinSTAR matrix, in which four levels of student participation were distinguished: Inform, Consult, Participate and Collaborate. Results show that student participation in PST research occurred mostly at the less intensive levels (Inform, Consult). Furthermore, they participated mostly in the preparatory stages of the research projects. However, most PSTs came to see their school students in a broader sense as worthwhile partners in an educational endeavor. Show less
Jin, X.; Li, T.; Meirink, J.A.; Want, A. van der; Admiraal, W.F. 2019
Novice–expert interaction plays an important role in teacher professional development for Chinese vocational education and training (VET). Both Chinese and international research shows that expert... Show moreNovice–expert interaction plays an important role in teacher professional development for Chinese vocational education and training (VET). Both Chinese and international research shows that expert-teachers’ support is associated with the improvement of novice-teachers’ teaching. However, insights into how exactly novice teachers learn with the help of expert teachers are lacking. The learning processes of four novice VET teachers were explored in the context of a professional development project. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with novice teachers and recordings of novice–expert interactions. A learning model was constructed based on the interconnected model of professional growth. The results showed that novice teachers internalised comments from expert teachers by active reflection and practice. Moreover, this study suggests that teachers’ professional development is a complicated long-term process, and that during their development the support from expert teachers is an important external source for novice-teachers. Expert-teachers’ support not only provides feedback and suggestions for alternative teaching methods, but also encourages and maintains novice-teachers’ learning. The results are discussed in relation to the cultural (Chinese) and educational context (VET) Show less
Stollman, S.H.M.; Meirink, J.A.; Westenberg, P.M.; Driel, J.H. van 2019
Teacher collaboration in secondary schools can form a fruitful context for teacher professional learning. The aim of this study is to understand collaboration in teacher groups given their teacher... Show moreTeacher collaboration in secondary schools can form a fruitful context for teacher professional learning. The aim of this study is to understand collaboration in teacher groups given their teacher characteristics and school context. Using a cross case design, we study different teacher groups in multiple contexts. The findings confirm results of other studies on teacher collaboration, which argue that short-term collaboration initiatives are depending on the prior existence of collaborative cultures. Deprivatisation of practice provides opportunities to support professional learning in teacher groups, although more support is needed, especially when this is new to teachers. Show less
Kampen, E. van; Mearns, T.L.; Meirink, J.A.; Admiraal, W.F.; Berry, A. 2018
In deze studie is de ervaren professionele ruimte van beginnende leraren in een context een traineeship onderzocht. Het traineeship stelt als doel dat de kennis en vaardigheden die beginnende... Show moreIn deze studie is de ervaren professionele ruimte van beginnende leraren in een context een traineeship onderzocht. Het traineeship stelt als doel dat de kennis en vaardigheden die beginnende leraren ontwikkelen in hun opleiding een positieve invloed hebben op het lerarenteam waarbinnen zij werken en op de ontwikkeling van de school. 18 beginnende leraren en 13 schoolleiders zijn geïnterviewd om te onderzoeken op welke manier zij professionele ruimte ervaren voor ontwikkeling in de eigen lespraktijk en voor schoolontwikkeling. De resultaten laten zien dat professionele ruimte door beginnende leraren en schoolleiders op twee manieren wordt ervaren: ruimte krijgen en ruimte creëren. Beginnende leraren krijgen veel mogelijkheden voor ontwikkeling in de eigen klas maar benutten deze ruimte niet altijd. Het creëren van ruimte voor schoolontwikkeling richtte zich met name op het leveren van een zinvolle bijdrage aan de ontwikkeling van het onderwijs op sectieniveau2. De beginnende leraren evalueerden deze bijdrage niet altijd als succesvol. Ze stuitten bijvoorbeeld op collega’s met weerstand voor innovatie. Geconcludeerd wordt dat beginnende leraren verschillen in de professionele ruimte die ze ervaren en dat dit over de tijd kan veranderen. De mate van openheid voor nieuwe ideeën in een sectie, benaderbare collega’s en heldere uitgesproken verwachtingen van alle betrokkenen lijken belangrijke randvoorwaarden te zijn. In de context van een traineeship willen en kunnen beginnende leraren veel, maar maatwerk is nodig om beginnende leraren succesvol te laten zijn. Show less
Het onderwijs en daarmee ook het beroep van leraar staat volop in de aandacht. In de media worden kritische uitspraken gedaan over de kwaliteit van het Nederlandse onderwijs, de motivatie van... Show moreHet onderwijs en daarmee ook het beroep van leraar staat volop in de aandacht. In de media worden kritische uitspraken gedaan over de kwaliteit van het Nederlandse onderwijs, de motivatie van leerlingen en de status van het leraarsberoep in zowel het po, vo, mbo en ho. Relatief veel beginnende leraren verlaten al redelijk snel het beroep, vaak vanwege een lage arbeidstevredenheid en een hoge (ervaren) werkdruk. Door ervaren leraren wordt eveneens een hoge werkdruk gerapporteerd, maar ook een gebrek aan professionele ruimte. Dit gebrek aan ruimte heeft dan met name betrekking op de beperkte mogelijkheden om zelf invulling te kunnen geven aan de inhoud en vorm van onderwijs. De ervaren regeldruk speelt hierbij een belangrijke (belemmerende) rol. Voor een positieve werkbeleving is het voor leraren belangrijk tot op zekere hoogte zelfstandig beslissingen te kunnen nemen over de eigen onderwijspraktijk. Leraren hebben deze ruimte ook nodig om op een actieve manier vorm te kunnen geven aan de eigen professionele ontwikkeling, en (bij voorkeur) ook aan schoolontwikkeling. Show less
Kampen, E. van; Meirink, J.A.; Admiraal, W.F.; Berry, A. 2017
In the day-to-day workplace teachers direct their own learning, but little is known about what drives their decisions about what they would like to learn. These decisions are assumed to be... Show moreIn the day-to-day workplace teachers direct their own learning, but little is known about what drives their decisions about what they would like to learn. These decisions are assumed to be influenced by teachers’ current professional concerns. Also, teachers in different professional life phases have different reasons for engaging in professional learning. In this study, we explored the professional concerns underlying teachers’ learning goals in order to understand variation in professional learning over a teacher’s career. In this qualitative study, we administered a semi-structured interview and a card sorting task to 15 secondary school teachers to elicit teachers’ learning goals and current professional concerns. By conceptually combining teachers’ learning goals with professional concerns in concern-goal pairs, we sought to understand the different reasons for teachers’ learning. These concern-goal pairs were characterized in three different types of reasons: continuous, growth and improvement, and work-management. The results showed that early career teachers have mainly growth and improvement concerns, whereas mid- and late-career teachers have both continuous and growth and improvement concerns. Work-management concerns differ for early- and late-career teachers. Results are further discussed in terms of professional life phase models and teachers’ developmental tasks throughout their career. Show less
Louws, M.L.; Meirink, J.A.; Van Veen, K.; Driel, J.H. 2017
In the day-to-day workplace teachers direct their own learning, but little is known about what drives their decisions about what they would like to learn. These decisions are assumed to be... Show moreIn the day-to-day workplace teachers direct their own learning, but little is known about what drives their decisions about what they would like to learn. These decisions are assumed to be influenced by teachers’ current professional concerns. Also, teachers in different professional life phases have different reasons for engaging in professional learning. In this study, we explored the professional concerns underlying teachers’ learning goals in order to understand variation in professional learning over a teacher’s career. In this qualitative study, we administered a semi-structured interview and a card sorting task to 15 secondary school teachers to elicit teachers’ learning goals and current professional concerns. By conceptually combining teachers’ learning goals with professional concerns in concern-goal pairs, we sought to understand the different reasons for teachers’ learning. These concern-goal pairs were characterized in three different types of reasons: continuous, growth and improvement, and work-management. The results showed that early career teachers have mainly growth and improvement concerns, whereas mid- and late-career teachers have both continuous and growth and improvement concerns. Work-management concerns differ for early- and late-career teachers. Results are further discussed in terms of professional life phase models and teachers’ developmental tasks throughout their career. Show less
Louws, M.L.; Meirink, J.A.; Veen, K. van; Driel, J.H. van 2017
In this study, we explored the relationships between teachers’ self-articulated professional learning goals and their teaching experience. Although those relationships seem self-evident, in... Show moreIn this study, we explored the relationships between teachers’ self-articulated professional learning goals and their teaching experience. Although those relationships seem self-evident, in programmes for teachers’ professional development years of teaching experience are hardly taken into account. Sixteen teachers with varying years of experience and subjects were interviewed. The results show different learning goals, related to communication and organisation, curriculum and instruction, innovation, responsibilities, and themselves as professional. Various relationships between learning goals and teaching experience emerged, which clearly reflect the development from early- to mid- and late-career teachers. Issues related to curriculum and instruction appeared to be learning goals for early- and mid-career teachers. This implies that regardless of increasing teaching expertise, curriculum and instruction remain central to teachers’ continuous learning. Late-career teachers were interested in learning about extra-curricular tasks and innovations. Models of professional life phases have been used to interpret these results. Show less
Meijer, P.; Oolbekkink, H.; Leeferink, H.; Schaap, H.; Meirink, J.A.; Want, A. van der; ... ; Zuiker, I. 2017
