Abstract
In this chapter, we report on two studies in a Master’s program for practicing teachers that maintains collaborative culture making at its core, for students and faculty alike. We conducted two studies related to this collaborative culture making and concluded that collaboration is essential to programs of study for teachers and teacher educators. In the first study, we investigated the perspectives of our alumni on their collaborative experiences. Findings indicated links between alumni’s multi-layered collaborative experiences in the program and their subsequent pursuit of National Board certification. In the second study, we conducted a collective self-study of a faculty teaching team’s collaborative experiences and factors that they believe enhanced their continued professional development. Both studies are placed within a description of the Initiatives in Educational Transformation (IET) program, which aligns with sociocultural practices of learning with and through others. To frame our work, we draw from Vygotskian (1978) theory and Samaras’ (2004) notion of learning zones, adapted from Vygotsky’s conception of the zone of proximal development and the social construction of knowledge. The work of Lave and Wenger (1991) in situated learning also informs this work.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Brookfield, S. D., 1995, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Calderhead, J., and Shorrock, S. B., 1997, Understanding Teacher Education: Case Studies in the Professional Development of Beginning Teachers, The Falmer Press, London.
Clandinin, D. J., 1993, Learning to collaborate at the university: Finding our places with each other, in: D. J. Clandinin, A. Davies, P. Hogan and B. Kennard, ed., Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn: Stories of Collaboration in Teacher, Teachers College Press, NewYork, pp. 177–186.
Darling-Hammond, L., 1993, Reforming the school reform agenda, Phi Delta Kappan, 74, 761.
DeMulder, E. K., and Rigsby, L. C., 2003, Teachers’ voices on reflective practice.
Diez, M. E., and Blackwell, P. J., 2002, Collaboration for teacher development: Implications for the design and implementation of advanced Master’s programs Washington, DC: National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Educators. ERIC Document Reproduction Service Report No. SP 041 164 ED 470 234
Fullan, M. G., with Stiegelbauer, S., 1991, The New Meaning of Educational Change (Second Ed.), Teachers College Press, New York.
Gerow, S., 2001, Teachers in school-based teams: Contesting isolation in schools, in: H. Sockett, E. K. DeMulder, P. LePage, and D. Wood ed., Transforming Teacher Education: Lessons in Professional Development, Bergin and Garvey, Greenwood Publishing.
Goodlad, J., 1994, Educational Renewal: Better Teachers, Better Schools, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Kayler, M., Samaras, A. P., DeMulder, E., Newton, L, and Rigsby, L., 2003, A School Commitment to Student Learning, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Conference, Washington, D.C.
LaBoskey, V., Davies-Samway, K., and Garcia, S., 1998, Cross-institutional action research: A collaborative self-study, in: M. L. Hamilton, S. Pinnegar, J. Russell, J.
Lave, J., and Wenger, E., 1991, Situated learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Loughran, J., and LaBoskey, V., Ed., Reconceptualizing Teaching Practice: Self-study in Teacher Education, Falmer Press, London, pp. 154–166.
Noddings, C., 1992, The Challenge to Care in Schools: An Alternative Approach to Education, Teachers College Press, New York.
Rosenholtz, S. J., 1989, Teachers’ Workplace: The Social Organization of Schools, Longman, New York.
Samaras, A. P., 2004, Learning zones: Potentials for cognitive change in teacher education programs, Invited talk, University of Hawaii, Department of Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Samaras, A. P., 2002, Self-Study for Teacher Educators: Crafting a Pedagogy for Educational change, Peter Lang, New York.
Samaras, A. P., and Gismondi, S., 1998, Scaffolds in the field: Vygotskian Interpretation in a Teacher Education Program, Teaching and Teacher Education, 14: 715–733.
Samaras, A. P., Taylor, N. E. and Kelly, B., 1994, Teachers teaching teachers, Momentum, 25: 67–71.
Schön, D. A., 1983, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, Basic Books, New York.
Sockett, H., DeMulder, E. K., LePage, P., and Wood, D., ed., 2001, Transforming Teacher Education: Lessons in Professional Development, Greenwood Publishing: Bergin and Garvey.
Stein, M. K., Schwan Smith, M., and Silver, E. A., 1999, The development of professional developers: Learning to assist teachers in new settings in new ways, Harvard Educational Review, 69: 237–269.
Sykes, G., and Darling-Hammond, L., 1999, Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Vygotsky, L. S., 1978, Mind in society: The development of higher psychological Processes, in: M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. S. Scribner and E. Souberman, ed., Harvard versity Press, Cambridge, MA.
Weimer, M., 2002, Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Wenger, E., 1998, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Samaras, A.P. et al. (2005). Spheres of Learning in Teacher Collaboration. In: Kosnik, C., Beck, C., Freese, A.R., Samaras, A.P. (eds) Making a Difference in Teacher Education Through Self-Study. Self Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3528-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3528-4_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3527-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3528-9
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)