Don Kauchak

An alternative model for professional development: investigations into effective collaboration

Abstract Historically, teacher professional development has taken place in isolation and has been dependent upon input from outside “experts” (Sandholtz, A companion of direct and indirect professional development activities, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada, 1999). As an alternative, collaborative action research actively involves teachers in professional reflection, validates educators as producers of knowledge, and recognizes their role in professional development and decision making. The value of teacher research is well documented (Cochran–Smith & Lytle, Inside outside: teacher research and knowledge, Teachers College Press, New York, 1993) but unless deliberate attempts to share findings are established, the products of teacher research often remain within individual classrooms. Strategies to develop collaborative research capabilities are needed. While teacher collaboration may take many forms, action research teaming has become the centerpiece of one urban teacher preparation program. This paper presents quantitative and qualitative data from a study involving a university, school districts, and teacher candidates. Preservice–inservice dyads were taught how to use action research to examine, analyze, and reflect upon their teaching. Results indicate general acceptance by both new and experienced teachers, with developmental differences influencing the process.

Partnerships Between Higher Education and Secondary Schools: Some Problems.

Abstract Data drawn from three case studies of higher education-secondary school partnerships in an urban western city in the United States is reported and a number of obstacles to collaborative partnerships identified. These include large school size, departmentalization, administrator turnover and the apprenticeship view of teacher education held by teachers. Contextual, school specific, factors often had powerful effects in modifying and negating program partnership goals. Research that is both level and site specific to further efforts to develop productive collaborative teacher education partnerships is suggested.

Learning to teach: Knowledge development in classroom management

Abstract How does knowledge acquisition contribute to the process of learning to teach? To answer this question, qualitative and quantitative data were collected to investigate the development of teacher candidate knowledge about classroom management within an elementary teacher education program. Specifically, concept maps and interviews revealed patterns of cognitive change over a two-quarter sequence of courses. Analysis of concept maps showed turbulent and idiosyncratic change influenced by program experiences, with an apparent decline in cognitive organization. In interviews candidates deemphasized program influences, focusing instead on clinical experiences as the impetus of cognitive change. These findings—the turbulent apparent decline in cognitive structure and the primacy of field experiences—are explained in terms of Andersons ACT∗ learning theory. Implications for future research in teachers conceptual development are discussed.

Book Clubs as Professional Development Opportunities for Preservice Teacher Candidates and Practicing Teachers: An Exploratory Study.

The issue of professional development is receiving increased attention, as educators and policy makers are realizing the centrality of teachers to school reform and improvement. This paper describes research on book clubs as a mechanism for professional development and discusses how different study group configurations (i.e., preservice teacher candidates and practicing teachers) utilized book club activities as a central component of their professional development activities. While participation in professional book clubs provides opportunities to examine educational issues, the process is complex and should be examined carefully.

The Effects of Cue Specificity and Locus on Learning from Graphical Material.

AbstractThe study investigated the effect of general and specific cues on learning information from graphs. Upper level college students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. AH subjects were shown three graphs and were given posttests consisting of seven subtests designed to measure both general and specific inspection of the graphs. Results showed that specific and general cue groups scored higher on total scores and treatment groups scored better than controls on treatment specific scores.