Enacted Personal Professional Learning: Re-thinking Teacher Expertise with Story-telling and Problematics

EnactedPersonal Professional Learning

Carmel Patterson

Re-thinking TeacherExpertise with Story-tellingand Problematics

Enacted Personal Professional Learning

Carmel Patterson

Enacted PersonalProfessional LearningRe-thinking Teacher Expertisewith Story-telling and Problematics

123

Carmel PattersonFaculty of Arts and Social SciencesUniversity of Technology SydneyUltimo, NSW, Australia

ISBN 978-981-13-6006-0 ISBN 978-981-13-6007-7 (eBook)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6007-7

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https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6007-7

I dedicate this book to my parents, whocontinually provide support and enjoyment inbeing interested in and interesting to others.

As always, I admire all who negotiatethe disruptive dissonance of their ownlearning and who bravely share the storiesof their developing expertise. I applaud theirongoing commitment that endows us withthe creation of new knowledge and celebratesthe understanding of self in sharingexperience with others.

Foreword

In this book, Carmel Patterson introduces the notion of Enacted PersonalProfessional Learning (EPPL). In so doing, she draws attention to the nature ofteaching in ways that highlight how sophisticated and complex the work is, while atthe same time illustrating that teaching is not always understood that way (espe-cially by politicians, policy makers and education bureaucrats) because theknowledge underpinning pedagogical expertise is mostly tacit.

EPPL brings to the surface stories of practice that shine a light on the ways inwhich teachers develop, share and communicate their professional knowledge.EPPL is an interesting concept because, as teachers work with a diverse range oflearners, they often find generalised knowledge of little value in the tightly bound,context-specific teaching and learning environment that is the classroom. Storiestherefore become a useful vehicle for capturing the specific but sharing it in waysthat can resonate with others and offer insights into practice that are not so readilyapparent to the casual observer.

Central to the idea of EPPL is meaning-making which is important for teachersas it taps into the professional autonomy so important in conceptualizing their owndevelopment as something more than accommodating professional developmentdriven by mandated change or measurement against compliance and accreditationcriteria from above. Expert teachers seek to develop their knowledge of practice inways that are responsive to their context, their pedagogical issues and concerns andtheir students’ particular learning needs. This book helps to further highlight theimportance of the pedagogical enterprise as the centrepiece of the work of teachersand how expertise in that endeavour is able to be developed over time.

Central to the development of pedagogical expertise, and as well explainedthrough the text, is the need to recognise the difference between experience andexpertise. Experience does not necessarily equate with expertise, and the importanceof metacognition is crucial to ensuring that, through reflection on experience,learning about practice is enhanced. Expert teachers are learning professionals whopursue their own pedagogical development in ways that are based on a serious desire

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for enhanced student learning. In many ways, such development is driven by anunderstanding of identity and, recognising key aspects of Korthagen’s (2004) “onionmodel”, EPPL focuses attention on identity and vision through the six levels of:

• Environment (What do I encounter?)• Behaviour (What do I do?)• Competencies (What am I good at?)• Beliefs (What do I believe in?)• Identity (Who am I?)• Mission (or spirituality) (Why do I exist? What greater entity do I feel connected

with?)

Through a consideration of these levels, the idea that self-understanding mattersshines through as not only shaping teachers’ identity but also in supporting thedevelopment of their expertise. It is through the notion of self-understanding thatthe representations offered through the different stories explicated in the four “casestudy” chapters stand out as exemplars of EPPL.

Importantly, as is well described in the book, it is through a recognition of theproblematic nature of teaching and addressing the “disruptive dissonances” asso-ciated with the environment the genuine pedagogical development occurs. Therisk-taking associated with moving beyond taken-for-granted assumption of prac-tice, the value of relationships in fostering an environment of care and concern andthe serious intent associated with the pursuit of learning make clear that EPPL is anapproach to developing expertise that is “up close and personal”.

Just as, so long ago, PEEL (Baird and Mitchell 1986; Baird and Northfield 1992;Mitchell and Mitchell 1997) highlighted the place of active learning as a way ofhelping teachers develop students’ metacognitive abilities, so too EPPL places theneed for learning to be at the centre of pedagogical development and ultimately thequest for the development of expertise.

Berliner (1986) famously wrote in pursuit of the expert pedagogue. In so doing,he focused attention on teaching as something more than a technical skill. Hehelped to raise questions about teaching that revolved around issues of valuing theknowledge, skills and abilities of teachers and that such development was aneducative, as opposed to training, process. EPPL builds on these intentions byencouraging the use of a language of teaching and learning through storytelling,something that teachers respond to and appreciate.

By encouraging the need to develop a space for the development of a profes-sional language of teaching and learning, records of practice can carry much moresignificance that simple snapshots of good teaching. EPPL offers an opportunity to

viii Foreword

embrace the development of expertise and to do so in ways that resonate withteachers. That is surely a good thing, not only for individual teachers, but also forthe profession as a whole.

Melbourne, Australia Prof. John LoughranSir John Monash Distinguished Professor

Executive Dean, Faculty of EducationMonash University

References

Baird, J. R., & Mitchell, I. J. (Eds.). (1986). Improving the quality of teaching and learning:An Australian case study—The PEEL project. Melbourne: Monash University PrintingService.

Baird, J. R., & Northfield, J. R. (Eds.). (1992). Learning from the PEEL experience. Melbourne:Monash University Printing Service.

Berliner, D. C. (1986). In Pursuit of the expert pedagogue. Educational Researcher, 15(7), 5–13,doi:10.3102/0013189x015007007

Korthagen, F. (2004). In search of the essence of a good teacher: Towards a more holistic approachin teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(1), 77–97, doi:10.1016/j.tate.2003.10.002

Mitchell, I., & Mitchell, J. (Eds.). (1997). Stories of reflective teaching: A book of PEEL cases.Clayton, VIC, Australia: PEEL Publishing.

Foreword ix

https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x015007007

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.10.002


Preface

Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL): Re-thinking Teacher Expertisewith Story-telling and Problematics provides an alternative perspective for teacherlearning based on five case studies. The evidence-based analysis encourages cri-tiquing an approach in one context and responding with EPPL in another context.This book contributes to the need for teacher reflecting with others on their learningby providing case studies that can be applied to research and practice by teachereducators and professional learning providers for schools, including academics inuniversities working with pre-service teachers in capstone stages.

Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL): Re-thinking TeacherExpertise with Story-telling and Problematics was developed from a researchapproach that privileged each teacher’s story to critique their learning and inves-tigated meaning-making to propose problematics negotiated by teachers. This bookposes EPPL questions for recognising the practice challenges and inspiring learningopportunities from the teacher’s story to provide stimulus for informal conversa-tions, and more formal analysis in lectures, professional learning workshops, andaction research projects in schools. There is an international appeal in providingcase studies that translate across education contexts, enabling teachers to considerevidence and apply the proposed EPPL principles to support a personal learningapproach in the context of their practice.

Ultimo NSW, Australia Dr. Carmel PattersonAssociate, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,

University of Technology Sydney

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Acknowledgements

The completion of this book proved inspiring as a personal achievement as well asreassuring in receiving the essential support and contribution of others.

Professor Sandy Schuck provided academic rigour, empathetic understandingand ongoing interest that enabled me to maintain my conviction in my researchcontribution to the field. Dr. Jane Hunter gave her unwavering support and a verymuch appreciated impetus for sharing the findings in this book. Their academicprowess provided valuable feedback to assist in my developing thinking and writing.The camaraderie and dependable dialogue of Dr. Susanne Francisco and Dr. PrueSlater continue to be vital. I am grateful for their insights and for balancing theacademic angst with wonderful humour and a tenacious zest for life and learning.

Significantly, the teachers who volunteered for my study made an invaluablecontribution in sharing their experiences and reflecting on the nature of expertisewithin their profession. I am extremely grateful for their frankness and generosity.I appreciated the assistance of the teachers who piloted tools and nominatedteachers for the EPPL study.

I am thankful for the unswerving support of my parents, family and friends,whose love and optimism continue to nurture and motivate me. Sustained by theirconcern and encouragement, they lovingly provided diversions when my resilienceflagged.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the support of the University of TechnologySydney in providing access to resources as an Associate of the Faculty of Arts andSocial Sciences. The support of the professional staff and the research facilities aremuch appreciated as I continue my research work.

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Contents

1 Introduction—Why a Book on Teacher Professional LearningNow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1How Does Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL)Provide a New Perspective for TPL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Two Central Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What Constitutes Teacher Expertise? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3What Is Personal About TPL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Why Use a Dual Methodological Approach? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6What Does It Mean to Learn to Teach in Australia and Elsewhere? . . . 7Who Will This Book Appeal to? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8How Is This Book Organised for the Reader? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8So What for Future Research and Practice? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2 Developing Expertise and Personal ProfessionalLearning—A Global Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Connecting Concepts for Understanding EPPL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Distinguishing Between Experience and Developing Expertise . . . . . . 11Teaching Expertise Criteria for the EPPL Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Perceptions of Expertise in Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Metacognition and Deliberate Practice of Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Expert Teachers as Learning Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Teachers’ Professional Learning and the Developmentof Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Self-understanding Within Personal Professional Learning . . . . . . . . 16Transformative Professional Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Policy and Practice in Different Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Summary and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24A Conversation with Colleagues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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3 Re-envisioning Teacher Learning—Enacted PersonalProfessional Learning (EPPL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Dual Methodologies Within a Constructivist Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . 31Narrative Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Phenomenological Inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Methods for Gathering and Analysing Representationsof Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Process for Encouraging Expert Teacher Participation . . . . . . . . . . . 34Gathering of Meaning Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Analysis of Meaning Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Meeting the Five Teachers: Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Lilli and Anh . . . . . . . 38Jaxon—Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Chloé—Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Mia—Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Lilli—Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Anh—Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Theoretical Tools for Envisioning EPPL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Experience and Insight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Problematics and Third Space Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43


4 Jaxon: The Motivations of Heart, Happiness and the WholePerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Jaxon’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Risking Serendipity—“Looking for Something New; I Was JustLooking for an Opportunity” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Motivational Approaches and StimulatingContexts—“Sink or Swim” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Realising Competence—“It Doesn’t Matter How Long I’veBeen Teaching for” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Working with Mentors—“Throw Stuff at Me and I’llFigure It Out” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Caring and Learning—“That’s Bigger Than Any ClassroomIssue” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Sustaining Future Direction—“I Thought That’s ReallyPowerful; I’m More Interested in Pastoral Care” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Narrative Modes of Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Ideational Context: Good Teaching for Learner Developmentand Well-being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Interpersonal Context: Happiness and Collegial Relationships . . . . . 60Textual or Spoken Context: Unfazed by Challengesand Universal Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

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5 Chloé: Core Drivers of Experiential Orientation,Feedback and Self-Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Chloé’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Contributing to Professional Accomplishment—“Hanging outWith Older, More Experienced Staff” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Balancing Responsibilities and Relationships—“I ShouldMake a More Conscious Effort in Devoting My Attentionto That Group of Kids” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Recognising Expertise—“Just Watching Him Be a Head Teacherand Teach” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Aspiring to Lead While Quelling the Imposter—“SometimesI Feel Like a Bit of a Fraud” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Ensuring Learning Is Tangible—“Sequential and More Frequent,It’s More Beneficial and Has More Meaning” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Narrative Modes of Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Ideational Context: Ongoing Experiential Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Interpersonal Context: Rapport and Mentoring Relationships . . . . . . 75Textual or Spoken Context: Language of Doubt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76


6 Mia: Resilience and Pastoral Care Built Within DeterminedProfessionalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Mia’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83International Experiences—“I Really Wanted to Try SomethingDifferent” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Preserving Self-esteem and Resilience—“You just Have to Sortof Keep Carrying on Really” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Negotiating Student and Parent Relationships—“It’s AnotherPart of the Job Really” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Challenging New Contexts—“It Is a Higher Level of Learning,More Intellectual Learning” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Contemplating New Opportunities—“I’m Still ThinkingAbout a Change” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Narrative Modes of Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Ideational Context: Learner Responsibility and Understandingthe Learner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

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Interpersonal Context: Student Pastoral Care and CollegialTacit Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Textual or Spoken Context: Clues and Conversations . . . . . . . . . . . 90


7 Lilli: Horizons for Harnessing Emotional Positivityand Dealing with Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Lilli’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Reassessing Professional Learning—“You Almost Haveto Start Again” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Juggling the Responsibilities of Teaching—“You’ve Got to SpinAll These Plates at the Same Time and There’s Always thePossibility that You’re Going to Drop One of Them” . . . . . . . . . . . 98Differentiating Student Needs and Building Good Relationshipswith Students—“You Always Feel if that Doesn’t Happen thenYou’ve Failed Somehow” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Sharing Expertise for Professional Development—“We’d Liketo Have More Opportunities to Do that” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Approaching Change and Finding Satisfying Challenges—“I Haveto Keep Doing Different Things Because I Don’t Like Being Set ina Rut” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Narrative Modes of Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Ideational Context: Innovative and Cooperative Approaches . . . . . . 102Interpersonal Context: Positive Relationships and Learningby Sharing Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Textual or Spoken Context: Juggling Act, Can of Wormsand a Little Proverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104


8 Anh: Emotional Suffering of Resistance and Limitations . . . . . . . . 111Anh’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Refocusing on Classroom Teaching—“from Time to TimePeople Suggest to Me that I Should Go for Positions and I Just Say,‘I Don’t Want It’.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Influences Within New Situations—“Wanting to Teach in not Suchan Ideal School but Try and Make a Difference” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Reflecting on Motivation and Failures—“I Always Want to ThinkWell I’ve Made an Effort” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Accepting then Relinquishing Difficulties—“I Knew that ThereWas no Point Going on with It” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

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Juncture for Consideration—“It’s One of the Few Times in MyLife Just Thinking ‘What Do I Want Out of My Life?’” . . . . . . . . . 116

Narrative Modes of Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Ideational Context: Tensions Between Established Pedagogyand Innovative Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Interpersonal Context: Self-understanding and Learningfrom Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Textual or Spoken Context: Re-energising and Maintainingthe Right and Best Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120


9 Encapsulating EPPL Perspectives and Problematics . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129The Personal Nature of Teacher Professional Learning: Narrativesof Being and Becoming an Expert Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Teacher Recognition of Contextual Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs About Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Teacher Approaches to Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Valuing Relational Caring and Supportive Interactions: PerceptionsWithin Relational and Communicative Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Empathetic Understanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Non-competitive Collegiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Learning Through Risky, Uncertain and Seemingly Impossible“Disruptive Dissonances” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141To What Extent Is There a Risk in Isolating My Experiencefrom Communicative, Collaborative Pedagogy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142In What Ways Should I Approach Uncertain Challenges asDevelopmental Opportunities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145How Do I Articulate Being an Expert Through the SeeminglyImpossible Possibility of Becoming an Expert? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

10 Expertise, Third Space Thinking and EPPL Principlesfor Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Distinguishing Expertise from Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Methodological Responsiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154The Fraught Nature of Identifying Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Expert Teachers’ Third Space Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Embedding EPPL Principles: Implications for Expert Teachers’EPPL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

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Value of Sharing the Language of Teaching and Learning ThroughStorytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Living with Uncertainties of Being and Becoming While Rejectingthe Dichotomy of Expert Versus Non-expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Promoting PLCs: Interweaving Theory and Practice, Individualityand Collegiality, and Being and Becoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Suggestions for Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

xx Contents

About the Author

Carmel Patterson is an Associate of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at theUniversity of Technology Sydney and a Practicing Teacher and Leader in sec-ondary schools. Her professional expertise is in developing teacher pedagogy inenacting curriculum, integrating digital technologies in learning and encouragingEPPL. She teaches at tertiary and secondary levels, facilitates teacher professionallearning in schools, consults on the accreditation of tertiary teacher educationcourses and professional learning provided by private enterprise and presents papersat international education research conferences. Her research is motivated by herprofessional learning experiences, providing the incentive to understand the dis-tinctive experience of developing expertise in teaching and to represent the con-stitutive meanings of experience as articulated by EPPL.

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List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Concepts that contribute to understanding teachers’ EPPL . . . . . 12Fig. 3.1 Process for encouraging expert teacher participation . . . . . . . . . . 34Fig. 3.2 Combining narrative inquiry and phenomenological inquiry for

gathering and analysis of meaning representations . . . . . . . . . . . 37Fig. 10.1 Embedding EPPL principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

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Keywords

Enacted personal professional learning (EPPL) Teacher professional learning (TPL) Teacher narratives Expert teacher Teacher expertise EPPL meaning-making EPPL principles TPL stories TPL phenomena Expert meaning-making Experienced teacher Insightful expertise Empathetic understanding Non-competitive collegiality Expert problematics Third space thinking Disruptive dissonances Being Becoming Self-understanding Transformative learning Continuing professional development (CPD) Narrative inquiry Phenomenological inquiry Teacher professionalism Teacher accreditation

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Chapter 1Introduction—Why a Book on TeacherProfessional Learning Now?

Abstract The introductory chapter places the book within international research onteacher professional learning (TPL) and the sociopolitical concerns of Australia ina global education context. I outline the research basis of storytelling for analysingthe learning of expert teachers and for determining the implications for practice. Thereader is guided by the questions posed for each section as follows:

• How does Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) provide a new perspec-tive for TPL? Exploring how to approach TPL differently and the book rationalewithin two themes.

• What constitutes teacher expertise? Outlining the teaching expertise criteria forthe study within the context of professional standards.

• What is personal about TPL? Envisioning EPPL with the use of case studies bythe reader.

• Why use a dual methodological approach? Examining the methodological basisfor selecting teachers for the study used in this book.

• What does it mean to learn to teach in Australia and elsewhere? Exploring notionsand approaches of learning to teach in various contexts.

• Who will this book appeal to? Using case studies for teacher education academicsand those who lead in-school professional learning, and teachers undertaking post-graduate studies and professional learning courses in situ.

• How is this book organised for the reader? Proposing a reading approach forChaps. 1–10.

• So what for future research and practice? Considering the concluding sections thatdraw together the main EPPL concepts in the book and offering implications forpractice and research.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019C. Patterson, Enacted Personal Professional Learning,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6007-7_1

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2 1 Introduction—Why a Book on Teacher Professional Learning Now?

How Does Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL)Provide a New Perspective for TPL?

This book offers Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) as a new perspec-tive in how to approach TPL by using researched teacher stories from the field. Theterm TPL is used to delineate the deliberate practices1 of teachers in developing theirexpertise. For EPPL, I focus on how expertise is effectively nurtured in an educationlandscape overtly focused on performativity. Two central themes are explored: (i)the developing nature of teaching expertise and (ii) the personal nature of teacherprofessional learning. Stories of teaching and learning in school education often hailsuccess of the pairing. A metaphor—chalk and cheese—applies to teacher storieswhen the combination goes awry. Regularly, the learning needs of teachers are rep-resented in explicit objectives, task complexity and appropriate learning outcomes.One critical question requires examination in such arrangements: How do teachersin schools develop their expertise? Incremental dispositions and the tacit nature oflearning for teachers reside in story too. Not just one account but unfolding tales oflearning how to teach and of responding to the challenges posed by so-called chalkand cheese concoctions.

The international research on TPL continues to grapple with the unique develop-ment of expertise in pedagogy.2 Continuing professional development (CPD) inter-ventions, such as generically styledworkshops anddisconnected online resources, areoften narrowly aligned to mandated professional accreditation.3 Tailored TPL toolsthat align to pedagogical ideals provide teacher reassurance in their approachwithoutsignificantly shifting teacher understanding of the need for continual reassessment oftheir own learning.TPL interventions canbeused to reinforce routineswith little or noreflection with others, devoid of questioning and analysing their own developmentwithin the teaching and learning process. There is continued growth in long-termprofessional goal-setting programs and practice-based action learning projects yetinconsistency exists in opportunity and teacher-led approaches across contexts. Theresearch basis of storytelling used for analysing the learning of expert teachers andfor determining the implications for practice underpins the main themes of the book.The EPPL study aimed to answer the overarching question: How do expert teachersconstruct meaning from their personal professional development and their approachto their own learning? The EPPL approach is posited in Chap. 3, underpinned byindividual case studies in Chaps. 4–8, and implications are articulated in Chap. 9with learning principles recommended in Chap. 10 from the preceding chapters.

1As outlined in Chap. 2, the practices constitute activities generated through a professional learningcommunity of teachers in situ as well as courses for professional development that are integratedwithin or completed externally to the school locality.2The book uses the term pedagogy to encapsulate all learners and so uses pedagogical learningliterature that focuses on the implications for TPL. I do not differentiate pedagogy from andragogyfor adult teaching and learning.3Accreditation, referred to for NSW teachers in this book, may be substituted for the terms regis-tration, certification or licensing that are used in other international contexts.

How does EPPL Provide a New Perspective for TPL? 3

Two Central Themes

The first theme addresses the developing nature of teacher expertise. A research basisenables the creation of personal narratives of developing expertise to understand theunique learning needs of teachers. This theme also offers a critique of understand-ings of expertise in the international context of school education. The second themeexplores the personal nature of TPL in two ways. The research approach of story isused to signify meaning-making for teachers operating at high levels of expertise andso illuminates a shared, yet unique model of professional learning through the analy-sis and examples of five teacher stories. Therefore, formulating a new approach titledEnacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) incorporates teachers’ unique per-spectives, problematics and thinking to understand expert teachers’ learning. Suchpractice implications offer crucial learning principles to support the approach ofEPPL.

There are few books that expose unique stories of PL that illustrate teachers’developing expertise. I interrogate the professional learning of expert teachers’ anduse a narrative frame to analyse teachers’ meaning-making. The evidence-basedapproach of EPPL is a new perspective that offers empowering choices. Choosingoptions for targeting how teachers can recognise discriminating opportunities forways to collaborate and connect with others. As well as possibilities for seeking outsatisfying opportunities to direct their professional learning rather than solely relyingon accreditation levels or mandated programs to guide their developing expertise.Stories in the book acknowledge that teachers are always becoming in developingtheir expertise while concurrently being designated experts in teaching and learning.Motivation for personal professional learning resides in responding to contextualchallenges. Teachers are also inspired in sharing purpose, and so the approach offeredhere unites developing expertise for all teachers. The book will force readers toquestion the labelling of expert as fixed at a point in time and place, and to possiblytrial the principles of EPPL to support their own practices of personal professionallearning.

The significance of the two central themes explored throughout this book—thecontested understandings of teaching expertise as demonstrated in the constructedstories and the formulation of EPPL that differentiates this study from other TPLresearch—is outlined below.

What Constitutes Teacher Expertise?

This book explores the meaning of the development and learning experiences of fiveAustralian secondary school teachers identified by their colleagues for their teach-ing and learning expertise. The aim is not to produce an exclusive definition of an“expert teacher”, yet the term necessitates a discussion of the teaching expertise cri-teria used for the research. A description of what constitutes an exemplary level ofexpertise within school teaching should distinguish standardised teacher accredita-


tion to ongoing TPL. Anecdotally, there is a common assumption of a correlationbetween many years of teaching experience and expertise. Another assumption isa correlation between expertise and demonstrated adeptness in competency-basedsubject-matter knowledge and pedagogical skill. Chapter 2 discusses these problem-atic assumptions and the difficulties for teachers that stem from the dichotomoususe of the terms expert and non-experts and the interchangeable use of the termsexperienced and expert.

The research literature deals predominately with professional development ofteachers designated as pre-service or novice and of those with leadership responsibil-ities. Teaching expertise is often positioned at an accreditation level or a career stage.EPPL contests notions of set sequences for teachers’ professional development, argu-ing that they may not be linear or truly cyclic but may have stops, starts, digressionsand regressions at various times. A linear sequence of set stageswithin frameworks ofprofessional teaching standards provides the basis of an accountabilitymodel (Yingerand Hendricks-Lee 2000) but does not adequately envision teacher learning practicesfocused on individual need. Career stages viewed as “modal sequences” (Huberman1989) do not provide a sufficient depth of analysis for the complex nature of teacherdevelopment. Continuous learning for teachers from four to twenty years’ experi-ence (Hargreaves and Fullan 2013) results from empowered school leadership that isnecessary for EPPL. However, better understanding is needed on the teachers’ rolein leadership within schools, as well as how school leadership develops in contextswhere whole school improvement is lagging or where teacher leadership is ineffec-tual (Poekert 2012). In the Australian context, the development of teacher expertiseis framed within the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL 2012).4

Teachers are encouraged to seek accreditation designated as Highly AccomplishedTeacher or Lead Teacher to demonstrate higher levels of expertise. However, theconcern for the EPPL study is developing understanding of how teachers learn andcontinue to develop their expertise within different contexts—as influenced by place,time and perception of experience.

For the EPPL study, the notion of learning within the being and becoming ofteachers considered: What contributes to teachers’ expertise? How do teachers nour-ish their expertise? And how do expert teachers value the meaning associated withtheir expertise and their own learning? Being and becoming in relation to learningrelates to the development of expertise as pertinent to the individual’s context. Beingis the essence of experience (Schwandt 2007), linking meaning and engagement inthe world to the notion of becoming. Becoming essentially requires encounters withself and others, in which “I require a You to become” (Buber and Kaufmann 1970).Being is intersubjective, with a “common frame of interpretation” on lived experi-ence (Schutz and Luckmann 1974), emphasising the meaning of experience lived inan individual’s lifeworld (Kvale 1983). The lifeworld makes visible “the horizons

4The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) came into being on 1 Jan-uary 2010 (AITSL 2014). National teaching standards were endorsed by Ministerial Council forEducation, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) in December 2010 toreplace the previously formulated state- and territory-based standards from disparate professionalassociations and government bodies.

What Constitutes Teacher Expertise? 5

and background assumptions involved in all acts of understanding and interpreting”(Moran 2000). Therefore, this book explores the experience of TPL and developingexpertise within the lifeworld of teachers.

Attempting to develop an understanding of the lived experience of learning forexpert teachers is critiqued in Chap. 2. There is, it seems, confusion around the termexpertise within the teaching profession. There is often an unwillingness to acknowl-edge teaching expertise as apparent in teachers’ reluctance to identify themselves asexperts. There is little understanding of how teachers make meaning of their learningthroughout their developing expertise. This book distinguishes the learning experi-ences of expert teachers and illuminates amode of learning that occurs at higher levelsof expertise. Significantly, the unique understanding of teachers’ learning found inthis research suggests that nurturing professional learning principles is essential forthe development of expertise in teaching and learning. Chapter 9 discusses the impli-cations for developing expertise as applicable for the individual as well as utilisingtheir relational and communicative spaces for their ongoing learning.

What Is Personal About TPL?

This book asserts the centrality of self-understanding within the development ofteacher expertise. Teacher self-understanding5 within professional development isviewed as a component of TPL. The term personal is used to characterise the unique-ness of experience for both the professional development and the learning representedwithin the lifeworld of teachers. A focus on the personal draws on the concepts ofbeing and becoming to envision EPPL.

EPPL emphasises that individual needs and the unique contextual nature of learn-ing require the personal to be fore fronted. Of specific concern is the development ofself-understanding as it affects the professional learning of expert teachers. I main-tain that accreditation processes alone do not address the complex situation of expertteachers’ personal professional development, nor of their unique learning needs. Therepresentations of meaning constructed by the teachers in the EPPL study exhibitedfoundations that foster exemplary practice and allow for the retention of expertisewithin the profession. The book reveals how EPPL builds understanding of teach-ers’ personal professional development and learning and presents new knowledge onexpert teachers’ views. Exploring the teaching and learning experiences of the fiveteachers enables the development of professional learning principles for guiding andsupporting the developing expertise of teachers.

The concept of personal professional learning developed within this book charac-terises the uniqueness of the lifeworld experience of teachers. Chapter 9 discusses theimplications of more fully understanding the meaning constructed by teachers abouttheir developing expertise and considers how their understanding influences their

5Identify development is not examined as a separate construct but refers to the aspect of self-understanding as it pertains to professional learning.


approach to personal professional learning. EPPL is envisioned as a developmentalapproach to address perspectives, problematics and third space thinking across vari-ations of teaching and learning contexts. The book presents an original contributionto knowledge by conceptualising the significance of the personal for professionallearning and positing the uniquely insightful development of expertise.

Why Use a Dual Methodological Approach?

To date, few case study examples in the education literature distinguish the profes-sional learning of expert teachers. Voicing and examining stories of TPL generatesdiscussion of the term expertise and the surrounding controversy where teacherson the one hand acknowledge teaching expertise in others, yet, are not prepared toself-identify as experts. Despite a tradition of verbal anecdotes in sharing teacherstories across countries, teacher narratives of developing expertise remain thinlydocumented.

The EPPL study is centred on expert teachers’ ongoing perceptions of and theinfluences on their attitudes andbeliefs concerning their own learning.Of significanceis how personal professional learning for expert teachers is contingent on their ownmeaning-making. Critically, creation of meaning is open to significant change due toboth external factors, such as sociocultural influences, and internal factors, such asself-understanding (Bruner 2009; Egan 1997). Garnering meaning from professionallearning experiences requires an understanding of teachers’ thoughtful reflection onpractice and individual reasoning and beliefs. Essentially, I sought understandingby questioning: What are the factors that expert teachers recognise as shaping theirpersonal professional development? What are expert teachers’ attitudes towards andbeliefs about their own learning? as well as how does an expert teacher’s approachto their own learning influence their personal professional development?

The book also questions the predominance of an epistemological focus of currentpolicy and practices for teachers’ personal development and professional learning.The EPPL study employed a dual methodological approach—narrative inquiry andphenomenological inquiry—to access understandings of unique lifeworld experi-ence and the multifaceted nature of teachers’ construction of meaning from theirprofessional learning experience. Investigating being and becoming in the lifeworldof expert teachers explored an ontological focus for fostering self-understanding andprivileging of the attitudes and beliefs of the teachers.

Selecting teachers for the research required representatives to nominate teachersthey believed demonstrated expertise in teaching and learning. These teachers couldrefer to a set of teaching expertise criteria (Appendix A) developed from the litera-ture as discussed in Chap. 2. The five teachers selected from those nominated thenprovided their own interpretations of their expertise through semi-structured inter-views. The teachers recounted their experience through a narrative oral history oftheir personal professional development and learning. Allowing a time frame of sev-eral weeks to a few months for reflection, the teachers then provided their thoughts

Why Use a Dual Methodological Approach? 7

on suggested aspects of a phenomenological lifeworld as representative of their emo-tional and intellectual meaning-making. The analysis of the teachers’ views focusedon the context that each unique human experience presents—capturing what expertteachers explicitly articulate as well as searching for deepermeaning often embeddedat an implied level.

Themethodological approach, as outlined in Chap. 3, allows for the interpretationof phenomenological constituents as pre-reflective insights on experience. EPPL pro-vides an ontological focus for understanding how teachers interpret their experience.Analysis of teacher meaning-making in their approach to their personal professionallearning enabled a distinction of their experience from their insights. Acting andthinking about insights on experience involves “critically examining the influence onexperience of contexts, cultures and discourses in the past and for the future” (Usher2009). Therefore, the methodological approach explored the individual experienceof the five expert teachers through their post-reflection as story and their uniquepre-reflective perspective on their lifeworld experience. The discussions recognisethe universality of human experience and acknowledge the qualitative rigour thatallows for transferability of findings rather than generalising from the stories of thefive teachers. Finally, Chap. 10 presents the implications of methodological conceptsfor understanding phenomena in our lifeworld and the understandings afforded byEPPL.

What Does It Mean to Learn to Teach in Australiaand Elsewhere?

This book explores experiences of learning to teach, including notions andapproaches from selected international contexts. The EPPL study investigated fiveunique stories of learning to teach in a secondary school, predominately in NewSouth Wales, Australia (NSW Government 2012), with some experience in the USand UK contexts.

EPPL contends that the interplay of professional status and the measurement andassessment of quality teachers and teaching make for a complex situation. Chapter 2evaluates the distinctions made between teaching experience and teaching expertise,and the evolving understanding of CPD and TPL. Internationally, Australia, Canada,Finland, Shanghai and Singapore are recognised as high-performing education sys-tems as they draw on similar notions in establishing policy (Darling-Hammond et al.2017). The ongoing development of expertise is entwined with recruitment andinduction to the profession, in which Australia is distinctly different from the otherjurisdictions with a smaller number of tertiary bodies responsible for initial teachereducation where large numbers of pre-service teachers are not prepared for shortstays in and greater attrition from teaching. There is also the important considerationof the attractiveness of the profession which is noticeably underwhelming but, opti-mistically, slightly increasing in Australia. Chapter 2 considers the five contexts for


developing successful approaches to TPL, specifically addressing time, opportu-nity, incentive, infrastructure, collaboration, teacher-led CPD and research, feedbackand appraisal. The current culture across education contexts is the result of sharingresearch and practice in a relatively faster mode within recent decades than previ-ously experienced in education. The intention here is not to critique the inordinateamount of literature but to identify the issues and learnings for TPL across contexts.

Who Will This Book Appeal to?

The subject area covered by the book is widely taught and researched and so hasappeal for teaching professional and academic audiences. EPPL is intended for use inTPL by teacher education academics and thosewho facilitate professional learning inschools. Teacher stories can be used by novices to the profession in practice-orientedsubjects within undergraduate teacher education courses as well as by practicingteachers, teacher leaders and education researchers in research-in-practice postgrad-uate courses such as a Master of Teaching program. The book is an appropriatesuggested text in Australia and elsewhere for comparing the stories of TPL in thecontext of their practice within a global education market. Additionally, the method-ology chapter could be used across a range of university research methods courses.

How Is This Book Organised for the Reader?

The following outline for the organisation of the book allows the reader to focus onselected chapters as well as a straight through read. The index is structured to enablea quick reference to an acronym prior to stating the full terminology.

After reviewing the book’s rationale and thematic overview in this chapter, youmay wish to go straight to the case studies for use in TPL discussions. The fivecase studies of teacher narratives in Chaps. 4–8 each include three components.Firstly, a story featuring teacher voice throughout the revelatory sequence of abstract,orientation, complicating action, evaluation and coda (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009).The professional learning narrative then presents an analysis using three modes ofnarration as ideational, interpersonal, and textual or spoken interpretation (Riessman2002, 2008). The chapter’s Summary and conclusion provides an exegesis, priorto closing with A conversation with colleagues that poses EPPL questions for thepractice challenges and learning opportunities from the teacher’s story and to critiquethe teacher’s professional learning.

Or you may wish to explore the central concepts that informed the EPPL study asreviewed in Chap. 2 and illustrated in Fig. 2.1. Here I highlight how the study buildson, contests or meets a gap in understandings of experience and developing expertise,and teachers’ professional development and learning. The TPL approaches for fivecontexts—Australia, Canada, Finland, Shanghai and Singapore—are presented. The

How Is This Book Organised for the Reader? 9

chapter’s Summary and conclusion links the central concepts to subsequent chapters,followed by two guiding questions for A conversation with colleagues.

Alternatively, you might delve into the methodological approach that underpinsthe study and the overarching propositions for EPPL. Chapter 3 explores the con-structivist perspective of the methodologies used for gathering and analysing therepresentations of teacher experience. Procedures for selection of expert teachersare illustrated in Fig. 3.1. In synopsis, you will meet the five teachers: Jaxon, Chloé,Mia, Lilli and Anh along with Table 3.1 overview. The iterative nature of the researchanalysis process is shown in Fig. 3.2. Chapter 3 interrogates the interplay of expe-rience and insight and posits how the perspectives of empathetic understanding andnon-competitive collegiality are essential to the development of teaching expertise.Postulating three problematics of teacher professional learning then turns the explo-ration to an ontological third space to understand how expert teachers create meaningand engage in third space thinking in developing teacher expertise. The Summary andconclusion of underpinning concepts then links the research design with the centralfindings, before posing questions to debate in A conversation with colleagues.

Your reading of the final two chapters will draw together the main EPPL conceptsin the book, offering implications for practice and research. Chapter 9 summarisesthe findings in relation to the narrative inquiry and the phenomenological inquiryof the study. I consider the centrality of learning within the lifeworld of expertteachers through an interpretation of disruptive dissonances as a phenomenologi-cal constituent of expert teacher’s lifeworld. The teachers negotiate the disruptivedissonances as three problematics in their personal professional development. Thephenomenological inquiry highlights the use of third space thinking as central tobeing and becoming in the development of teaching expertise. In the concludingchapter, I revisit the methodological responsiveness needed for my research andargue for the use of ontologically focused professional learning principles through-out the development of teaching expertise. A conceptualisation of the intertwinednature of the research findings, implications and conclusions is visualised throughFig. 10.1.

So What for Future Research and Practice?

Professional learning for expert teachers is a significant issue in education becausemandated accreditation alone does not address unique personal learning needs. Thisbook focuses on how proficient teachers develop expertise, emphasising that indi-vidual needs and the contextual nature of learning requires the personal to be fore-grounded. Drawing on the stories from the EPPL study of the learning of five sec-ondary school teachers identified by their colleagues for their expertise, I presentnew knowledge on expert teachers’ views. Stories of developing teaching expertisereveal teacher insight as distinct from experience and identify third space thinkingthat confronts uncertain challenges, risks and failures,while simultaneously acknowl-edging the teacher as being expert. Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL),


a new approach, requires teachers who are neither novice nor leading to reveal theirinsights, negotiate the problematics of teaching and learning and respond to devel-oping their personal expertise. This is important third space thinking. EPPL relieson professional learning principles for promoting storytelling in being and becom-ing empowered teachers who readily can shape education communities for teacherprofessional learning.

References

AITSL (2012). Australian professional standards for teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards.

AITSL. (2014). AITSL welcome page. http://www.aitsl.edu.au/. Accessed March 16, 2014.Bruner, J. S. (2009). Culture, mind, and education. In K. Illeris (Ed.), Contemporary theories oflearning: Learning theorists—In their own words (pp. 159–168). London; New York: Routledge.

Buber, M., & Kaufmann, W. (1970). I and Thou. New York: Scribner.Darling-Hammond, L., Burns, D., Campbell, C., Goodwin, A. L., Hammerness, K., Low, E.-L., et al.(2017). Empowered educators: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality around theworld. San Francisco, CA.: Jossey Bass.

Egan, K. (1997). The educated mind: How cognitive tools shape our understanding. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.

Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2013) The power of professional capital: With an investment incollaboration, teachers become nation builders. The Learning Professional: The Learning For-ward Journal, 34(3). Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/journal/june-2013-vol-34-no-3/power-professional-capital/.

Huberman, M. (1989). The Professional life cycle of teachers. Teachers College Record, 91(1),31–57.

Kvale, S. (1983). The qualitative research interview: A phenomenological and a hermeneuticalmode of understanding. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 14(2), 171–196.

Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research inter-viewing (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Moran, D. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. London: Routledge.NSWGovernment. (2012). About New South Wales; Australian, State and Territory Governments.https://www.nsw.gov.au/about-new-south-wales/.

Poekert, P. E. (2012). Teacher leadership and professional development: examining links betweentwo concepts central to school improvement. Professional Development in Education, 38(2),169–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657824.

Riessman, C. K. (2002). Narrative Analysis. In M. B. Miles & A. M. Huberman (Eds.), The quali-tative researcher’s companion (pp. 217–270). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications.

Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publi-cations.

Schutz, A., & Luckmann, T. (1974). The structures of the life-world (Vol. 1). London: HeinemannEducational Books Ltd.

Schwandt, T. A. (2007). The SAGE dictionary of qualitative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, California:Sage Publications Inc.

Usher, R. (2009). Experience, pedagogy, and social practices. In K. Illeris (Ed.), Contemporarytheories of learning: learning theorists—In their own words (pp. 169–183). London; New York:Routledge.

Yinger, R. J., & Hendricks-Lee, M. S. (2000). The Language of Standards and Teacher EducationReform. Educational Policy, 14(1), 94–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904800014001008.

https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

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https://www.nsw.gov.au/about-new-south-wales/

https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657824

https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904800014001008

Chapter 2Developing Expertise and PersonalProfessional Learning—A GlobalPerspective

Abstract This chapter addresses two central questions. What is known about devel-oping expertise and the professional learning needs for expert teachers? How doesteacher learning link to the issues and debates found in the mélange of professionalteaching standards and accreditation? Teacher professionalism and teacher learningthat exist across the world are contextualised within the broader international setting.Global perspectives and recent trends for professional learning practices and modelsare considered across the changing focus on continuing professional development(CPD) to teacher learning within professional growth plans. The chapter explorescontextual examples from Australia, Canada, Finland, Shanghai and Singapore. TheSummary and conclusion provide a synopsis in connecting concepts for understand-ing Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL), prior to posing two guidingquestions for A conversation with colleagues.

Connecting Concepts for Understanding EPPL

The central concepts that contribute to understanding the nature of teachers’ personalprofessional learning in the development of expertise as discussed in this chapter areillustrated in Fig. 2.1.

Distinguishing Between Experience and DevelopingExpertise

The notions of experience and expertise include various representations, namelyexpert, accomplished, exemplary and experienced, in representing pedagogical prac-tice over time within the context of professional teaching standards. An EPPLapproach relies onunderstandingperceptions of expertise in teaching, understandingsof metacognition and deliberate practice of experts, and an appreciation of teachersas learning professionals.


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12 2 Expertise and Personal PL—A Global Perspective

Fig. 2.1 Concepts thatcontribute to understandingteachers’ EPPL

Teaching Expertise Criteria for the EPPL Study

The teaching expertise criteria developed for the EPPL study (refer to the AppendixA) include several descriptors of exemplary practice for teachers. The criteria areindicative of professional teaching standards fromAustralia (AITSL 2012), the USA(National Board for Professional Teaching Standards 2007) and Scotland (ScottishExecutive et al. 2002). The criteria is not an all-inclusive or exhaustive list but opento the variation demonstrated in other examples such as the cultural diversity evi-dent within New Zealand’s criteria for practicing teachers (Education Council ofAotearoa New Zealand 2015) and the provincial differences addressed through var-ious Canadian professional standards for teachers (Alberta Education 2015; BritishColumbia Teachers’ Council 2015; Ontario College of Teachers 2015). The set ofcriteria was used as a sounding board for nominating teachers, acknowledging theuse of professional teaching standards in assessing teacher expertise as a contestedarea (Johnson 2008).

Distinguishing Between Experience and Developing Expertise 13

The teaching expertise criteria represented functional descriptors open to exten-sion and modification. Individual interpretation of professional colleagues withineach teacher’s learning community is based on communal discourse on excellence“that we must interpret and endorse in light of our own experience” (Ferrari 2002).Internationally, the development of teaching standards within the profession hasthe goal of supporting professional learning. Scottish teachers indicate a positiveinfluence on their TPL and reputation in obtaining the Chartered Teacher status(G. Connelly and McMahon 2007). The US experience cites an increase of a self-reflective perspective and more collaboration with colleagues (Wolf and Taylor2008), including the importance of illustrative and contextual examples in certifica-tion feedback (Wolf et al. 2008). In Australia, teachers accredited as Highly Accom-plished improve classroom practice through independent and collaborative collegialwork (AITSL 2012). Therefore, the EPPL study drew on the practice descriptorsrepresentative within a specific social and cultural context for exemplary teachers.

It is also characteristic of the teaching profession itself to question the natureof an expert label. Intrinsically, a perspective of learning as ongoing and never fin-ished makes teachers reticent to identify themselves as expert in a fully formedsummative state. Expert teachers do not perceive that they are operating at other thanan expected level and so they usually do not accept the accolades or labelling ofexpert. Conversely, a teacher may experience self-doubt that hinders the recognitionof their expertise. In both earlier and later stages of their career, teachers may experi-ence self-doubt when assessing their abilities as well as their suitability for teaching(Huberman 1989). Teacher profiling of professional learning orientations shows thatteachers may continually question their developmental achievements (Pedder andOpfer 2012). Therefore, the teaching expertise criteria were designed to be repre-sentative of teaching and learning expertise as experienced and interpreted by theprofession.

Perceptions of Expertise in Teaching

The EPPL study focused on expertise in teaching and learning and not necessarilyon years of teaching experience. The use of the term experienced often equates toa higher or exceptional level of expertise. However, years of experience is not thesole predictor of exemplary practice and ongoing TPL (Berliner 1991, 2004; L. S.Shulman 2000). An “experienced teacher” is attributed with capabilities that assistboth novice and other experienced teachers (OECD 2012). This notion assumes thatyears of experience afford an implicitly advantageous expertise, that an identifiable“instructional expertise” is readily accessible to other teachers and that the pedagog-ical learning occurs only for the recipient teacher. The EPPL study questioned eachof these assumptions.

Discussions on the broader view of a good teacher reveal simplistically restric-tive terminology. Dichotomies of good/bad, experienced/non-experienced andexpert/non-expert, as represented by psychology-based prototypes (Robert J. Stern-


berg and Horvath 1995), do not incorporate the contextual experience of developingexpertise. It is teacher beliefs that are meaningfully linked to teacher competen-cies and behaviours (Korthagen 2004). Three broad perceptions of “good” teachersas “charismatic subjects”, “competent craftspersons” or “reflective practitioners”(Moore 2004) all limit the notion of developing expertise, and each presents specificdifficulties. Firstly, when teachers are viewed as “charismatic”, there is an indefinabledegree towhich their attributes are privileged asmagically attainable. Secondly, view-ing teachers as “competent craftspersons” standardises individual teaching efforts asseparate from the context in which they occur. Thirdly, a restricted view of “reflec-tive practitioners” suggests the undertaking and applying individual reflections onpractice are readily attainable despite time and context restrictions.

EPPL explores the ontological gap apparent in the limitations proposed by stan-dardised perspectives of developing expertise. In so doing, the study supports adiscursive perspective articulated in “teacher thinking” (Berliner 1987) and TPLstrategies that are contextual, experiential, collaborative and require problem-solving(Darling-Hammond 1997). Additionally, a discursive perspective explores the inter-personal nature of development within an “emotional practice” (Hargreaves 1998)and embraces care for self and others in balancing personal and professional develop-ment (Agne 1999). The challenge for developing self-understanding through reflex-ivity is managing the resilience necessary for self-critique. However, empowermentis possible through collaborative learningwithin professional communities that focuson “the personal, the emotional and the critical/political” (Moore 2004). The EPPLstudy focused on understanding how relationships within the learning process andfeedback from both students and peers contribute to crucial meaning-making forteachers. Significantly, EPPL recognises how expert teachers gain their unique under-standing despite varying years of teaching experience by examining the personalprofessional meaning they create from their experiences.

Metacognition and Deliberate Practice of Experts

Pertinent to EPPL is metacognition and deliberate practice developed over time.An initial focus on cognitive psychology and human intelligence (Chi et al. 1988;Dreyfus et al. 1988; Ericsson and Smith 1991) broadened to include understanding ofindividual agency and interactions with their environment and the support providedby others, as apparent in the development of expertise (Ericsson 1996; Glaser 1996).Thus, EPPL recognises expertise as the combination of individuals’ attributes withina social and cultural context, at a point in time.

EPPL recognises motivation after failures in TPL and an inclination to continuallyexperiment and put expertise to the test.Metacognitive practices involve reflecting ongoals and achievements through continual reappraisal, leveraging strengths to forgeareas of expertise and framing personal experience to learn frommistakes and failures(Gardner 2002). Experts also engage in deliberate practice to enhance their individ-ual abilities and confidence in their abilities, which in turn provided fulfilment and

Distinguishing Between Experience and Developing Expertise 15

a motivation to continue developing their expertise (Robert J Sternberg et al. 2002).Self-regulation is apparent when the learner controls their learning environment,wheremonitoring, instruction andmanagement do not require the external support ofothers. Self-regulated learning, maintaining motivation and persistence in deliberatepractice were the characteristics continually demonstrated by experts (Zimmerman2002). The degree to which persistence, resilience and self-regulation are found inTPL distinguish experts from the experienced non-expert. Characteristically, theydemonstrate learner-centred practice, with goal-setting for diverse learners, aware-ness of classroom climate, multidimensional perception and sensitivity to context(Smith et al. 2008). Their capabilities allow the development of unique approachesto dealing with the diversity of “content and pedagogical knowledge, beliefs aboutstudent learning, in problem solving, efficiency and management, affect, and learn-ing outcomes” (Hattie and Clinton 2008). Importantly, EPPL recognises the diverseimprovisational abilities at levels beyond those of a novice or other experiencedteacher that are demonstrated by expert teachers.

Expert Teachers as Learning Professionals

EPPL is a guiding approach for the development of expertise in teaching that expandsthe notion of learning professionals. Over 40 years of research substantiates the fun-damentals of understandings on teacher personal and practical knowledge (Connellyand Clandinin 1999; Elbaz 1983; Lortie 1975), the application of content knowl-edge, pedagogical content knowledge and curricular knowledge (Shulman and Col-bert 1989; Shulman 1986) and the learning necessary for effective reflective practice(Schön 1987). More recently, explorations of teaching expertise have delved intothe metacognitive and motivational characteristics of expertise (Carroll 2009; Hattieand Clinton 2008; Kershner et al. 2012; Lieberman and Pointer Mace 2009; Tsui2009) as well as the technological imperatives for teacher development (Mishra andKoehler 2006).

EPPL focuses on the fluctuating acceptance of teachers highly accomplished prac-tice and a drive to be open to challenges. Problem-solving as an attribute is evident forexpert teachers (Hattie and Clinton 2008) in that they can contextualise and contin-ually challenge their expertise to “problematise the routine” (Tsui 2009). Exhibitingproficiency at learning and coping with change, they determine for themselves whatthey should integrate, modify or reject as part of their practice (Carroll 2009). Expertteachers offer exemplars of professional knowledge in teacher practice (Loughran2010) and so challenge existing positions and approaches for professional learning.Importantly, EPPL advocates teaching as a learning profession.

Collaboration is essential for learning professionals. Teacher expertise is manifestin the continual interaction of accomplished practice and professional learning thatallows for critique of learning by peers (Lieberman and Pointer Mace 2009) anddialogue on “see how we teach” (Lieberman and Pointer Mace 2009). Reflexivityrequires reframing practicewith colleagues. Expert teachers as learning professionals


use their teaching and learning expertise to promote research on their own practiceand so create new knowledge within their teaching and learning (Carroll 2009).Essentially, developing adaptive expertise for teachers requires a self-awareness ofone’s own effectiveness and agency in conducting productive professional conversa-tions (Timperley 2015). Therefore, EPPL recognises that the development of teachingexpertise is closely tied to how teachers perceive and approach their own learning,displaying the characteristics of learning professionals who take responsibility fortheir learning as well as the learning of others.

Teachers’ Professional Learning and the Developmentof Expertise

Integrating theory and practice reveals the contested aspects of current policy andpractice for CPD. EPPL advocates guiding principles that incorporate notions oftransformative learning and self-understanding as discussed below. Further learningis evident in the policy and practice of different international contexts.

Self-understanding Within Personal Professional Learning

EPPL relies on teachers’ continuing development in self-understanding and acknowl-edges the unique nature of a teacher’s development. A teacher’s “subjective educa-tional theory” as represented through stories highlights the importance of an individ-ual “biographical perspective” for recognising the self-understanding required fora teacher’s professional learning (Kelchtermans 2009; Kelchtermans and Vanden-berghe 1993, 1994). Developing professional self-understanding creates new pos-sibilities for perceptions of the self as teacher and for new meaning-making withinpersonal professional learning. A focus on learning through narrative offers the pos-sibility of changing dominant “taken-for-granted social, cultural, and institutionalnarratives” (Clandinin and Murphy 2009). Self-study requires reflective practice bythe teacher that draws on their individual context for constructing their own under-standing. The professional learning narratives within the EPPL study create newconnections between teacher stories and the development of their expertise, and thedevelopment of self-understanding within TPL.

For EPPL, personal identity and vision are viewed as central components ofteacher learning. Reflection on how individual identity influences classroom practicecan be identified within six levels as shown below.

1. Environment (What do I encounter?)2. Behaviour (What do I do?)3. Competencies (What am I good at?)4. Beliefs (What do I believe in?)

Teachers’ Professional Learning and the Development of Expertise 17

5. Identity (Who am I?)6. Mission (or spirituality) (Why do I exist? What greater entity do I feel connected

with?) (Korthagen and Verkuyl 2002).

The environment, behaviour and competencies levels identified are often per-ceived as integral to teacher practice. The fourth and fifth levels, beliefs and identity,acknowledges teaching as a “public duty” and a “calling” (Connelly and Clandinin1999) and recognise self-understanding as central to developing teaching practice(Hamachek 1999). The sixth level, mission or spirituality, is debatable in terms ofthe traditional separation of church and state within government-operated educa-tion organisations. This level may be more aptly stated as “What is my purpose?”Alternatively, the idea of personal spirituality could align with current organisationalpractices that provide vision and mission statements to guide corporate governance.Additionally, the emotional aspects identified at this level within teaching may beperceived as a type of spirituality that is separate from beliefs and identity. Thisspirituality may entail an essential component of pastoral care and provide a sense ofteaching as a vocation (English et al. 2004). The overarching strategies and specificpractices of pastoral care aim to “support the welfare, well-being and development”of the learner (Calvert 2009) and may be perceived as separate as well as intertwinedwithin the pursuits of teaching. The emotional dimensions of a teacher’s practicerequire reflexivity that aligns to the spiritual dimension of a teacher without advocat-ing any “particular religious commitments” (Mayes 2001).Moreover, the recognitionof teaching as a “values-orientated” profession influencing a societal greater good(McGettrick 2005) may address questions such as “What do I believe in?”, “Who amI” or “Why do I exist?” for teachers, though whether these form part of the beliefs,identity or mission/spirituality levels proposed above remains debatable.

For EPPL, CPD activities require deeper reflection associated with professionalexperiences to enable individual learning, as well as avenues for all teachers toconsider ideas fundamental to their development (Fraser et al. 2007). Essentially,expert teachers need to confront relevant and challenging content for linking practiceto theory, addressing both personal and professional dimensions (Loughran 2010).Along this line, EPPL recognises how teachers’ learning influences the learningof students, as well as of their colleagues. Teacher development practices requirefocus on beliefs and purpose that allow for the sharing of new learning as well as acontextualised application of this learning. EPPL supports teachers to question theapplicability of approaches and learning strategieswithin different circumstances andchallenge their own developmental capacity to evolve with changing teaching andlearning demands. Teacher meaning-making contributes to an understanding of theuncertainties of being and becomingwithin the complexities of teaching and learning.Creating new knowledge based on experience as “lived and living” is perceived as“fundamentally concerned with both being and becoming” (Pinnegar and Hamilton2011). EPPL encourages teachers “to better grasp what it means to learn professionalways of being” (Dall’Alba 2009) and to question “how far, and inwhatways, a personis prepared to change as a teacher” (Patrick et al. 2003). The investigation into theviews of expert teachers through the EPPL study presents a complex analysis of the


interaction of the influences on expert teachers’ development and contributed to anunderstanding of the open-ended nature of how these expert teachers approach theirlearning.

Transformative Professional Learning

EPPL explores the interactive and reflective developmental practices of transforma-tive learning in the development of expertise. EPPL builds on the notions of collab-oration and collegiality within transformative learning. Enabling teachers to collab-oratively research, read and reflect on their learning allows relationships to developacross the various areas of expertise which may not have previously been offerednor sought (Grossman et al. 2001). Opportunities for new learning and intellectualreflection, including discussion of differences on epistemological and sociologicalissues, provide a source of tension yet also allows transformative learning to sup-port the creation of a professional learning community (PLC). PLCs draw on bothindividual and collective abilities of teachers, typically, fostering a culture of variousapproaches: “critical friends” groups (see National School Reform Faculty 2010),instructional rounds (City et al. 2009), lesson study (Stepanek and et al. 2007) andcollaborative action research (Gordon 2008). Substantively, PLCs embrace collab-orative action research by teachers on their practice (Edwards-Groves and Rönner-man 2012) and an ongoing cycle of teacher inquiry (Timperley 2011). Practice-basedlearning requires interaction and deliberation with colleagues to address the uniquecontextual needs of the teacher.

EPPL relies on emotional aspects of transformative learning that emphasiseteacher ownership of their learning through the identification, creation and evalu-ation of new knowledge and practices. Teachers actively directing their own learn-ing occurs when they are responsible for research into teaching practice. Teacherempowerment and ownership are significant aspects of practitioner action research(McNiff and Whitehead 2006). The authoring and publishing endeavours of teacherresearcher provide a transformative learning mode. The highly individual and intu-itive nature of transformative learning envisage “epochal” or “cumulative” experi-ences, that mostly “takes place outside of awareness; intuition substitutes for crit-ical reflection of assumptions” (Mezirow 2009). Transformative learning requiresinsight into individual imagination and intuition, involving the solving of contextu-alised problems, social empowerment for democratic action and reflective pedagogythat enhances self-understanding. Transformative learning enables opportunities to“imagine how things could be different; [and] … when the beliefs and understand-ings they generate become problematic” (Mezirow 2009). Therefore, the EPPL studyanalysed the ways in which expert teachers are actively engaged in these types ofprofessional development activities.

EPPL relies on an ontological focus for understanding what expert teachers bringto their learning leadership with colleagues, as well as in the teacher learning mod-elled for students. Transformative professional learning highlights the formative


nature of teacher development, relying on professional dialogue and allowing teach-ers to direct the nature of their collaborative learning. Kemmis and his colleagues(Kemmis et al. 2014) explicate how the communicative spaces of teachers are encoun-tered through the “doings, saying and relatings” with others as contextual “practicearchitectures” that are existentially and ontologically site dependent. The ontologicalfocus of the EPPL study recognises that transformation of a person occurs throughlearning, crucially acknowledging that “Being and becoming are inextricably inter-twined, and human learning is one of the phenomena that unite them, for it is fun-damental to life itself” (Jarvis 2009). EPPL focuses on teachers’ development ofexpertise over time, through different contexts and within the formative nature oftransformative learning.

Policy and Practice in Different Contexts

EPPL recognises the ongoing challenge in addressing the personal professional con-stituents of teachers’ expertise, as well as the transformative learning opportunitiesavailable for expert teachers. School improvement solely focused on teacher accred-itation processes may negatively impact professional learning practices. Internation-ally, caution is required within accreditation regimes to ensure they do not outweighthe need for “individual development and empowerment of teachers” (Patrick et al.2003). Arguing against professional compliance for teachers is to advocate for pro-fessional confidence in exercising professional judgement (Eaude 2011) to enhanceinnovative sharing of pedagogical practice. There are tensions for PLC s acrossinternational contexts in understanding teacher knowledge, inquiry-based learning,quality and accountability pressures (Groundwater-Smith and Mockler 2009). Fur-thermore, critical friendships within PLCs entail observing and deconstructing prac-tices and reframing experience for CPD. Dialogue and appropriate learning condi-tions within critical friendships foster the professional collegiality and empowermentneeded to address individual professional learning needs (Swaffield 2008). Learningthat is more politically empowered allows for critical reflection in a broader context.Enabling the interplay of practice and theory is central for the “internalisation ofconcepts, reflection, construction of new knowledge and its application in differ-ent situations, and an awareness of the professional and political context” (Fraseret al. 2007). Therefore, the EPPL study explored the experience of expert teach-ers in demonstrating their accomplishments, including having opportunities to sharefindings from professional learning with colleagues and teacher leaders.

Encapsulating the sociocultural aspects within a broader conception of teach-ers’ professional learning identifies formal and informal learning opportunities thatenhance social and personal aspects of teacher’s EPPL. From the end of the 1990sonwards, a consensus of principles expanded the notion of teacher’s professionalknowledge and thinking, aiming to encapsulate what was effective for ongoingteacher development and the attendant research in the field (Hawley and Valli 1999;Putnam and Borko 2000;Wilson and Berne 1999). An economic approach to teacher


development practices tends to align professional learning with performance man-agement practices and competency-based outcomes for measurable learning (Menteret al. 2004). The evident tension lies between the external accountability imposedon teachers’ professional learning, structured within accreditation frameworks andteachers’ internal drive to harness learning for their personal professional develop-ment needs. New visions were essential to fulfil commitments on the reciprocity ofthe provision of and requirements for TPL within the accountability of standards(Elmore 2002) as well as research frameworks for understanding situated learningfor teachers (Borko 2004). Conclusively, the call focused on systemic support forlearning based on teacher classroom practices (Pedder et al. 2005).

Viewed through a sociocultural lens, teacher learning is globally dominated by“managerial professionalism and institutionalised efficiency” that promotes “individ-ual teacher autonomy within an environment characterised by collaborative, collec-tive decision-making” (Fraser et al. 2007). Thediversity of cultural contextmeans thatthe interaction between individual and communal actions is negotiated in a varietyof ways for teacher learning, particularly in innovative environments (OECD 2018).Across all contexts, there is a need for developing the decisional and social capitalof the teaching profession to produce “high returns in prosperity, social cohesion,and social justice” where teachers are treated as “nation builders” (Hargreaves andFullan 2012). CPD is discussed both as discrete practices and a continuing process ofTPL enacted as individually empowered growth supported and guided within a com-munity of peers. Even in a less struggling, academically achieving environment inthe UK, there is difficulty advancing teacher leaning into “more critical, situated andcollaborative” spaces as performativity pressures continue to drive individual CPDfocused on test results (Hardy and Melville 2013). The external tensions exertedthrough high-stakes assessment, standardised curricula and professional teachingstandards come from appeasing the multifarious interests of education stakeholders.Therefore, teacher learning that focuses on site-based practices is vitally important.TPL requires shared responsibility of leaders and teachers in creating a caring andcollaborative culture, dialogic spaces and opportunities for professional learning andresearch, and teachers derivatising their practice to share the many perspectives ofthe TPL research (Kemmis et al. 2014). Furthermore, US case studies highlight theneed for “formal infrastructure” for TPL (Gomez et al. 2016; Russell et al. 2017)to support individuals to achieve collaborative approaches for improving practice.A critique of recent models of professional development—offered as tools for prac-titioners to frame understanding of approaches within and across different contexts(Boylan et al. 2017)—reveals the evolution of dialogue on teacher professional learn-ing. EPPL advocates investigating the structure and substance necessary for expertteachers’ professional learning. Below, TPL is considered across five education con-texts internationally. These high-performing contexts offer considerations on aspectsof TPL that include time, opportunity, incentive, infrastructure, collaboration, teacher-led CPD and research, feedback and appraisal.


In Australia

All teachers in their specific Australian state or territory are responsible for meetingprofessional learning requirements to achieve and maintain accreditation. The cur-rent experiences of the teacher’s in the EPPL study were in the state of New SouthWales, responsible for 30% of the more than 315,000 teachers in Australia (ABS2017). NSW commenced mandatory maintenance of accreditation over a five-yearperiod for all teachers from 1 January 2018 (NESA 2018), while in Victoria, the statewith the second largest number of teachers, registration is an annual process linkingTPL with Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL 2012) and teacherperformance and development plans (Burns and McIntyre 2017). Each jurisdictionis guided in teacher accreditation and TPL by the Australian Institute for Teachingand School Leadership that advocates professional learning in collaboration, innova-tion, evaluation and leading culture (AITSL 2017b). Tools and resources for teachers,schools and systems are offered to support the development of a professional mindset(AITSL 2017a), disciplined collaboration (AITSL 2014c) and identified componentsfor designing professional learning (AITSL 2014b). Additionally, various multime-dia and illustrations of practice encourage teachers to reflect on practice, and engagein effective feedback practices and ongoing self-assessment (AITSL 2017c). Fur-thermore, the Australian Professional Standard for Principals and the LeadershipProfiles (AITSL 2014a) supports the development of teacher leaders and providesa basis for career progression, like the hierarchical ladder of the school systems inSingapore and Shanghai.

EPPL provides a perspective for teachers to enact a personal approach to meettheir professional learning needs and develop their expertise throughout their career.Australian educational policies on professional development from 1996 to 2008wereprimarily performative, highlighting the need for a more democratic voice and moreactive role for teachers in terms of their learning needs, with an ability to influ-ence practices over an extended period (Hardy 2008). The typical experience ofshort-term, isolated interventions is constrained through their “hit-and-run” inabilityto address the need for a nurturing community or the identity formation neces-sary for teacher learning (Moss 2008). Conversely, EPPL promotes transformativelearning for encouraging collaborative reflection and enhancing self-understanding.Recent research proposes that a national programme should complement the stan-dards, assessments and curricula focus at a national level by “unleashing the pro-fessional creativity of teachers” to engage site-specific practices pertinent to theirlearning community (Kemmis et al. 2014). Significant impacts for teachers workingin innovative environments are driving “teacher passion” in bolstering the well-beingof both teacher and students (Owen 2014) and contributing to their own develop-ment alongwith their students and the community (Grimmett 2014). The EPPL studyextends the conversation in analysing the interrelationships of teacher stories withtheir professional learning approach based on the meaning-making for teachers indeveloping expertise.


The personal aspect of EPPL supports the application of collective practice-basedinquiry. The notion of professional development is then seen to broadly incorporatetransforming and continually improving situated practice of teachers. For example,instructional rounds conducted in three small primary schools in Western Australiasupported teacher professional learning within a school community with perceivedpositive influences on instruction despite concerns on being observed as well astime and logistical challenges (Mansfield and Thompson 2017). A study across oneurban, three regional and one remote schools in Australia (ABS 2014) identifiedteacher engagementwith professional learning as influenced by geographic aswell asprofessional isolation, the cost incurred as emotional and financial, and the teacher’sunique life stage both professional and personal (Cameron et al. 2013). In the currentclimate, TPL in NSW centres on the curriculum, teacher quality and classroomengagement for teachers and the required support required from school leadership(Burns andMcIntyre 2017).Attendant PDactivities fromaccredited providers aswellas teacher-identified learning submitted to their local teacher accreditation authorityare then logged in terms of hours and teaching standards with the state authority(NESA 2018). In Victoria, TPL is entrenchedwithin the school improvement process(DET 2018a) and progresses through an evidence-based professional learning cyclethat is teacher-led (DET 2018b). The EPPL study contributes to TPL policy andpractice in questioning the perspectives needed to address unique learning needs inthe development of teacher expertise.

The Canadian Context

The provinces ofAlberta andOntario provide an overall picture of theTPL inCanada.In the Canadian context, the need for continued teacher growth in school-based pro-fessional learning (Beck and Kosnik 2014) relies on whole school structures sup-porting individual teacher vision for integrating informal and formal PD and teacherinquiry as professional learning, as well as trust in school leadership with a commonvision for school-based TL. Within the school improvement strategies, professionallearning focuses on individual teacher development driven by dialogue and reflec-tion through collectively collaborative practices. A wide variety of school-basedpractices in Ontario encompass classroom observations, short workshops duringlunch breaks, one to three-day workshops from teacher organisations and their fed-eration, and groups studying findings from books as well as their own problemsof practice. In the 12 years following the implementation of the Alberta Initiativefor School Improvement (AISI) in 2000, the school-based action learning projectsenabled “access to a wealth of resources created, change in the use of technol-ogy, PBL and student-driven knowledge creation, action research, and emergence ofteacher leaders” (Darling-Hammond et al. 2017). The success of innovative, large-scale projects has resulted in schools being responsible for funding in their generalbudgets and teacher-led research further enabled by the leadership developed withindefined career pathways. Although studies since 2000 show that various forms ofcollaborative inquiry have benefited the individual teacher and developed collegial


practices, there are still practical and theoretical challenges in the Canadian context(DeLuca et al. 2015).

The Case of Finland

The EPPL study recognised the successful aspects of TPL and the importance ofadjusting practices as relevant to the teaching context. The outcomes achieved ininternational educational measures by Finland pose it as a current case for others tocopy. Yet, there is a cautionary element in replicating some myths, such as attract-ing the highest achieving students into teacher education, rather than adapting thereality of Finland’s practice of attracting the right people to the profession (Sahlberg2018). Starting with the teacher education experience of Finland’s model schools,a TPL mindset is created with continuous inquiry into and sharing of practice fromclassroom experience. Finland’s research-based teacher education and robust schoolleadership support teacher inquiry into practice using small data and professionalcollegiality at a school and network level internationally. Practical considerationsprovide teachers with typically a weekly meeting time as well as a working spaceoutside the classroom, as do teachers in Shanghai, that increase the opportunitiesfor TPL. Like Canadian leadership opportunities, teacher leaders are involved inteacher education and research, school decision-making, and mentoring to supportcurriculum and pedagogical innovations (Darling-Hammond et al. 2017). In additionto Finland, professional growth experiences in the European contexts of Poland, Bul-garia, Slovakia, France, Portugal, Turkey and England reveal the complex thinkingrequired for understanding learning as a site of interaction through teacher practice-based learning (Taylor 2015).

In Shanghai and Singapore

Compared to Australia, teachers in Singapore and Shanghaihave less direct face-to-face instruction time, teaching an average of 17 h compared to the OECD averageof 19 h and the TALIS surveyed 27 h for teachers in the USA. In Shanghai, teach-ing time ranges from 15 h for primary teachers and 12 h for secondary teachers,with 240 h of TPL every 5 years. In Singapore, clusters of 10–13 schools providecollective TPL, with OECD findings showing that 40% of lower secondary teach-ers are involved in mentoring or coaching of colleagues (Darling-Hammond et al.2017). Significantly, the time released from direct classroom instruction enables avariety of TPL roles and practices. Both jurisdictions engage teachers in lesson study,teacher-led action research and leadership roles in curriculum, pedagogy and profes-sional learning. Teachers in Shanghai can become mentors for beginning teachers,master teachers of subject or professional learning within their schools, district sub-ject leaders and municipal subject leaders establishing pedagogical or curriculumobjectives. In Singapore, professional learning communities (PLCs) take the form oflesson preparation groups addressing specific teaching problems, grade-level groups


targeting common concerns including student welfare, and teaching and researchgroups focused on observation, mentoring and feedback with a publication rate ofat least one study by 75% of teachers (Darling-Hammond et al. 2017). Similarly,teachers in Singapore have time provided for collegial collaboration with a dedi-cated developer role ensuring teacher learning needs are customised for individualswhile also supporting school goals. However, the additional roles beyond classroominstructionmean that teachers have longworkweeks in both jurisdictions. The imple-mentation of PLCs in Singapore and Shanghai reveals an Eastern perspective on thechallenges of hierarchical career structures, demanding workloads and ambiguitiesin understanding of practices (Hairon and Tan 2016). Furthermore, the educational,economic, social and cultural differences between Shanghai located in the east andMianyang in the Sichuan Province of Southwest China show differences in PLCspractices in terms of collaborative learning and facilitative leadership (Zhang andPang 2016).

Summary and Conclusion

For the EPPL study, proposing teaching expertise criteria that rely on standards devel-oped by the teaching profession and the research literature highlights that develop-ing teaching expertise criteria requires continual revision in concert with the pro-fession and researchers. Contesting assumptions of more experienced teachers asexperts within the broader social perceptions of expertise in teaching addresses theontological gap in the understanding of expertise by investigating expert teachers’meaning-making from their personal professional development. EPPLbuilds on ideasof metacognition and deliberate practice of experts to contribute to an understandingof ways in which personal and emotional factors such as persistence, resilience andself-regulation constitute expert teachers’ approaches to their professional learning.Importantly, advocating teachers as learning professionals contributes to an under-standing of the need for challenges within personal professional development tocreate new knowledge.

EPPL builds on self-understanding as a critical aspect of personal professionaldevelopment and points to new connections in understanding the significance ofself-understanding within the development of teaching expertise through a method-ological focus on ontological meaning-making. Bridging a gap in addressing theunique needs of an expert teacher’s development through transformative learningcontributes to an understanding that collaboration and collegiality are central to anexpert teacher’s learning. Significantly, questioning the gap in Australian policy andpractices for addressing the unique personal professional development and learn-ing needs of expert teachers aims to create new connections through an ontologicalanalysis of expert teachers’ meaning-making from their personal professional devel-opment and approach to their learning.

The next chapter presents the dual methodologies, the supporting philosophicalframework and the methods used in the EPPL study.

A Conversation with Colleagues 25

A Conversation with Colleagues

EPPL contributes to, contests or creates new connections with the central conceptsrelating to the learning and development of expert teachers. Guiding reflection on theconcepts discussed in this chapter are two focus questions to consider in conversationwith your colleagues.

• What are the distinctions between the terms expert and experienced regardingteaching expertise in understanding EPPL?

• How does EPPL enrich approaches to professional learning and the developmentof expertise?

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Chapter 3Re-envisioning TeacherLearning—Enacted PersonalProfessional Learning (EPPL)

Abstract This chapter details the approach used for creating the teachers’ stories inthe book. A dual methodological approach creates understanding from a construc-tivist perspective by combining narrative inquiry and phenomenological inquiry. Thestudy relied on the iterative process of gathering and analysing individual teacher rep-resentations of their experience through a three-interview process. Teaching exper-tise criteria supported the nomination of five teachers—Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Lilli andAnh—introduced here with a synopsis of their stories. The theoretical tools used toenvision Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) include visualising uniqueperspectives, problematics and thinking to illustrate emerging and interdependentconcepts. Each is examined in turn, distinguishing between experience and insight;proposing problematics in developing expertise; and arguing the need for third spacethinking as a necessary response to the problematics as they arise. The Summary andconclusion then review the thinking on methodology, methods, participants and the-oretical tools required throughout the research, prior to posing questions for debatein a conversation with colleagues. EPPL offers a robust model for understanding theprofessional learning of teachers, and this is laid out in the stories in the five casestudy chapters that follow.

Dual Methodologies Within a Constructivist Perspective

TheEPPL study is framedwithin a constructivist perspective to informunderstandingof the complex phenomena. Considering the shifting nature of time, context andrelationship to others, EPPLdrawson the social and collaborative creationofmeaningwithin a societal or communal group. The use of two qualitative methodologies forthe EPPL study is one example for gathering and analysis of meaning representations(Patterson 2018).

A constructivist perspective attributes the construction of our world to the prod-ucts of the humanmind (Bruner 1986). The transformative versioning of individuallyconstructed worlds acknowledges the revisioning of previously made worlds withsubsequent versions necessary to meet the specific purposes of an individual context(Eisner 1988). There is a relative nature to our understanding based on our histor-


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32 3 Re-envisioning Teacher Learning—EPPL

ical and sociocultural contexts, in which the temporality of context impacts on theconstruction and continual reconstruction of reality. Therefore, a community narra-tive is “itself subject to the temporal and historical conditions that gave rise to thecommunity” (Guba and Lincoln 2005). Furthermore, the representation of realityas unique to the time and context of an individual’s experience also necessitates anunderstanding of being and belonging with others. Acknowledging the plurality ofunderstanding relies on an engagement through language or conceptual schemes toshare ontological being through different representations of experience (Schwandt2007). Therefore, a pragmatic ontology relies on sharing understandings through theinteractions and situations of our experience (Dewey 1963; Dewey and Archambault1964). The EPPL study uses dual methodologies to access the understandings ofteacher experiences to generate a range of hermeneutic understandings.

The interplay between expert teachers’ and society’s constructions of meaningabout TPL is contingent on their own individual meaning-making, as well as beingreliant on their societal context. The EPPL study analysed teachers’ views in thechanging nature of a constructed world using two methodologies—narrative inquiryand phenomenological inquiry. The dual methodologies allowed for both construc-tion of the individual story and contextualisation of the universal experience. Nar-rative inquiry allowed for interpretation and explanation of each unique experience,and so expert teachers disclosed unique attitudes and beliefs about their own learningand the influences they recognise as shaping their professional development. Phe-nomenological inquiry then illuminated the interrelationship of universal constituentsof lived experience within the teachers’ experiences of teaching and learning.

Narrative Inquiry

The EPPL study uses narrative inquiry to interpret, explain and translate the individ-ual experiences of the five teachers.

An interpretation of experience through narrative (Clandinin 2007; Clandinin andConnelly 2000; Clandinin and Rosiek 2007) provides the basis for a post-reflectiveview of individual experience. The understanding created through narrative inquiryallows for a reinterpretation of an individual’s being in the world through the tempo-rality and conceptuality of their social interactions. There is an interpretive fluiditybetween understandings of past, present and future experience. An individual’s con-struction of reality represents a continual recreation of meaning through the manifeststance of ongoing post-reflection on their experience. Therefore, the vicarious shar-ing of an individual’s experience allows for implicitly understanding rather thanexplicitly just telling a good story.

An individual’s highly personalised representation of reality requires rich, thickdescriptions. As a medium for interpreting poignant moments in shaping profes-sional identity (Connelly and Clandinin 1999) and presenting unique perspectivesthat reveal individual reasoning and beliefs (Fenstermacher 1997), narrative inquiryallows teachers to understand and retain ownership of their unique pedagogy. The per-

Dual Methodologies Within a Constructivist Perspective 33

ceptions of each teacher in the EPPL study allowed for the creation of their personalprofessional learning narrative using rich interpretations of their experience. The useof teacher quotes provides “adequacy and plausibility”, “authenticity” and “explana-tory” and “invitational” qualities (Clandinin and Connelly 2000) to underpin thetrustworthiness of the teacher’s story. Storytelling allows teachers to understand andshare learning through cross-disciplinary collegiality (Shank 2006). Furthermore,creating narrative accounts is part of a formative learning approach for teachers inwhich storytelling transmits meaning and builds relationships within the teachingculture and the broader societal context (Latta and Kim 2009). Therefore, the useof narrative within EPPL enables teachers to reflect on their professional learningand to share the meaning constructed through their unique approach to their ownlearning.

Phenomenological Inquiry

The pre-reflective meaning-making across the TPL experiences of expert teachersforms the phenomenological inquiry of the EPPL study.

Capturing the changeable nature of experience and the deconstruction of an indi-vidual’s experience requires explicit methodological constructs to remain open tothe unfamiliar and variable nature of the experience of another. A central challengefor the researcher is to question and, as much as possible, suspend their own imposedcultural meanings and those of the participants in the study. Varied perspectives anddivergent viewpoints (Merriam 2002) lay open uniquely understood phenomena.Putting aside the everyday understanding of experience enables the revelation of theunexpressed phenomena previously constrained within this experience that essen-tially is “calling an experience a kind of name, giving certain stable moments to thisflux of experience” (Giorgi 1989). Envisioning a new understanding then makes pos-sible the construction of new phenomena. Finally, contextualisation of the meaningof the phenomena enables the sharing of an understanding of this experience.

The EPPL study accesses the pre-reflective understanding of each teacher to per-ceive the uniqueness of experience and acknowledge the universality of experienceas uniquely understood existential constituents. Different individual interpretationsare what separate us as unique individuals, yet the similarities draw us together in ourmutual experience. A dichotomy is evident in how teachers decontextualize practiceand then return it to praxis as thoughtful action (van Manen 1997). The constituentsof phenomenological inquiry are represented in the book through quotations fromparticipants as one interpretive perspective from the divergent and varying interpre-tive perspectives that are possible. Therefore, the pre-reflective representation of anexpert teacher’s personal professional learning in the EPPL study delves into thecontextual understanding of the meaning constructed through their developmentalexperiences and their approach to their own learning.


Methods for Gathering and Analysing Representationsof Experience

The EPPL research presents a study for education researchers to address the designand implementation practicalities of one methodological possibility for deriving newunderstandings of the meaning-making in teacher learning. Emphasising generalis-ability, the study (Patterson 2017, 2018) adhered to qualitative principles of rigourthat require careful attention in the methods employed for gathering and analysisof their meaning representations. The description of design processes for encour-aging expert teacher participation, the procedures for selecting the expert teachers,an explanation of the gathering of meaning through interviews, and the methods ofnarrative analysis and phenomenological analysis are discussed in turn below.

Process for Encouraging Expert Teacher Participation

The process for encouraging expert teacher participation, as shown in Fig. 3.1, wascentral to the research design. The process entailed: communicating the researchintention through various phone discussions, emails andWeb pages; purposeful sam-pling through teachers nominating colleagues; snowballing of communications tonominated teachers to enable teachers to volunteer as expert teacher participants;and considering ethical implications throughout the process.

Fig. 3.1 Process for encouraging expert teacher participation

Methods for Gathering and Analysing Representations of Experience 35

The research intention was shared through the university-approved documenta-tion. A pilot of the communication process used an initial snowballing email andonline wiki to publish the teaching expertise criteria and a supporting reference list.Feedback from the pilot enabled streamlining of the information and ongoing con-firmation of the research intention throughout the study.

The first points of contact people were drawn from an existing network of teacherswithin government and non-government schools. Sharing of criteria as descriptorsopen to interpretation by my first point of contact enabled the purposive sampling ofteachers who may themselves be reticent to identify themselves as experts. Reiter-ating that the criteria was not an all-inclusive or exhaustive list of people’s ideas ofa good teacher, the first point of contact people then forwarded on the pre-preparedemail onto their selected teacher(s). The criterion sampling identified characteristicsof expert teachers that assisted in identifying and selecting teachers who represented“information-rich cases” from the purposive sample of “detailed and rich data rele-vant to the particular research problem” (Liamputtong and Ezzy 2005). As the secondpoint of contact, the teachers were then able to volunteer as research participants.However, the similarity that may occur for people who aremutually connectedmeansthat snowballing may result in reduced variation in participants. Therefore, it wasimportant to draw from a cross section of teachers within different school systemsand professional contacts with schools to increase the variability of expert teachersnominated.

Overarching ethical considerationswere to demonstrate respect for expert teachersand avoid potentially harmful consequences for expert teachers due to their partic-ipation. This included using pseudonyms for all the teachers and, if requested bya participant, making amendments to transcripts and subsequent interpretations. Asthere was a slight chance that teachers might be identified through the subsequentpublication of research materials, I alerted the participating teachers to this potentialconsequence if their involvement was discussedwith others. The first point of contactpeople were not made aware of subsequent involvement in the study of any teachersthey may have nominated. Researcher considerations should highlight the possiblepolitical, methodological and ethical consequences of a study by asking: “Who getsto say what, about whom, to whom, and with what results? … What is learned byothers from the personal lives of teachers? … To what extent should the personal bemade public?” (Tripp 1994). I employed a shared approach between researcher andparticipating teacher for the creation of their narratives and subsequent phenomeno-logical meaning-making.

Gathering of Meaning Representations

The interviewprocess for theEPPL study comprised two semi-structured face-to-faceinterviews for initial gatheringofmeaning representations and a third phone interviewfor the teachers to offer final reflections on the development of their expertise in


teaching and learning. Determining saturation and identifying the limitations of thefindings was central in the methods for the EPPL study (Patterson 2017).

Determining Saturation and Identifying Limitation of Findings

Circumventing any repetition in information which is not providing new meaning orinsights involved staggering (Liamputtong and Ezzy 2005) of preliminary analysison findings prior to commencing the first interview process with another partici-pant. I then determined whether the expert teachers’ interpretations were sufficientto address the research question. Beingmindful of saturation of information in whichI was “no longer learning anything new” (Seidman 1991) dictated the number of par-ticipants in my sample. The use of criteria for purposive sampling within my studyenabled the selection of expert teachers identified as understanding and demonstrat-ing expertise in teaching and learning. This purposeful, non-randomised selectionof the teachers limits the subsequent interpretations of findings as they are not gen-eralisable and may not be representative of all teachers viewed as expert. However,the method allowed the gathering of “in-depth information from those who are in aposition to give it” (Cohen et al. 2007). Researchers within both narrative inquiryand phenomenological inquiry argue that a small number of participants providerich, thick descriptions (Denzin 2002; Kvale and Brinkmann 2009; Lichtman 2010).Furthermore, self-critical thinking is opportune for researchers in small-scale inter-pretive studies (Yates 2003). Central to the small-scale design was the gatheringof unique meaning representations in which the saturation of findings led to theinclusion of the fifth teacher as the final participant.

Three-Interview Process

The three-interview process gathered narrative oral history experiences, the phe-nomenological lifeworld, and reflections on expertise in the form of interview tran-scripts and email responses. The sequence of semi-structured interviews and emailand phone conversations with the teachers, and the confirmation of the accuracy oftranscripts and the trustworthiness of tentative interpretations are detailed in previouspublications (Patterson 2017, 2018).

The three-interview process garnered reflections and interpretations through thetelling of story and elicited further representations of life experiences to explicatemeaning. My reordering, rewording or sometimes deviating from the sequence ofprompts in the semi-structured guides (refer to Appendix B) was in response toteacher reflections allowing the teachers to further and freely articulate their responsesface-to-face. The first and second interviews were scheduled with one to severalmonths separating each so that teachers had time to reflect on their experiences.Each interview was on average an hour in duration and took place at a locationchosen by each teacher, either in a personal meeting room at their school or in anoff-site public venue. The third interview questions were emailed to the teachers.

Methods for Gathering and Analysing Representations of Experience 37

Further thinking time on previously supplied information and a final version of thepersonal professional learning journey allowed written responses to be returned andthen discussed during this final phone interview.

Analysis of Meaning Representations

The gathering of meaning representations described above and the analysis of mean-ing representations were not linear in nature. The EPPL study attended to thehermeneutic circle through a spiralling process that interlinked the creation of inter-view transcripts and the iterative analysis as illustrated in Fig. 3.2.

Fig. 3.2 Combiningnarrative inquiry andphenomenological inquiryfor gathering and analysis ofmeaning representations(Reproduced from Patterson2018)


Narrative Analysis

Narrative analysis was used to create stories and to interpret the contextual meaningof each teacher’s professional learning narrative.

A typical story model (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009) provides a readily recog-nisable form for different aspects of contextual representation. This representationoccurs throughout the attending, telling, transcribing, analysing and rereading ofnarrative oral history. At each stage of these representations, the interpretation goesthrough an expansion and reduction (Riessman 2002). A storied sequence of abstract,orientation, complicating action, evaluation and coda (Labov and Waletzky 1967;Murray 2003) was created from the unique teaching experiences related to students,school environments, the education system or the teaching process. Within eachteacher’s story, these components contained both the teaching and learning aspectsintertwined across the stages of storytelling. The experience of teaching generatedlearning. This learning, in turn, initiated changes to teaching approaches and beliefsthat were analysed as three contextual modes—ideational, interpersonal and textualor spoken (Riessman 2002)—apparent in the interview transcripts.

Phenomenological Analysis

The phenomenological analysis of the EPPL study focused on each teacher’s emo-tional and intellectual meaning-making, often not apparent within the context of theirown learning.

The sequence of steps (Denzin 2002) afforded by a “phenomenological-hermeneutical approach” (Kvale 1983) moved through the complexities of analysisusing defined methodological constructs. Initial insights and revelations from firstinterviews were analysed within four existential themes—spatiality, corporeality,temporality and relationality (van Manen 1997)—and used for guiding prompts inthe second interview. The anecdotal reflections from the first interviews and secondinterviews were used to search for phenomena specific to professional developmentand learning within each teacher’s lived experience. Thus, phenomenological con-stituents in relation to the development of expertise and professional learning wereidentified across all interview transcripts. The relative importance and connection ofmeaning for each of the teachers emerged from the identification of the phenomeno-logical constituents across the teachers’ learning experiences.

Meeting the Five Teachers: Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Lilli and Anh

The selection resulted in the inclusion of teachers with a variety of experience asshown here in the synopsis for each teacher and subsequently in their individualchapters. The pseudonyms, teaching context and years of experience for the fiveteachers are listed in Table 3.1.

Meeting the Five Teachers: Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Lilli and Anh 39

Table3.1

Characteristic

sof

thefiv

eteacherswho

participated

intheEPP

Lstud

y

Teacherpseudonym

Jaxon

Chloé

Mia

Lilli

Anh

Gender

Male

Female

Female

Female

Male

Age

range

35–45

<35

35–45

45–55

>55

School

system

experience

Non-governm

ent

schools

Governm

entand

non-government

schools

Governm

entand

non-government

schools

Governm

entand

non-government

schools

Governm

entand

non-government

schools

Teaching

coun

tries

Australia

Australia,N

ewZealand

Australia,E

ngland,

USA

Australia,E

ngland

Australia

Curriculum

learning

areasa

taught—Stage4

&5secondaryand

Stage6senior

secondaryschool

b

History,G

eography,

Eng

lish,

Mathematics,

Religion,Econo

mics,

Businessstud

ies

Person

aldevelopm

ent,

health,physical

education(PDHPE

)

Eng

lish

Mathematics,Sc

ience,

Biology,C

hemistry,

Prim

arygeneralist

Mathematics

Teacherleader

experience

Pastoralcare

asAssistant

Headof

Year

groupandBoarding

Master;Teacher

Learningas

coordinatorof

accredita

tion;

and

School

Adm

inistration

asDeputyPrincipal

Pastoralcare

asHead

ofYeargroupandas

DeputyPrincipal;

Curriculum

asHeadof

Departm

ent

Curriculum

asHeadof

Departm

ent;Pastoral

care

asHeadof

aschool

boarding

house

Curriculum

asIC

TLeadteacher,and

NAPL

ANcoordinator,

Teacherlearning

asTeaching

andLearning

coordinator

Pastoralcare

asHead

ofYeargroup

Yearsteaching

1512

1515

30

Locationduring

EPP

Lstudy

Metropo

litan

coastal

Regionalcoastal

Metropo

litan

coastal

Metropo

litan

coastal

Metropo

litan

non-coastal

a LearningAreas

areidentifi

edcontentw

ithin

theAustraliancurriculum

(ACARA2014),andtheNSW

curriculum

andsyllabuses(N

ESA

2018a)

bThe

HigherS

choo

lCertifi

cate(H

SC)isa

locally,nationally

andinternationally

recogn

ised

qualificatio

nforstudentsw

hosuccessfullycompleteseniorsecondary

educationin

theNSW

,Australian.Fo

rStage

6senior

secondaryschool

students,the

prelim

inarycourse

iscompleted

inYear1

1andtheHSC

course

culm

inates

inexam

inations

attheendof

Year12

(NESA

2018b)


Jaxon—Synopsis

In 1997, Jaxon commenced his secondary school teaching career on the east coast ofAustralia in an area experiencing population growth. The outer metropolitan area ofNSW had a diverse economic and sociocultural population. Jaxon undertook variedopportunities during his first 15 years of teaching and coordination roles. He taughtin two non-government Years 7–12 secondary schools, in an independent boardingand day school for boys from Years 5–12, and in a coeducational Years K-12 privateschool. His experience as a teacher and pastoral care coordinator was guided bythe mentoring from colleagues and the leadership of coordinators and principals.Jaxon’s experience did not follow any predetermined path but charts his drivingneed to be challenged in his learning. Chapter 4 explores the risk-taking involvedin Jaxon’s professional learning. His story reveals a reliance on relationships withcolleagues and student happiness, that provides many professional challenges. Thechapter critiques the meaning attributed to “heart, happiness and whole person” inJaxon’s unique enactment of his own professional learning.

Chloé—Synopsis

Chloé taught personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) at juniorand senior secondary school levels from 2000. Her experience encompassed teach-ing in various school contexts in both outer metropolitan and regional coastal areas.She taught in a New Zealand boarding secondary school, an Australian indepen-dent boarding school, and government secondary schools. Chapter 5 illuminateshow Chloé’s professional learning centres on her relationships with mentors andcolleagues. She addressed the competing demands of her classroom teaching andteacher leader roles, recognising expertise in others and aspiring to leadership whilequelling the frequency of fraudulent thoughts on her developing expertise. Her learn-ing is described as tangible, with a fondness for identified role models and mentors.Chapter 5 examines the meaning Chloé ascribes to practice-based feedback, self-regulation and experiential learning and the relevance to her developing sense ofexpertise.

Mia—Synopsis

Mia commenced her career teaching secondary school English literature in the northof England in 1996. Her teacher certification and initial three years of teaching tookplace in a metropolitan area in the north of England where she grew up. She thentaught from 2001 to 2002 in the USA before returning home to England to take upa permanent teaching position for three years. In England, she fulfilled the responsi-

Meeting the Five Teachers: Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Lilli and Anh 41

bilities of English coordinator for junior secondary Years 7–9 and mentored studentteachers. Mia valued the culturally diverse environments she experienced as wellas the exposure to a broader literature curriculum. In 2005, she visited Australia,where she worked initially as a live-in nanny. Mia then accepted a full-time teachingposition that allowed her to migrate to Australia. Mia’s professional learning pre-sented in Chap. 6 is characterised by diverse economic and sociocultural contexts,while also acknowledging the stress of navigating education systems internationallyand evaluating the need to cultivate resilience and boost personal self-esteem. Thechapter discusses resilience for teacher as learner, and why caring for students andenriching one’s life should remain deliberate and considered when contemplating afuture in the teaching profession.

Lilli—Synopsis

Lilli started teaching in England in 1997. Her experience spanned classroom teachingand school coordination roles in primary and secondary non-government schools inEngland for eight years and then in an Australian independent boy’s school cateringfor primary Years 5–6 and secondary school Years 7–12. In Chap. 7, Lilli recognisesthat her total focus was on her own classroom practice in her early years of teaching.As Lilli’s understanding expanded from the classroom to the whole school contextwith time, so too her professional learning broadened to incorporate responsibilitiesbeyond her classroom teaching. Lilli characterises her teaching as a “juggling act”.Several examples show how she responds to professional challenges and educationchange: teaching a student with special needs; building relationships with students;sharing of practice with colleagues; and coordinating a school’s professional devel-opment programme. The chapter explores how emotional positivity and acceptingchange influenced her professional learning horizons and fostered a sense of thrivingexpertise.

Anh—Synopsis

Anh commenced teaching in 1987. His experience of over 30 years spanned Math-ematics teaching at two government secondary schools and at an independent sec-ondary day school in outer metropolitan areas of NSW. In 2000, Anh accepted ahouse dean role in which he was responsible for the pastoral care of approximately240 students from secondary school Years 8–12, and then relinquished it after oneyear. From 2009 onwards, Anh requested and accepted roles with reduced teachingloads to decrease his workload outside of class time. Chapter 8 draws on Anh’s expe-rience to present the final case study. It demonstrates how confronting the demandsof a teacher leader role and teaching low ability students led Anh to focus on hisclassroom practice. Several critical incidents posed personal dilemmas and profes-


sional challenges. He evaluates career failures, the balance of satisfaction and stress,and accepting then relinquishing difficulties.

Chapters 4–8 construct a comprehensive professional learning narrative to illus-trate the development of expertise for each individual teacher.

Theoretical Tools for Envisioning EPPL

The theoretical tools used to envision EPPL—insight, problematics and third spacethinking—are considered below. The relative importance and connections amongtheir meanings emerge from my interpretations and phenomenological writing oftheir learning experiences here and in Chap. 9.

Experience and Insight

The EPPL study examined how the pre-reflective meaning of experience is con-structed through the relational and communicative spaces for teacher learning. Theentwined nature of the teacher’s supportive perspectives and relational understand-ings, as well as the significance these play in their approach to their own learning,is revealed in distinguishing between the meaning of teacher experience and theinsights gained from their experience. The understanding of insights on experience(Buber and Kaufmann 1970) and the representation of an experience viewed astwo “qualitatively separate phenomena” (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010) is usefulfor EPPL. Within a teacher’s professional development, there is difference betweentheir cumulative understanding of experience that is generically constituted withinthe profession and the potentially insightful perspective that creates a teacher’s uniquecontextual learning.

An aspiration of fulfilling relationships is essential in the context of TPL. Recog-nising this relational approach to reality for a teacher is articulated through two formsof understanding the concept “I”. In the form of “I-It”, the expression represents thespectator view of describing their experience, while the form “I-Thou” represents anactive participant perspective of forming insights from their experience (Lindqvistand Nordänger 2010). Teachers practical knowledge reveals the significance of “in-sightful presence” expressed by a teacher as an I-Thou participant. Situations inwhich teachers displayed I-Thou participation through “a state of uncritical relation”reveal teacher insights on their experience. Teachers’ perception of meaningful situ-ations in their experience provides essential meaning that is pre-predicative; that is,the experience is pre-reflectively receivedwithout invoking calculated forethought ordeliberations. The understanding achieved through “insightful presence” is perceivedas essential for a teacher’s EPPL.

The discursive nature of insightful presence, as entwined within relational caringand supportive interactions, is fundamental to a teacher’s EPPL. Chapter 9 further

Theoretical Tools for Envisioning EPPL 43

explores the teachers’ perspectives of empathetic understanding and non-competitivecollegiality as being representative of insightful presence. I reveal that the pre-predicative meaning of each teacher’s insight allows for varying connections withothers through experience and provides awareness for self-understanding. Aspiringto create relationships enables their insightful understanding of others as well asself. The pre-reflective meaning of experience is expressed through insight, whereeach teacher’s relational caring and supportive interactions provide an articulationof meaning for their EPPL.

Problematics and Third Space Thinking

Significantly, the EPPL study identifies unique disruptive dissonances in the teacher’slifeworld. The disruptive dissonances negotiated by the teachers are constituted inthree problematics:

• To what extent is there a risk in isolating my experience from communicative,collaborative pedagogy?

• In what ways should I approach uncertain challenges as developmental opportu-nities?

• How do I articulate being an expert through the seemingly impossible possibilityof becoming an expert?

The phenomenological constituents are explored through the meaning-making forthe teachers that stems from their experience of disruptive dissonances. Disruptivedissonances are apparent in the relational and communicative spaces in which theteachers interact in teaching and learning: peopled classrooms, school communities,professional cooperatives and societal discourses. Characteristically, the relationaland communicative spaces require the teachers’ openness to developing awarenessof self and others, the crossing of boundaries, both practical and theoretical, andthe negotiation of contested meaning in the development of expertise. A dissonancemay have certain degrees of positive and negative disruption depending on the wayin which a teacher responds to it. EPPL elucidates third space thinking to frame thethree problematics negotiated in the teachers’ relational and communicative spaces.The nature of these spaces allows for the creation of disruptive dissonances, whichrequire an ongoing response within the teacher’s professional development.

The disruptive dissonances created within each teacher’s lifeworld are vital fortheir EPPL. The dissonance experienced by the teacher’s was interrogated for eachproblematic through an ontological third space, by drawing on the work of Lefeb-vre (1991) and Soja (1996). Lefebvre’s disruption of “either/or logic” presents aphilosophy of “openness of the both/and also” possibilities (Soja 1996).


“Thirdspace” is conceived as:

a limitless composition of lifeworlds that are radically open and openly radicalizable; thatare all-inclusive and transdisciplinary in scope yet politically focused and susceptible tostrategic choice; that are never completely knowable but whose knowledge none the lessguides our search for emancipatory change and freedom from domination. (Soja 1996)

The third space thinking requisite for EPPL also relied on the hybridity of “a newepistemology” (Zeichner 2010) to expand opportunities for TPL. The following dis-cussion interrogates howdisruptive dissonanceswithin the teacher’s experience stim-ulate their insights into their approach to their own professional learning.

Third Space Philosophy: Openness in the Development of Expertise

The cultivation of a communicative, collaborative pedagogy, rather than the isolationof expertise, required the negotiation of disruptive dissonances within the teacher’scommunicative and relational spaces. These spaces are aligned with characterisa-tions of openness for the teacher’s EPPL. Third space thinking required an opennesstowards possibilities within the development of expertise. Central to the developmentof expertise for the teachers in the study was thinking that disrupted “either/or logic”and provided “both/and also” possibilities rather than conclusions (Soja 1996).

For EPPL, teacher’s third space thinking was characterised by an openness to con-nect with others and to critique ideaswithin a reflexive practice to harness the produc-tive potential of disruptive dissonances. The prospective development of expertiserequires collaboration in learning with others to achieve individual potential. Open-ness is not perceived as a personal vulnerability or professional indecision, and itdoes not generate irrefutable dictates for professional development. Rather, beingopen to others affords the “both/and also” possibilities of cultivating insights withintheir relational and communicative spaces. Each of the teachers recognised uniquefactors shaping their personal professional development. Their insights unleash theproductive potential of the disruptive dissonances within their relational and com-municative spaces, and so represent more than the sum of shared experience. Theteachers’ openness to rethinking “conventional binary opposition” (Soja 1996) isevident when they do not strive for an amalgam of experience to constitute definitiveinsights. Rather, they elucidate what is representative of the “both/and also” in theirown development as well as that of their students and colleagues. This is appar-ent in: Mia’s constant iterative process of interpreting and responding to situations;Lilli’s continual efforts to transform her existing practice with recent changes andpotential trends; Jaxon’s avoidance of isolation to generate dialogue and reflect hisobservations of others into his own approach; and Chloé’s broaching of the philo-sophical underpinnings of practice to extend understanding within her teacher leaderrole. Third space thinking allowed Chloé, Jaxon, Lilli and Mia the possibility ofnegotiating philosophical and pedagogical understanding with others. Their open-ness to disruptive dissonances within relational and communicative spaces enabledthe creation of meaning for their EPPL.


The openness of third space thinking is evident when the teachers evaluate thenecessary aspects of their professional development, analyse alternate examples,and continue to consider and consolidate their shifting requirements for learning.These disruptive dissonances present disparate potentials throughout the teachers’careers in different ways. Jaxon’s successful development of his approach to prac-tice and professional learning despite the pressure to conform to a model aberrant tohis philosophical approach. Mia’s continual assessment of behaviours she wishes tomodel and ongoing interpretation of situations for her personal professional learning.Chloé’s learning with colleagues as positive models of practice and the need to nur-ture philosophical aspects of her own mentoring. Lilli’s openness to the critique ofothers by engaging in opportunities for student feedback and reflexive practice withcolleagues. Each teacher uses language that continually referenced the possibilitiesfor enhancing their understanding, in talking and observing and problem-solvingwith colleagues. Although Anh’s early teaching years involve observing colleagues,his ongoing professional learning is characterised by a predominately isolated per-spective with little or no pedagogical interaction with colleagues. He presented adistinctly different approach to negotiating disruptive dissonances with little indica-tion of reciprocity in his relational space and stilted interaction in his communicativespace. For four of the five teachers, then, the negotiation of their relational andcommunicative spaces was indicative of third space thinking in being open to the“both/and also” possibilities presented by others for their professional development.

Third Space Confrontation: Struggle in the Development of Expertise

The disruptive dissonance of approaching uncertain challenges represented a strugglein the development of expertise for the teachers in the EPPL study. Generating devel-opmental opportunities from uncertain challenges required harnessing the disruptivedissonance within the teachers communicative and relational spaces. Creating a thirdspace for EPPL requires developing a “both/also” point of view to enable “border-crossing” of divisive practices and structures (Zeichner 2010). The “both/also” pointof view allows for the integration of “competing discourses” by using the hybridity ofa third space (Bhabha 1990, 1994). Similarly, boundary-crossing of tacit and explicitknowledge addresses the complexity of their learning. Third space notions proveuseful for addressing an enduring issue of the practice–theory divide to envisionnon-traditional approaches that negotiate the border-crossing between curriculumand practice (Klein et al. 2013). Characterised by the confrontation embedded inan ontological third space, teachers learn to face uncertain challenges as positiveopportunities. For EPPL, teachers harness the productive potential of an uncertainchallenge, utilising the disruptive dissonance within their relational and communica-tive spaces to harness third space thinking. Third space thinking can be where thetension and resistance enables “a space for critical coming together … in which ashared vision can be developed with potential for positive change” (Ikpeze et al.2012). Additionally, third space thinking expands understanding of reflective prac-tice for teacher and students within a contested space (Flessner 2014) and createstransformative spaces for learning (Martin et al. 2011).


Various disruptive dissonances of confronting the struggle in the development ofexpertise are evident among the teachers in the EPPL study. Chloé risked successand failure in her learning approach. Lilli was innovative in integrating informationand communication technology (ICT) into developmental opportunities. Mia proac-tively sought different experiences to develop her understanding across internationalcontexts. Jaxon reframed understanding of his professional expertise and contin-ued to seek learning that requires making mistakes. These four teachers harnessedtheir relational and communicative spaces to explore learning with colleagues andstudents. The result was greater self-understanding and a re-visioning of their prac-tice. In contrast, Anh’s introversion with little engagement in supportive interactionsdemonstrated an unmalleable approach. His often tentative and pessimistic char-acterisation of challenging situations reinforced an unyielding perspective towardseducational changes and reinforced a reticence in adapting his teaching practice.

Four of the teachers negotiated the disruptive dissonance of a contested spacein approaching uncertain challenges as developmental opportunities—as uniqueresponses within their communicative and relational spaces. The tension and resis-tance they experienced enriched their EPPL. Chloé acknowledged that “I’ve adapt-ed” in her approach to collegial compromise. Lilli recognised her motivational needin that “you’d get bored if you didn’t have a challenge”. Mia considered new spaceswhere “if a really random opportunity came up for me to leave teaching altogetherand try something new then I might go for that”. Jaxon welcomed a “critical comingtogether” in becoming a teacher mentor where “the doors open—you can go andtry that now”. For these teachers, the border-crossing of contested spaces occurredthroughout their professional development, continually seeing uncertain challengesas development opportunities. Jaxon perceived his movement into a leadership roleas altering his learning modality. He could not learn in the same way as previously,where he had learnt from his mistakes, but instead had to evaluate his ideas withleader colleagues. Anh likewise experienced difficulties in the border-crossing asso-ciated with developing in a leadership role, yet in contrast to Jaxon he avoided theopportunity to mentor novice teachers. The teacher’s attitudes and beliefs to theirown learning were central to negotiating the disruptive dissonance of approachingchallenges as developmental opportunities.

Third Space Development: The Concepts of Being and Becomingan Expert Teacher

Articulating the concept of being an expert through the seemingly impossible possi-bility of becoming an expert was an ongoing problematic represented in disruptivedissonances throughout the teacher’s careers. Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli continu-ally negotiated the accepted notion of their expertise in their interactions with theschool and broader community, and in professional and societal discourses. In con-trast, Anh was presented with a disjunction between what he believed an expert tobe and his position as an expert in the research. His involvement in the EPPL studyforced him to reflect on the notion that years of teaching experience does not nec-


essarily represent the ongoing development of expertise. Furthermore, the teachersexpressed meaning from their professional development that did not posit a binaryopposition of expert and experienced non-expert. The continual negotiation of beingand becoming in the relational and communicative spaces of the teachers is charac-terised by an ontological third space. Recognising the hybridity of these spaces withthird space thinking allowed for ongoing construction of meaning for the teachers’EPPL. Border-crossing and negotiating resistant boundaries of meaning (Zeichner2010)—as exemplified in being and becoming an expert teacher—is the hybridityessential to third space thinking. The teachers negotiate the meaning of expertisethrough interweaving their theoretical understandings with the practical aspects oftheir professional development.

The EPPL study draws on the hybridity of third space thinking to explore theprofessional development of the teachers and investigate this space as accommo-dating the evolving concepts of being and becoming an expert. There was no pointat which the teachers recognised themselves definitively as an expert teacher. Theirprofessional development problematised the disruptive dissonances in the continualnegotiation ofmeaning in their becoming rather than being an expert. Chloé struggledwith the notion of being a “fraud” while still requiring ongoing professional learningin the development of expertise. Mia perceived relationships as essential for becom-ing an expert while also recognising the tenuousness of being. She acknowledgedthe fraught nature of personal attributes while continuing to enhance her understand-ing of developing relationships with students through professional learning. BothChloé and Mia saw further study, in the form a master’s degree, as an opportunity toreframe their teaching using theory and research. However, the constant demands oftheir teacher leader roles stifled their ongoing efforts with their learning and so com-promised their acknowledgement of being an expert. The teachers’ openness to thecontinual negotiation of the meaning of their expertise is indicative of the “both/andalso” thinking that characterises the hybridity of a third space (Soja 1996).

In their careers, Lilli and Jaxon thrived on the challenge of critique and reflexivepractice in terms of the teacher they continually aspired to be. Realising their com-petence in teaching allowed them to strive for another situation in which to learn, asa mentor or by assisting in the professional learning of their colleagues. However,Chloé, Lilli, Mia and Jaxon did not represent themselves as being an expert in theseroles, but rather described themselves as colearners. So, there was a constant tensionbetween how they appeared to be to others and how they perceived themselves. Incontrast, Anh perceived his content knowledge as a central aspect of expertise andenvisaged applying this beyond the school environment to benefit gifted or strugglingstudents.

Throughout their professional development, the teachers negotiated the conceptof ongoing learning while being identified for the development of their expertise.They approached their professional learning to extend their teaching and learningexpertise rather than accommodating themselves to performative benchmarks. Thethird space as “contested”, “discursive” and “relational” (Ikpeze et al. 2012) accountsfor teacher apprehension at being called experts and their aversion to accountabilityframeworks that place them in competition rather than nurturing communicative and


relational spaces for learning. They continually questionedwhat is perceived as beingan expert and approached learning as central to becoming in their teacher’s relationaland communicative spaces. The hybridity and contestation within this space requiredthird space thinking to create meaning for their professional learning. Bridging thetheory and practice divide through a third space illustrates the possibilities of dealingwith competing discourses (Zeichner 2010). The meaning associated with being anexpert within their profession is a disruptive dissonance that is covertly articulatedwithin this third space. Their relational and communicative spaces are representativeof a third space hybridity that allows for the ongoing construction of meaning fromtheir EPPL.

Significantly, these disruptive dissonances are ongoing problematics required forEPPL. These dissonances do not become undisruptive through final resolutions butundergo continual reassessment within the relational and communicative spacesinhabited by the teachers. The EPPL study identified that disruptive dissonanceswithin relational and communicative spaces allow articulation of meaning of theteachers’ unique professional development. The three significant problematics rep-resent the phenomenological constituents of disruptive dissonances that the teachersnegotiate to construct meaning throughout their EPPL. These dissonances repre-sent possibilities for articulating being an expert and suggest a central impossibilitywithin the amorphous nature of becoming an expert teacher. Therefore, the insightfulresponse possible through disruptive dissonances represents productive potential forthe teachers in approaching their professional learning.


This chapter discusses research methodological design and implementation of meth-ods (Patterson 2017), provides a synopsis of the teachers selected for the study andconsiders the theoretical tools used to illuminate the emerging and interdependentphenomena of EPPL.

From the outset, the EPPL study relied on a constructivist perspective that makesour reality visible through the universal indivisibility of understanding, language andreason. Our construction ofmeaning relies on our ontological being in the world. Theuse of narrative inquiry provided understanding through interpretation of the contextof each unique human experience. Phenomenological inquiry then traversed the com-plexity of meaning representations constructed through these individual experiences.The use of dual methodologies in one study allowed the creation of hermeneuticunderstandings of how expert teachers approach their own learning and how theyconstruct meaning from their professional development experience (Patterson 2018).

The researchmethods enabled representation of themeaning-making of the teach-ers in their approach to their learning as interpreted through their professional learningnarratives. Analysis of each teacher’s developmental experience encompassed twointerpretative frameworks, the structured story sequence and the contextual modesof narrative interpretation, formulated from the work of Riessman (2002, 2008) and

Summary and Conclusion 49

Kvale and Brinkmann (2009). The two interpretive frameworks allowed examinationof unique narrative as constructed between each teacher and me as researcher.

Differentiating experience and the insightful understanding gained from expe-rience identified the relational space represented in I-Thou perceptions throughinstances of insightful presence. These occurrences are not tactically planned norcombined with conscious reflection but rather are received as “offers” in which theteacher “talks about ‘becoming’” (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010). Insight extendsbeyond teachers narrating on their post-reflective experience. Their insightful pres-ence makes visible the pre-reflective meaning of their experience. Significantly, theconstruction of meaning that occurs within relational and communicative spacesis necessary for the ongoing personal professional learning that characterises theirteaching expertise.

I posited that “disruptive dissonances” are phenomenological constituents of eachteacher’s lifeworld. The dissonances were represented within three ongoing prob-lematics as evidenced through the relational and communicative spaces of teachers’learning. These spaces were analysed by specifically using the characteristics of anontological third space. The unique disruptive dissonances represented as ongoingproblematics within the lifeworld of the teachers in the EPPL study were illustrativeof third space philosophy, confrontation and development.

Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli andMia were the teachers in the EPPL studywho exhibited theopenness of third space thinking (Soja 1996). These four teachers developed com-municative, collaborative pedagogy rather than isolating their expertise. They faceduncertain challenges as development opportunities. Chapter 9 further evidences theseattributes that align to the “contrapuntal harmonies” and “disruptive dissonances”characterised within Lefebvre’s (1991) notion of space. The teachers negotiate dif-ferent developmental experiences, continually refining their notions of expertise,confronting ambiguous ideas and traversing diverse avenues for learning. Recon-ciling their teaching philosophy and practice, and the negotiation of meaning forthemselves as well as with others, illustrates the difficult “border-crossing” that isessential for professional learning within a third space (Zeichner 2010). Addition-ally, articulating being an expert alongside the apparent impossibility of becoming anexpert poses a third problematic within the teachers’ relational and communicativespaces. These spaces were similarly characterised by the “tension and resistance”of a “contested space” (Soja 1996) and the “hybridity” for creating meaning acrossdiverse and often competing discourses. The teachers confronted this ongoing prob-lematic in a third space as a disruptive dissonance in their development through theevolving concepts of being and becoming an expert. I contend that each teacher’sresponse to disruptive dissonances within their relational and communicative spacesafforded unique possibilities for transformative learning in developing and realisingtheir expertise.

Throughout this chapter, I acknowledge a unique responsiveness in one possibilityfor combining narrative inquiry and phenomenological inquiry in a dualmethodolog-ical approach. Furthermore, themethods for encouraging expert teacher participationand gathering and analysing meaning representations within this approach representone avenue for creating hermeneutic understandings. The professional learning nar-


ratives of the five teachers—Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Lilli and Anh—form the followingfive chapters. Each teacher’s narrative is presented as a story sequence accompa-nied by a contextual interpretive analysis. Following the individual narratives inChaps. 4–8, EPPL is interrogated through the pre-reflectively created meaning of theprofessional learning narrative for each of the five teachers and the implications ofthe phenomenological constituents in Chap. 9.


The following focus questions may guide reflection for debate with colleagues onthis chapter.

• How were the philosophical underpinnings of narrative and phenomenologicalinquiry able to be framed within a dual methodological approach?

• In what ways do the research methodological design and implementation of meth-ods link with the study’s overarching question: How do expert teachers constructmeaning from their personal professional development and their approach to theirown learning?

• How do the theoretical tools assist in illuminating concepts useful for exploringteacher experience of EPPL?

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Chapter 4Jaxon: The Motivations of Heart,Happiness and the Whole Person

Abstract This chapter illustrates Jaxon’s career opportunities and his need for newlearning through his story. It explores Jaxon’s perception of challenges as learningopportunities and his inclination towards taking risks to enable his learning. Threecomplicating actions for Jaxon demonstrate his realisation of teaching competence,and the evaluation of his learning experienced withmentors, colleagues and students.The coda to Jaxon’s story returns to possible career directions in termsof the centralityof collegial learning and student pastoral care within his practice. Following Jaxon’sstory, the narrative modes of storytelling address the unique contextual significancefor his professional learning. Three contexts are apparent: the ideational significanceof Jaxon’s teaching focus on the whole learner, the interpersonal importance forJaxon of student happiness and collegial relationships, and the textual and spokencontext representing a metaphorical universe containing the challenges that Jaxonvalues. Finally, posing Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) questions toevaluate themeaning Jaxon attributions to heart, happiness andwhole person enablesA conversation with colleagues.

Jaxon’s Story

Risking Serendipity—“Looking for Something New; I WasJust Looking for an Opportunity”

Jaxon initially taught Years 7–10 Religion, History and Geography for three yearsat the junior campus of a newly built school. He then accepted a role at the Years11–12 campus that utilised his university degree in teaching senior Economics andBusiness studies. Within two years, Jaxon’s teaching merit and attention to studentpastoral care were acknowledged by the principal in offering him the combined Year11 and Year 12 assistant coordinator role.

Jaxon continued to develop in dealing with student pastoral care responsibilities,but he then recognised an encroaching staleness. Jaxon took an opportunity to revi-


53


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54 4 Jaxon: The Motivations of Heart, Happiness and the Whole Person

talise his teaching by volunteering for the staff of a newly structured middle school1

campus. He then extended his teaching as a Year 7 middle school teacher and devel-oped in teaching the English syllabus, sharing the teaching of this class with anotherteacher, who was responsible for subjects such as Mathematics, Science and health.Jaxon developed his teaching practice in a context different from the conventionalteaching role of a secondary teacher. He also had pastoral care responsibilities asassistant Year 7 coordinator for his remaining two years at this school.

Jaxon then taught at an independent boarding and day school for boys in an afflu-ent, inner metropolitan area for the following six years. He taught in both secondaryand middle school structured classes and added Year 7 Mathematics to his rangeof teaching skills. Jaxon completed advanced teacher accreditation for independentschools in his first year at this school. In the following year, he was motivated tocoordinate an advanced teacher program. Jaxon’s “I’ll have a go at that” attitudeled to this role responsibility in teacher accreditation at the school including men-toring of beginning teachers. He then accepted pastoral care responsibility for Year7 students as boarding master, during his third year at the school. Jaxon recognisedthat:

I’ve kind of haven’t really gone into any of it going ‘this is what I want to do’ and really ‘I’llshoot for that’. It’s kind of been like I’ve floated around and as things come off I’ve takenthem on. The same with the boarding master, like that was probably the biggest role that I’vehad … and ‘right place at the right time’ kind of thing.

Jaxon’s perception of his appointments underplays both his readiness and will-ingness to undertake the learning associated with these mentoring and coordinationroles. His attributing both to chance highlights the unplanned nature of his learningand his inclination to be challenged. He values the expertise he cultivated across adiverse range of teaching roles, acquired without strategically planning his career orexplicitly addressing specific criteria to target a role of his choice. In recent years,Jaxon recognised the implications of the serendipitous nature of his career and soactively sought opportunities to enable him to direct his career progression. He strate-gically targeted a leadership role even though it did not directly meet his pastoralcare aspirations, commencing a role as head of administration and student servicesin 2012. He perceived a need to package his 15-year career into a recognisable roleincorporating full school administrative responsibilities.

1In Australia, a middle schooling program specifically caters for students from Years 5 throughto 8, i.e. ages 10–15 (Middle Years of Schooling Association Australia 2012). Middle schools arenot common within the government school system in Australia and are represented mostly withinindependent schools of the non-government school sector.

Jaxon’s Story 55

Motivational Approaches and Stimulating Contexts—“Sinkor Swim”

Jaxon was motivated to seek new roles to influence student learning and to satisfy hisneed for ongoing learning. Substantively, Jaxon presents his pedagogical focus asbeing on the overall development of the whole student and the centrality of happinessfor their learning, in which “pastoral care needs to be at the base of everything youdo”.

As a student himself, Jaxon had attended six different schools in inland countrytowns and a regional coastal city, each of which represented essentially monoculturalenvironments.

Our playground was kind of delineated by what activities you liked to do. So, if you likedto read you went to the library at lunch time, and if you wanted to play handball you wentto one place, if you wanted to play touch football you went to another place, if you liked tosit around and talk to friends you sat down and talked to friends.

He then taught in school environments that were distinctly different to that of hisown schooling.

The playground was split up by culture, which was as confusing to me as it was to them. …So, I think that was in a way an advantage and it was also a challenge … as I started to learnabout different ways, especially different reactions of parents to different situations.

Jaxon sees the sociocultural naivety of his pre-teaching experience as advantageousin not giving him any fixed conceptions of sociocultural stereotypes. From this per-spective, he endeavoured to present a receptive, amicable and approachable personato his students. Contrasting these experiences had implications for his developingprofessional self in understanding the support structures necessary for adolescentdevelopment. He acted on his new understanding of broader cultural conventions todevelop relationships with students and parents.

From his early career, Jaxon also valued the demands of teaching curricula outsidehis university qualifications and developing relationships with senior students:

I can remember I was up until 10:30, 11 o’clock every night, pretty much staying one stepahead of the kids but at the same time it was an excellent school, I learnt a lot. … So, it wasa really good atmosphere to work in as much as it was a bit of a sink or swim kind of thing,it was tough work and it was a different universe.

Jaxon’s motivational approach and stimulating contexts presented different learningopportunities. His learning involved understanding new content to teach the seniorcurriculum, addressing developmental needs and fostering relationships with seniorstudents. He felt that “sink or swim” situations provided the required challenge fordeveloping his expertise.


Realising Competence—“It Doesn’t Matter How Long I’veBeen Teaching for”

Jaxon’s observation of teachers he believed to be inflexible and unimaginative pro-vided a critical revelation in his first years of teaching. In one instance, hewas respon-sible for creating an assessment task for the senior business studies course and wasaware that a more experienced teacher was using established teaching resources notadapted to the recently amended syllabus:

And the head of faculty sat down with me and goes “this paper is not very good”. So, I wentand got the syllabus and I said, “well here’s where the questions came from” and he’s like“oh, okay”.

Through this experience Jaxon became assured of his ability in teaching and assessingstudents, identifying the value of specific and proficient teaching practices:

It was my third-year teaching. So that was like a pretty big moment for me that this personhad been teaching for 30 years or 20 years or I’m not sure, and [head of faculty as] somebodyin between so who had been teaching for probably 15 years, and here was me teaching forthree years, and suddenly you think like three years, 15 years, 20 years, the hierarchy, andsuddenly I felt “oh it doesn’t matter”. I can be at the top of this hierarchy because I knowwhat I’m doing, I’m competent. And it doesn’t matter how long I’ve been teaching for andreally if I’ve got those same [resource] overheads I haven’t got 20 years’ experience, I’vegot one-year experience repeated 20 times if I do the same thing every year exactly the sameway.

Jaxon recognised that his competencewas not aligned to the number of teaching yearswithin the hierarchy he experienced, and so reinforced his confidence to develop hisown teaching philosophy and explore how to put this into practice.

Working with Mentors—“Throw Stuff at Me and I’ll Figure ItOut”

Jaxon received support in his learning through relationships with colleagues. He feltthat these mentors nurtured and supported his learning, particularly in pastoral careand cross-curricula areas:

I think as a young teacher the most defining things were just times when people becamementors in some way. So, a very big one was a teacher Stan … I worked very closely withhim and I learnt more in six months off him than I had learnt in any other six-month stretchin my life. Just in the way he spoke to people, just in the way he talked to the kids and theway that he taught even kind of matched the way that I taught. … So, seeing this person whokind of did things the same way that I did and was very successful at it, that was really good.

Paramount for Jaxon’s learning was his connection with mentors who demonstratedteaching practices he aspired to emulate and approaches that displayed creativity,flexibility and empathy. He developed self-confidence by accepting challenges to his

Jaxon’s Story 57

abilities, experimenting in areas outside of his perceived talents or formal qualifi-cations and attempting activities that he may not have sought on his own. Jaxon’steaching and mentoring experiences guided his pastoral care philosophy and in turnserved to reinforce his focus for his coordination roles.

Caring and Learning—“That’s Bigger Than Any ClassroomIssue”

Jaxon’s responsibilities as a Year 7 boarding master presented a significant eventwhen a student with a long-term illness died:

That day I had to call 35 sets of parents and tell them, and that’s the hardest thing I’ve everdone. I’ve got zero problem calling parents nowwhereas I wasn’t really big on calling parentsbefore. It doesn’t matter what I have to talk to them about, I’ve done something harder thanthat. I think the biggest thing was on my confidence that, you know, throw something at meit doesn’t matter.

His experience in dealingwith parents and students strengthened the conviction of hisconfidence and capability, crucial for his development as a teacher. The significanceof this event for Jaxon reinforced his appreciation of pastoral care responsibilitiesand the realisation of the expectations on him:

There was one day I can remember thinking “why does everybody think that I’m going tobe able to handle this?” He died on the last day of school holidays in term three… I wasextremely upset, like I was having a hard time dealing with it myself. … I was able to cometo school and function as a school teacher and then I’d go home and be me and be a mess andbreakdown, but I was able to do that. … It’s helped give me the confidence that whatever Iget thrown, and that’s bigger than any classroom issue, that’s bigger than anything I’m evergoing to have to deal with and there’s nothing really like that that I’m ever going to have todeal with again hopefully.

Jaxon valued the development of his self-belief in that it nurtured his ability to meetchallenges and his approach to learning. His pastoral care responsibilities reinforcedhis philosophy to place all other classroom issues as secondary to the more importantrole of fostering relationships with students. The experience of his early teachingyears and coordination roles enabled Jaxon to frame his future thinking on his career.

Sustaining Future Direction—“I Thought That’s ReallyPowerful; I’m More Interested in Pastoral Care”

Jaxon was keen to project his classroom practice into a pastoral care approach forwhole-year groups or a school population in a leadership role:


Going back to the mentor and just that process, I felt like I was doing really good things inmy classroom and I thought that was the important part of the school. And then when I sawsomebody able to do what I was doing in my classroom with 200 people, I thought that’sreally powerful… And then I started to think well that’s what I’d like to do.

He moved towards his goal in 2012 by accepting a school executive role in anindependent K-12 coeducational school with approximately 1000 students. His rolealso entailed Year 10 pastoral advisor and teaching three Geography classes. He feltthere was limited opportunity for mentoring but continued to value the challenge ofthis learning experience. Jaxon’s latest role has reinforced the satisfaction achievedfrom addressing the learning and development needs of the whole student:

I’mmore interested in pastoral care… I’m finding that my best times here, my happiest timeshere are in my classes. In future roles, I think I would like to have more of a student focus.

Jaxon reiterates throughout his story that happiness is his career driver, in which apastoral care focus will motivate his ongoing learning and teacher leader career.

Narrative Modes of Storytelling

This section analyses the narrative modes of Jaxon’s story to highlight the unique-ness of forms of telling using three levels of contextual interpretation—ideational,interpersonal and textual or spoken (Riessman 2002). In an ideational context, Jaxonpresents his conceptual understanding of himself as both learner and teacher. Studentsand colleagues are central to an interpersonal context within which Jaxon pursueslearning opportunities that develop his pastoral skills to make a difference in stu-dents’ life outcomes. The textual or spoken context reveals Jaxon’s use of metaphorto enrich his emotional expression and to communicate the effect on him of hisrelationships and learning challenges.

Ideational Context: Good Teaching for Learner Developmentand Well-being

Throughout his story, Jaxon presented his idea of learning and the attributes of alearner, referencing his idea of a good teacher. He conceptualised a learner as onewho searches for new challenges, risks failure and frames mistakes to enable furtherlearning. He represented a good teacher as onewho assists in the overall developmentand well-being of the learner.

Jaxon expressed a continual willingness to search for challenges and accept theassociated risks for his learning.

I do have high expectations, so I do feel disappointment when I don’t do something, but Ithink I still like to learn from mistakes. I like to take risks.”

Narrative Modes of Storytelling 59

Jaxon’s learning risked failure through experimentation with new ideas in his class-room teaching. He alleviated the disappointment of failures by accepting that gainsin his learning would reverberate in his teaching and extend his capabilities beyondhis formal qualifications. He could balance any reservations with the gains in hisability to meet the learning needs of his students and so contextualise learning forhis students by “trying to come up with ways of how to make things work in the waythat works best for them”. He appreciates learners’ unique needs and uses them toencourage a love of learning. His learning is focused on responding with appropriatestrategies to meet their learning needs, gaining their interest and stimulating theirmotivation to learn.

Jaxon’s own learning experiences resonate in his teaching, recognising that thespecific learning challenges he experienced were also confronting his adolescentstudents:

They don’t have the resilience to make a mistake and work through it. … I haven’t reallythought about it before, but hopefully I can make mistakes and say, “oh well, it didn’t workout” and they can see that and have the same attitude towards that.

For Jaxon, this experience reinforced the importance of modelling an acceptance offailure when taking risks to develop resilience in adolescent learners. His practicerecognises and responds to the individual learner and their situation and displaysempathetic communications and interactions.

I think generally a principal wants someone who has the heart of the teacher, that kind ofpersonality that just matches teaching that you can’t really quantify… I think I have teachingskills that are transferable across subjects. That’s where my talents are in teaching and notspecifically in a particular area of teaching.

Jaxon characteristic portrayal of a good teacher relies on an aptitude for teachingthat is unquantifiable. He contrasts a stereotypical approach with the teaching char-acteristics he has not endeavoured to emulate:

I have an ‘old school’ teacher here, he teaches my homeroom like “everyone sit down andbe quiet, sit in your chair”. I have my kids set up in groups and he comes in every lessonand moves the desks into single desks and into rows … But he came to me and said “I justwant to give you a bit of advice. You shouldn’t have them in groups because then they talkto each other, distract each other, it stops them from listening, this has been working sincethe 1900s and it still works today.” And I thought you’re all almost a caricature.

Jaxon recognises the difficulty of revamping entrenched teaching practices thatmay not align with contemporary approaches to learning. He continues to developconfidence in his teaching approach, which enabled him to develop students’ collab-orative abilities and capacity for independent thinking:

To teach them to be resilient or to teach them to be happy or to teach them to work indepen-dently, or those kind of things … are a lot more important than the final marks and the finalgrades.

Jaxon affirms the fundamental importance of student happiness to enabling theirlearning and ongoing development. His learning has incorporated an understanding


of the teaching practices he has developed tomeet the needs of his adolescent studentsin conjunctionwith fostering positive relationships that are focused on thewell-beingof the whole student.

Interpersonal Context: Happiness and Collegial Relationships

Jaxon’s learning was guided by his relationships with students, parents and col-leagues. His reflections on certain incidents indicate the importance he places onindividual developmental growth and unique contextual learning needs.

Jaxon perceives parents’ desires to ensure their child’s happiness as aligned withhis teaching focus. However, he feels this balance towardswell-being threatenedwiththe publication of results that produce a competitive teaching environment, believingit is detrimental in placing greater pressure on both students and teachers.

I’ve just kind of learnt over time that if my kids go home happy and they like being in myclass and their results aren’t as good as other kids then, as much as people think that parentsare going to be extremely upset, the parents are like “well you could do better but we’rehappy that you’re happy”.

During his career, Jaxon maintained his philosophical approach, in line with parentalconcern for their child’s happiness, and developed these relationships to value learn-ing beyond assessment results. He developed a clear vision of classroom teaching thatmaintained his pastoral focus and identified learning requirements based on studentneeds. Additionally, he focused on relationships with other teachers that enabled col-laborative learning through a collegial environment. He recognised the learning valueof being able to approach colleagues, share ideas and experiences across classrooms.

Jaxon’s confidence in his learning approach enabled him to promote cooperativelearning with his peers and to attempt new teaching practices in a collegial envi-ronment. Furthermore, he maintained confidence in his teaching approach through amutual understanding with parents of concerns about student learning. He promotedpastoral care in the relationships he developed with students, parents and colleagues.His teaching focused on student learning needs, fostering a mature relationship withstudents and successfully motivating them to take personal responsibility in directingtheir learning.

So, I’m finding with boys at the moment that I’m giving them autonomy and responsibilityand a say in how the class runs and things like that and they really appreciate that. … Andso regardless of whether they like the subject, they still like being in the room.

Such experiences throughout Jaxon’s story emphasise the importance of interper-sonal aspects for both his students and his own learning. He continually emphasisesthe pivotal nature of student happiness and well-being and expresses professionalsatisfaction through the pastoral care responsibilities in his assistant coordinator andboarding master roles. In particular, when supporting students at risk:


A big thing was not to say, “I understand how you feel”, because I can’t understand how youfeel, but to be able to say, “you must be really under a lot of pressure right now, you mustbe really hurting right now, you must be very sad” and just the acknowledgment that that’sokay.

Jaxon values his ability to recognise the pressures and difficulties of a student’sunique situation even when his personal experience is different. Significantly, he hasdeveloped relationships that encourage positive choices for ongoing student learn-ing and guide students in making decisions about their future goals, even thoughcontributions of this sort can be difficult to quantify.

It’s more than being a teacher isn’t it, it’s what kind of person you are to them and maybewhat I did wasn’t the role of the teacher, but as a teacher I had the ability to be a part of that… It’s not like a sales job where you can say you’ve got a 4 percent increase in sales thisquarter well done, well it doesn’t really work like that.

For Jaxon, the summative measurement of learning outcomes does not encapsulatethe formative influence on student development of fostering relationship. He focuseson the manifold impacts of his teaching in being able to influence his students’ futuredirections and happiness beyond the school environment.

Textual or Spoken Context: Unfazed by Challengesand Universal Differences

Jaxon uses metaphor as well as colloquial terminology to communicate emotion andto enliven the contextual meaning of his experiences.

He uses colloquial terms, such as “like”, which invite a sympathetic understandingof adolescence and the secondary school context. His frequent reference to not being“fazed” indicates Jaxon’s view of challenges as opportunities and encompasses theresilience he aims to develop in his adolescent students.

It really doesn’t faze me.

Like I wasn’t really fazed by that, so “I think I can do that”.

If that doesn’t work then that’s a lesson learned and something that you can work on nexttime, and that doesn’t really faze me… You know throw something at me it doesn’t matter.

Jaxon’s ability not to be fazed indicates that, for him, creating a challenging sit-uation provides the impetus for developing confidence and so the opportunity forencouragement. He identifies his growth in confidence as integral to developing hisexpertise.

Metaphors of water are also used by Jaxon, representing the great depth of achallenge and the need to remain buoyant tomake use of the opportunity the challengeoffers.

Just really feeling like I’d been thrown in at the deep end.

It was a really good atmosphere to work in as much as it was a bit of a sink or swim kind ofthing.


Jaxon also uses metaphor to enhance the representation of his experiences of thepeople and places of differing environments. His experiential “universe” extendsacross the varied environments of his upbringing, through his early teaching yearsand his ongoing development in an independent private school. He represents themeaning of the people and situations across the instances of his experience to be ascomplex, all-encompassing and ever-expanding as a universe.

It was tough work and it was a different universe.

I’ve always said this it is a completely different universe to where I’ve come from.

He also negotiates his story to render self-understanding of his professional develop-ment and to allow reflexivity on his learning experiences. He recognises the oppor-tunity for critical reflection through the narrative context of relating his experiences.

So hopefully, and I haven’t really thought about it before …

So not surprising, just reflecting on all the things that I’ve been saying …

Jaxon’s language reveals a need for self-reflection to enable his personal professionallearning.


Jaxon’s expertise developed in conjunction with his philosophy on education andenabled a unique approach to his learning. His personal responsibility, interpersonalcontacts, situational experiences and experiential reflection represented importantorientations for the development of his practical knowledge. He specifically recog-nised that relationships with colleagues, students and parents across different socio-cultural contexts were significant factors in shaping his personal professional learn-ing. In this way, Jaxon’s experience alignswith the development of teaching expertiseas represented through personal and practical knowledge (Connelly and Clandinin1999; Elbaz 1983; Fenstermacher 1994).

Jaxon’s social purpose is clearly focused on making a difference to the lives of hisstudents, showing that social purpose is a key to directing the development of personalpractical knowledge (Elbaz 1983). Jaxon continually presented the happiness andwell-being of the individual as central to his teaching approach and the driver forhis own learning. He placed paramount importance on fostering relationships topositively impact his students’ happiness.A teacher’s emotions and beliefs are centralto their practice, relationships and learning (Hamachek 1999; Hargreaves 1998; Nias1996). For Jaxon, the happiness of his students and his own happiness were central tohis teaching and learning. He anecdotally emphasises that someonewith “the heart ofthe teacher” is attuned to the “unquantifiable” aspects of development for the learner.Recognising that the development of values and attitudes for exemplary teachers isa “lifelong process” thus stimulates the need for understanding this influence on thelives of both their students and colleagues (Collinson 2012b).


Jaxon’s expertise developed through his relationships with colleagues, mentorsand leaders. These professional relationships were empowering for Jaxon’s develop-ment and the meaning he created from the associated learning. Leader and mentorrecognition of Jaxon’s capabilities developed his confidence. The support and encour-agement offered through these opportunities were instrumental in enabling him torecognise his developing capabilities. He could identify with colleagues who pro-vided exemplars for the practice he aspired to emulate, while the approaches of someteachers that were not allied to these exemplars enabled him to build confidence in hisown competence. Furthermore, his interactions enable a realisation of competence inhis early years of teaching and squash an assumption that years of experience equateto teaching expertise. Consequently, this realisation boosts Jaxon’s confidence andso encourages him to mentor colleagues to enhance their learning as well as his ownlearning. His story is indicative of narrative research that provides a critical under-standing of the temporal aspect of a teacher’s “embodied knowledge” (Clandininand Connelly 1994, 2000; Connelly and Clandinin 1999). Teacher narrative revealsthis knowledge in the unfolding of relationships and the significance associated withtheir practice and their learning.

Thus, narrative authority becomes the expression and enactment of a person’s personalpractical knowledge that develops as individuals learn to authorize meaning in relationshipwith others. (Craig 2011)

Jaxon demonstrated that learning through sharing of expertise was essential forhis development. Exemplary secondary school teachers are seen to continually pur-sue learning and select colleagues with whom to work and would change schools todo both (Collinson 2012a). Jaxon actively sought to develop his practical knowledgethrough good collegial relationships across different situations over time. His learn-ing occurred through teaching a broad range of secondary curriculum subjects andexperiencing a range of school structures and roles. Jaxon’s experience within twovastly different school communities developed his understanding of distinct sociocul-tural and economic issues. Jaxon’s portrayal of the development of his understandingof contextually diverse school communities and the fostering of relationships withcolleagues, students and parents demonstrates a “narrative authority” (Craig 2011).Jaxon’s caring demonstrates an orientation to attend to the well-being of others,which is balanced with a self-efficacy, a propensity for independent problem-solvingand taking responsibility for success and failure (Agne 1999).

For his EPPL, Jaxon presented a “right time, right place” attitude within his“looking for something new” approach. He believes that the challenges of “sink orswim” environments represent opportunities for learning in which his ability to meetchallenges and to remain “unfazed” has allowed him to develop his teaching exper-tise. His willingness to take risks and accept challenges as fortuitous opportunitiesspeak of a resilient self-confidence in his teaching and learning. He accepts both suc-cess and failure as necessary for learning. The development of teaching competenceis dependent on a teacher’s willingness to challenge their learning by attemptingmore complex tasks (Tsui 2009).


Jaxon’s reflection on his personal professional development has enabled himto deconstruct the meaning in his approach to teaching and learning. His self-understanding was affirmed when he read his constructed story and analysis ofnarrative modes and responded via email as follows:

Thank you for this, I loved reading it. I feel like sending it to my mum, and to my friendswho don’t know ‘the teacher’. I think it gave a really true picture of who I am as a teacher– when I was reading it I was thinking it should be my résumé. I felt like I would want towork for a principal who would read that and say, “That’s the kind of person I want in myschool”.

Teacher narrative enables reflection on experience and reveals a greater self-understanding through the “interactive sense-making” (Kelchtermans 2009) and the“transactional” authority of their learning experience’ (Craig 2011). Five componentsof a teacher’s self-understanding are identified as descriptive self-image, evaluativeself-esteem, teaching task perception, job resolve or motivation and future careerperspective, that “are all intertwined and refer to each other” (Kelchtermans 2009).Jaxon’s professional learning narrative evidenced an interaction between these fivecomponents. His narrative portrays the development of self-image and self-esteem asreciprocally interwoven with the changing perceptions of his teaching and leadershipresponsibilities, and the motivation for his future career aspirations. There is an inter-connectedness in Jaxon’s development of self-understanding along with the devel-opment of his personal teaching and learning philosophy. An identified “personalsystem of knowledge and beliefs about education that teachers use when performingtheir job” is interwoven with the self-understanding that “teachers develop and useto interpret and make sense of the professional situations they find themselves in”(Kelchtermans 2009).

Jaxon represents his teaching expertise as achieving an understanding of thelearner and prioritising the development of each individual learner. The conceptof “Bildung” within the contemporary context of education represents a form ofself-transformation that emphasises individual responsibility for humanity (Lovlieand Standish 2003). Attributes of Bildung are infused within Jaxon’s attitudes andbeliefs towards learning. This is exemplified in his care for each student and desire toimprove each student’s future life experiences and outcomes, though the students’ lifeexperiences are very different to his own. Bildung occurs through a process in whichone person presents an image or model that enables another person to develop intotheir own image (Nordenbo 2003). This is not purely a reflective process but rather an“in camera” experience from which an individual may develop their uniquely char-acteristic model. Jaxon identified the “caricature” of a teacher that he does not wishto emulate, but also recognised the attributes of an inspiring mentor who influencedhis development in that he could be: “not exactly the same but I can operate a lotmore like him”. For Jaxon, selected mentors and colleagues presented an image ofthe teacher and leader that he could draw on and so use to develop his own approach.He, in turn, modelled risk-taking and resilience for his students. He aimed to promotean independent and responsible attitude towards learning, and a love of learning inhis students. He presented an image of the adaptable and experiential aspects of


a lifelong learner for his students. The practicality of Bildung allows teachers to“establish the connection between the achievements of humanity and culture on theone hand, and the young people in a society who have to adopt this culture on theother” (Menck 2000). Jaxon considers curriculum content of secondary importanceto a consideration of the unique needs of the learner within context. His own learningfocuses on developing greater self-understanding to achieve personally fulfilling lifegoals.

Jaxon’s willingness to accept challenges and his receptive approach to new expe-riences have created a broad developmental path rather than a planned career tra-jectory. Jaxon’s challenges of teaching content outside his formal qualifications andintegrating information and communication technology (ICT) into his practice wereentwined with an ongoing development of pedagogical approaches underpinned byhis philosophy of pastoral care. A sustained commitment to learning is demon-strated by exemplary teachers as successful innovators and initiators in advancingtheir learning beyond curriculum content and pedagogical prowess (Collinson 2012a;Fairman and Mackenzie 2012). Typically, these teachers accept leadership respon-sibilities to extend their learning through reflecting on their teaching beliefs, shar-ing learning with colleagues and developing “interpersonal skills and intrapersonalawareness” (Fairman and Mackenzie 2012). Jaxon’s development of pedagogicalprowess has been entwined with his development of pastoral care skills. His peda-gogical innovation and shared learning with colleagues’ form part of his developingself-understanding. For Jaxon, pastoral care becomes central to the learning for histeaching practice and leadership responsibilities.

Jaxon’s EPPL has cultivated his teaching and learning philosophy based on thefostering of caring relationships and enabling learning for the development of thewhole person. The significance of relationships and the emotional aspects of learningin the development of teacher leaders encompass:

commitment to education, a love of learning, doing one’s best, curiosity and open-mindedness … healthy and supportive relationships to help others develop and to influenceimprovement, development of caring (empathy and respect), along with communication andcollaborative skills. (Collinson 2012a)

Jaxon’s personal professional development goal was to project his pastoral careinfluence from the classroom into awider school environment. However, his adoptionof an administrative leadership position did not fit with his learning approach, whichentailed personal happiness and fulfilment through relationships.His desire to resumea full-time classroom teaching role was hindered by financial considerations as wellas an appreciation of the potential pastoral care leadership role that may stem fromhis administrative leadership role. Significantly, the risks and failures that Jaxonconsidered to be necessary for his learning were perceived to be at odds with hisdevelopmental aspirations for leadership. Innovative strategies are needed to createprofessional development that addresses the learning needs of teacher leaders notappointed to specified leadership roles (Frost 2012). The conflict for Jaxon’s ongoingprofessional development lies in his efforts to sustain the necessary risks and failures


for his learning within his classroom teaching while aligning to expectations ofleadership that are inconsistent with his pastoral care vision.

The issues and possibilities for Jaxon’s ongoing EPPL will be examined later inChap. 9, alongwith those of the other teachers as presented through their professionallearning narratives in the next four chapters.


Jaxon’s practice challenges and learning opportunities enable consideration of thefollowing EPPL questions gleaned from Jaxon’s narrative.

• How did Jaxon’s belief in addressing the happiness and needs of the whole personguide his EPPL?

• How did Jaxon’s attitude to challenges impact his EPPL?• In what ways did the affective aspect of relationships and their interrelationshipsin Jaxon’s EPPL influence the development of his self-understanding?

References

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Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitativeresearch (1st ed., The Jossey-Bass education series.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc.

Collinson, V. (2012a). Leading by learning, learning by leading. Professional Development inEducation, 38(2), 247–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657866.

Collinson, V. (2012b). Sources of teachers’ values and attitudes. Teacher Development, 16(3),321–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2012.688675.


Craig, C. J. (2011). Narrative inquiry in teaching and teacher education. In J. Kitchen, D. C. Parker,& D. Pushor (Eds.), Narrative inquiries into curriculum-making in teacher education (1st ed.,pp. 19–42). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.

Elbaz, F. (1983). Teacher thinking: a study of practical knowledge (Croom Helm curriculum policyand research series.). London: Croom Helm.

Fairman, J. C., & Mackenzie, S. V. (2012). Spheres of teacher leadership action for learning. Pro-fessional Development in Education, 38(2), 229–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657865.

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Chapter 5Chloé: Core Drivers of ExperientialOrientation, Feedbackand Self-Regulation

Abstract Central influences within Chloé’s professional learning narrative are herrelationships with mentors and colleagues. This chapter provides details of Chloé’sexperience, in which she orients her story towards an ability to address the com-peting demands of her teaching and leadership roles. Two complicating actions forChloé and her subsequent reflections highlight a recognition of expertise in othersand her aspirations to leadership while quelling feelings of being “a fraud” in herrole. The story coda identifies Chloé’s ongoing developmental needs for learningand teaching that are tangible and experiential. The narrative modes of storytellingare analysed through the context and meaning of experiential learning, specific rolemodel mentors and her expressions of doubt in relation to teacher leader roles. Thechapter’s Summary and conclusion examine the meaning Chloé ascribes to the tan-gibility, feedback and self-regulation of her learning experiences, prior to posingEnacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) questions for A conversation withcolleagues.

Chloé’s Story

Contributing to Professional Accomplishment—“Hangingout With Older, More Experienced Staff”

Chloé differentiated between her initial boarding school teaching in New Zealandand the government school environments she attended as a student in Australia, withher first “tough” teaching role at a government school.

I think that sort of made me realise that I was quite competent with really challenging kids… they couldn’t say a sentence that didn’t have ‘F U’ in it.

Chloé valued the redeeming qualities of these challenging students. Her empathyincreased her confidence in dealing with them and reinforced her ability to copein this teaching environment. She accepted her first full-time role in an Australiangovernment secondary school after a chance meeting with David, a former teacherand touch football coach she knew fromher own schooling. She commenced teaching


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70 5 Chloé: Experiential Orientation, Feedback and Self-Regulation

PDHPE within a faculty with David as her head teacher. Chloé successively movedinto two relieving roles: firstly as a PDHPE head teacher and then as a relievingdeputy head teacher.1 She was aware of the value of friendships she fostered withlike-minded teachers at this school in her nine years up to 2012:

And so, having a lot of friends that are teachers, in an informal context you bounce things offeach other. … So, I’m sort of hanging out with older more experienced staff and that has Ithink contributed to me becoming, not an expert, but I guess, maybe highly accomplished.2

Chloé acknowledges a degree of accomplishment in her profession yet she is reticentto accept an expert label. She emphasises the value of sharing teaching experiencesand notes that her continual learning required cultivating collegial and collaborativerelationships with more experienced peers.

Balancing Responsibilities and Relationships—“I ShouldMake a More Conscious Effort in Devoting My Attentionto That Group of Kids”

The constant multitasking requirements of her teaching and leadership responsibil-ities were challenging for Chloé. She taught across the junior and senior secondaryschool campuses of a government school, requiring a drive of approximately tenminutes between campuses, while acting as the relieving deputy head teacher at thejunior campus. Chloé grapples with staying focused on her classroom practice andbalancing the various demands of her combined roles. She acknowledges a con-scious need to learn to remain on task when “I have too many things going on andthat affects the class”.

Central to Chloé’s teaching approach is developing an understanding of studentsso she could provide them contextually relevant activities. She learnt to integrate herassessment of student learning needs and build student motivation. This approachallowed her to address the challenge of maintaining interest for her students towardsthe end of their junior secondary school year, especially for those finishing theirschooling.3 Chloé negotiated alternatives to “create a program or a lesson structure”with students to promote shared curiosity and to encourage responsibility for theirlearning and behaviour. Her approach to student behaviour and discipline issuesrelied on her ability to negotiate and articulate clear alternatives to enable studentbehavioural change.

1Coordinator or head teacher is a promotional classification of special responsibility within a schoolas stipulated within the relevant employment award or workplace agreement. The levels for leader-ship or coordination role responsibilities are referenced using various terms as stipulatedwithin eachschool, for example, a two-point coordinator in a non-government secondary school promotionalposition.2Refer to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.3In NSW, students leaving school prior to completing a Higher School Certificate will receive theNSW Record of School Achievement (RoSA) (NESA 2018).

Chloé’s Story 71

I say this constantly “I will not wrap you up in cotton wool, get over it, this is what’s going tohappen, this is why it has to happen” … I don’t know how to put it [pause], it’s not breakingthem, but I don’t know whether it’s just being really honest and almost letting them see thatI’m human.

Chloé advocates a positive reframing of situations with each new context. She recog-nises that, developmentally, students often require time to appreciate the conse-quences of their actions and the emotional assistance to develop an understanding oftheir responsibilities as they mature.

Chloé’s learning encompasses her teaching and behaviour management approachto address adolescent learner needs. She identifies the complexity of balancing theserelationships to develop responsible and responsive learners. Chloé’s need to applybetter time management to address her diverse responsibilities in teaching and coor-dination roles presents a substantial learning curve.

Recognising Expertise—“Just Watching Him Be a HeadTeacher and Teach”

Chloé has been able to observe role models and mentors and to draw on their expe-rience to support her in recognising her capabilities and motivations. Mentors haveprovided Chloé with experiential learning opportunities through her coordinationand leadership roles.

David’s impetus for employing Chloé in 2003 was the rapport they developedwhen he was her sports coach and she was a school student. David, as the newlyappointed deputy head teacher, acknowledged Chloé’s readiness for a new learningexperience by offering her the relieving PDHPE head teacher role, which she wel-comed although “there wasn’t really that much professional development then, itwas sort of learning on the job”. Chloé moved in and out of this PDHPE coordinatorrole, developing at the same time a strong working relationship with her next headteacher, Gerard. The value for Chloé was both the mentor–mentee relationship andthe chance to extend her capacity to take on a PDHPE head teacher position whenGerard took blocks of leave:

I would just step up straight away… Gerard mentoring me in that way really made me think… to get me to verbalise why I was doing things. And, I guess, that made me realise that itis my purpose, I feel like it is my purpose.

Chloé learnt to deal with issues in consultation with Gerard as her mentor. She citesone occasion when her principal proposed to remove sport from the Year 10 cur-riculum and Gerard assisted Chloé to formulate “justification for all my arguments”to retain it. Chloé appreciated the intricacies of school policy for teacher leadersand working on this with her mentor influenced her learning direction. Her profes-sional learning and mentoring experiences concentrated on the pedagogical aspectsof leadership to address her career goals.


The unique rapport and professional friendship evident in Chloé’s relationshipwith Gerard were different from that with other mentors. Through another mentor,Tony, who was a head teacher in different curriculum area, Chloé better understoodmatters such as legislation, the teacher’s union and timetabling, “More, I guess,wisdom and what not to do with stuff that people just assume you know”. Yet thismentor–mentee relationship was not to last. Chloé felt that Tony verbally chastisedher in front of students conducting a sporting game outside his classroom, where “hejust went berserk”. Chloé’s bewilderment at this incident led her to distance herselffrom Tony, and she did not pursue a professional learning relationship with him. Shestored the incident as an exemplar of behaviour she would not model as a leader.

Aspiring to Lead While Quelling the Imposter—“Sometimes IFeel Like a Bit of a Fraud”

The temporary nature of Chloé’s relieving roles provided an ongoing dissonance toher leadership aspirations although she could enrich her learning through a varietyof mentor–mentee relationships.

Her observations of each mentor’s teaching practice and leadership behaviourenabled her to create her leadership style, clearly conscious of the positive attributesthat she needed to develop for herself as well as the negative aspects she did not wantto emulate. She described her learning in relation to the specific incident with Tony:

I think I file it away for a little while. Then I think about it. Then I think about, I actuallyput myself in the position of being a principal, and how I would treat my staff like after thatexperience with Tony. … I guess I test it out a little bit and see whether that is part of who Iam, and if it works or doesn’t work, then I go from there.

Chloé’s critique of her colleagues and selected mentors provided a focus for herongoing learning, allowing her to adopt aspects that aligned with her own personalityand teaching approach.

Paramount for Chloé’s ongoing learning was her observations of a role modelthat confirmed her aspirations to leadership in “having someone above that is inspi-rational”. Chloé developed her teaching philosophy through exploring insights andjudgements in her mentee–mentor relationships, which led her to continue a mentor-ing relationship with Gerard outside of the school environment upon his retirement.This relationship provided an enduring friendship and the support to reflect on herongoing choices. Her personal professional learning continued through informal dis-cussions with Gerard, to address teaching and leadership issues as they occurred.

Yet, despite the confidence she had developed in her teaching, Chloé felt a“fraud”in her various leadership positions due to their temporary nature, commenting asfollows:

I don’t know, sometimes I feel like a bit of a fraud and maybe that’s because I’m constantlyrelieving.

Chloé’s Story 73

Well, no not a fraud but well sort of, no just in that I’m a relieving deputy and I just thinkit’s hilarious because technically I’m still only on [a coordinator’s salary].

Yeah so, I know I’m not a fraud, I know I’m capable and everything like that, but it justcracks me up that I’m a relieving head teacher, a relieving deputy, it just makes me laugh.

Chloé’s career movement between government and non-government schools had infact resulted in a slower progression through the salary scale. This contrasted to theadditional remuneration she received for the higher duties of the leadership role.However, Chloé could not resolve feelings of being a fraud when undertaking arelieving leadership role as acting deputy principal. She hesitated to articulate whyshe represented herself as a fraud even though other faculty members acknowledgedher capability. Yet, despite these feelings, Chloé expressed confidence in her wayforward.

Ensuring Learning Is Tangible—“Sequential and MoreFrequent, It’s More Beneficial and Has More Meaning”

Tangible learning has been significant for the ongoing development of Chloé’s lead-ership career; however, developing school initiatives that provide tangible learningexperiences for students has been challenging. Chloé envisioned replacing one-offactivity days with embedded practical programs across the curriculum that wouldrepresent more frequent, sequential andmeaningful learning for students, integratingrisk-taking within the school curriculum to address the needs of adolescent learners.

Chloé’s experience growing up and the relationshipswithin her school communitycontinued to be influential in her teaching practice and professional learning. Valuedinterpersonal relationships have been constant throughout Chloé’s career path “andthat’s what I want my career to look like or to have”. Her influential mentors havechallenged her to reflect more deeply on her learning and she has continued to searchfor role models and mentors.

I definitely need to find, and you can’t just find it, but I hope that I do, another mentor whileI’m in the school setting. Because that immediate feedback and things like that really helpsyour learning and your development.

Chloé was unsuccessful in obtaining a deputy principal role for the start of 2012,with another person appointed in a relieving capacity. She learnt from her failure bybetter articulating her achievements in her CV before being “substantively appoint-ed” as permanent deputy principal; however, Chloé downplays her success.

I think because I had relieved for so long it was like I was moving sideways rather thanmoving forward… So, I was in the right place at the right time… I’m actually no longer inthe classroom but I will be next year. I’m going to timetable myself a class so I can keep myskills up, but I’ve progressed.

Chloé’s enthusiasm and vigour are ignited by the possibility of continuing to learnand teach in her chosen school.



This section provides a narrative interpretation of Chloé’s professional learning nar-rative as evident in the ideational, interpersonal and textual or spoken contexts ofstory (Riessman 2002). Fundamental within the ideational context is Chloé’s reve-lation of her need for ongoing learning and the confidence developed through herexperience. She emphasises that appropriate mentee–mentor relationships and thebuilding of similar relationships with her students were essential in the interpersonalcontext of her learning. In the textual or spoken context, her terminology displaysthe doubts she feels in acknowledging her expertise.

Ideational Context: Ongoing Experiential Learning

Chloé emphasises the need for experiential learning that is contextually relevant forboth her own learning and her teaching, as well as a need to support her practice withtheory.

She experienced a substantial learning curve in taking on leadership responsibil-ities while continuing to teach, revealing the dynamic nature of her learning withinthe context of each new role. Chloé willingly sought new experiential learning forherself in her teaching and leadership roles, realising “how much there is to actuallylearn”. She endeavoured to provide contextually relevant learning experiences forher students through practical and developmentally sensitive pedagogy. She identi-fied the hallmark of pedagogical expertise as consistently maximising student learn-ing through recognising each student’s capabilities, context, readiness and existingunderstanding. She believes “that’s what an expert can do on a regular basis, moreso than just a one-off lesson … they do it consistently”, emphasising that learningrequires consistently orchestrated pedagogical expertise.

The practical nature of Chloé’s PDHPE teaching centred on the need for tangibleexperiences that integrate risk-taking into students’ learning. Her understanding ofmeaningful learning includes the notion that adolescent brains crave risk-taking andthat this is necessary for their development into adulthood. Learning thus requires“a risk-taking environment with a degree of safety attached to it” that also is “con-trolled”. Chloé advocates experiential learning to encourage students to make per-sonally responsible choices.

Chloé has also sought to underpin her practice with theory, so in 2011 she com-pleted two subjects of a master’s degree focused on school leadership. She respondedto the intellectual stimulation and was motivated by the prospect of learning aboutthe pedagogical aspects of leadership that interested her and “hopefully I find thingsto read and sink my teeth into”. Her understanding developed through both philo-sophical investigations with mentors and the intellectual demands of tertiary study.

Chloé places importance on continuing her classroom teaching along with theresponsibilities of her current leadership role:


I hate being stuck in this office. I’m always joining in on different lessons and making surethat I’m not always stuck with the naughty kids. So, it’s really important for me to have aclass.

Significant for Chloé was the continued development of her pedagogical understand-ings of leadership and teaching practice and fostering relationships with all studentswhile in her leadership role.

Interpersonal Context: Rapport and Mentoring Relationships

Significant for Chloé is her learning with mentors, colleagues and students. Her men-toring relationships have been dependent on personally selected and professionallyaligned colleagues who are able to foster her professional learning.

Chloé values colleagues with similar teaching philosophies and seeks mentorsfrom different areas of expertise. She identifies their qualities of leadership andthe relevance they hold contextually for her learning. The most influential of hermentee–mentor relationships was with Gerard who:

developed my philosophy of education I would say. A lot of reflective stuff he would do withme and really make me think “well, am I doing it just for the sake of doing it or is there anactual purpose”.

It was more the deeper side of leading a faculty.

Chloé contextualises much of her story around the influence of mentors. Her expe-rience as a student with David as her sports coach provided a continuity for herprofessional mentee–mentor relationships. Her unique learning with Gerard rein-forced her choice of a leadership path. This influential relationship supported herrealisation over time that teaching is her purpose in life, and she valued being ableto reflect on her motivations and her decision-making with Gerard. Justifying heractions on student learning also led her to think more deeply about the inspirationfor her teaching and leadership approach.

Chloé also engaged in the more practical context of her work requirements, suchas reviewing documents or CVs, with a small group of colleagues. However, shepreferred individualised interactions as they provided greater opportunity for “hon-est” and “immediate” feedback that was straightforward and personally relevant.Her learning through mentoring relationships and in small professional commu-nity groups relied on situated experiences. The contextual nature of the feedbackaddressed her learning needs as well as allowing a mutual respect to develop withinthe mentee–mentor relationship. Chloé also expresses confidence in accessing herexisting network of colleagues as mentors in leadership roles. She recognises thevalue of maintaining connections with her leadership colleagues but also acknowl-edges the time constraints for her continued learning.

Chloé’s mentee–mentor relationships have mirrored her relationships with herstudents, seeing these as central to their learning within the classroom and throughextracurricular activities:


I can build a rapport with a student really quick. Once I have some connection with them,be it a similarity in, I don’t know, the type of sport they play or if I can find somethingthat we can relate to, then that has helped with my experiences inside the classroom. So, I’ddefinitely put down that I can build rapport and connect with kids.

She believes that understanding her students’ interests has enabled her to buildrapport and encourage them in their learning, and she endeavours to further herunderstanding of adolescent learner needs to motivate them to learn.

Textual or Spoken Context: Language of Doubt

In the words she used during interviews, Chloé reflected an uncertainty regarding therelevance of her answers and sometimes questioned whether she was the appropriateperson to put forward such answers.

Her continual use of “I don’t know” (which appears 74 times in the two interviewtranscripts) and “I guess” (32 times) suggest some uncertainty. Admittedly, theseterms may also have represented a colloquial idiom for Chloé, or a pause to reflect onher statements while speaking. At other times, she seemed to be attempting to linkseveral ideas in more of a cause and effect manner. She used the term “consciousof” 13 times and “conscious effort” 3 times in reflecting on her understanding of heractions and those of her colleagues and mentors.

Chloé also used several phrases to ensure clarity and mutual understanding. Shechecked that her comments “make sense” or are “right” in terms of understandingon the ideas discussed: “Only that it’s probably more of a worry, I don’t know if I’mthe right person. I don’t know if I’m answering everything”. This may have been forinterviewer clarification to ensure relevance to the research. She also sought clarifica-tion that her learning experiences were suitable examples of developing expertise andrevealed her underlying feelings of being a “fraud”. Her uncertainties appeared tostem from the relieving nature of her coordination and leadership roles, and whetherto present her experience as an example to others. Her doubts, however, may havestemmed from a reticence due to unfamiliarity with a research interview situation.


Chloé identifies selected mentors as “expert”, attributing her learning to the mod-elling and sharing of their experience. Research on learning and mentoring withinformal induction programs (Long et al. 2012; Roberts 2000; Schwille 2008; Steinkeand Putnam 2011) is relevant to Chloé’s story in that her mentoring experiences havesupported the development of her practical classroom approach and teaching philos-ophy. Often “highly successful veteran teachers” (Tsui 2009) have the responsibilityfor mentoring novice teachers.


Chloé’s mentoring was not part of a professional development program but reliedon informal relationships that addressed her specific learning needs. While there islittle literature onmentoring for accomplished teachers such as Chloé, parallels in herlearning can be drawn from the research addressing mentoring for teacher inductees.Novice teachers identify “inside the action” interactions of mentors stepping intothe practice when they are pre-service novices as different from “outside the action”mentoring that is typically conducted in their induction year when reflecting onteaching activities (Schwille 2008). In Chloé’s EPPL, mentoring occurred “outsidethe action” through the modelling and informal discussion evident in her coaching-styled relationshipswith colleagues. Shevalued the understandinggained fromexpertmentors who articulated and explored incidents and so provided insights for herlearning. She perceived the development of her expertise in her teaching practice andleadership development as entwined with the reflection afforded to her as a mentee.Chloé reported continually experiencing a process of becoming in undertaking eachnew role responsibility with the support of her mentors. Her EPPL illustrates theconnection between self-understanding and mentoring that she experienced in herlearning.

Chloé’s professional aspirations, along with her personal choice of mentors, weresignificant in forming her approach to learning and her process of becoming. Shealigns her idea of a mentor with a friend who shares a similar disposition in theirteaching approaches. Teacher mentoring within designated curriculum areas hashighlighted the unique interpersonal requirements of specialist teachers (Steinke andPutnam 2011), demonstrating that “mentoring style interacted with teachers’ expec-tations and individual differences” (Hardre et al. 2010). Chloé developed mutuallyrespectful relationships with colleagues to share task-oriented learning and deeperphilosophical discussion on teaching and leadership responsibilities. The collabora-tive nature of a situational mentoring approach addresses the individually specificlearning needs of specialist teachers’ better than those of more traditional mentoringprograms (Steinke and Putnam 2011). Similarly, for Chloé’s EPPL, engagement withmentors as role models for both her teaching practice and leadership responsibili-ties represented more informal, collaborative relationships. The support network ofmentors and colleagues in her school community was a determining factor in Chloédeveloping her career. She relied on the experience of her mentors to determine thebenchmarks and the preparation necessary for her learning.

Chloé’s context and experiential orientation were also central to her learning. Shecreated meaning for her personal professional development through the immediacyof the setting for her learning through observations of and feedback from mentors.Her chosen school was a similar community space to that of her own time as astudent and represented the teaching and leadership context she sought for her con-tinued development. She required tangible experiences and so undertook challengesin her teaching practice and leadership development as the opportunities presentedthemselves. The orientation for Chloé’s learning is replicated in the context andexperiential focus for her students’ learning. Experiential learning experiences andinnovative teaching practices for immersion in student experience require teachersto rethink conventional practices and engage in personally relevant learning through


networking and reflecting on “general strategies through specific content” (Kleinand Riordan 2011). For Chloé, her students required tangible experiences that were“sequential and more frequent [as] it’s more beneficial and has more meaning”.For Chloé’s EPPL, there is contextual significance for time and space within theexperiential orientation of her developing expertise. This orientation is evident in ateacher’s attention to their experience in terms of time as a commodity as well as asetting, as well as their awareness of space as an enclosure as well as an intellectualaffordance “onto the spaces of others” (Elbaz 1983).

Reflection and self-regulation have been central to Chloé’s experiential learningapproach. Her mentoring relationships allowed her to develop her teaching philos-ophy and leadership aspirations, and her formal university study and professionaldevelopment courses provided opportunities for critical reflection. Reflective think-ing is an educational aim because it represents genuine intellectual freedom forindividuals to deliberate on their experience (Dewey and Archambault 1964). Fur-thermore, achieving academic excellence through self-regulation requires ongoinggoal orientation and self-monitoring in conjunction with regular feedback (Zimmer-man 2002). For her EPPL, Chloé noted that her need for immediate and personallycontextual feedback created a self-regulated cycle of learning. Mentoring relation-ships allowed an integration of the experience of her chosen colleagues with theirfeedback on her own performance to create new understanding for her. Dialogue iscentral to critical friendships that are based on “trust, provocative questioning, analternative perspective, constructive critique and advocacy” (Swaffield 2008). Simi-larly, this type of reflection and feedback within a self-regulated learning approachallowed Chloé to develop self-understanding.

Over nine years, Chloé was unresolved in her feelings of being a “fraud” in leader-ship roles. However, she accepted the responsibilities and challenges of a permanentteaching role with the various temporary leadership appointments. In contrast toJaxon’s revelation of competence discussed in Chap. 4, Chloé’s ongoing relievingroles engender a sense of “acting” that initially stifles self-acknowledgement of herexpertise. Although she trusted more experienced colleagues for her mentoring, shecame to rely on a selection of other colleagues who influenced her development andencouraged her to grow more confident in her developing expertise. The develop-ment of self-confidence may allow this shift from perceptions of fraud to an acceptedprofessional modesty. The attribute of humility expressed by teacher leaders in theirlearning, incorporates taking risks, accepting mistakes, asking for assistance andcontinually investigating experiences.

It is possible that humility, coupled with the teachers’ desire to develop themselves andothers, allows them to use retrospective and prospective reflection advantageously; that is,to analyse in retrospect and then imagine and implement prospective, ameliorative actions.(Collinson 2012)

Humility is central to Chloé’s EPPL as a teacher leader. Essentially, her humil-ity has allowed her to request support throughout her ongoing investigation of herexperiences. Her learning has incorporated continual adjustments in her practice andcontinual articulation of pedagogical justifications for her leadership approach. At


various points, Chloé gained affirmation from her colleagues that she was capable ofleadership. She developed self-confidence and accepted a view of herself as an “ac-complished” teacher. However, it was through her ongoing self-study and reflectionon the feedback of others that she eventually accepted her leadership capabilitiesand aspirations. Chloé’s personal professional development demonstrates that thisprocess of becoming a teacher continues beyond a teacher’s pre-service and induc-tion years. A mentor in fact suggested that Chloé participate in my study due toher ongoing self-reflective learning approach. In the final phone interview, Chloécommented:

I think because he recognised that I was continually trying to find ways to improve what Ido and perhaps a bit of self-reflection and reflection on how things have progressed wouldhelp me in that. I think also out of a desire to help you and just for a different way to reflecton how I’m progressing professionally.

Chloé’s self-understanding incorporates a self-confidence in her capabilities andaspirations for leadership. Her experiential orientation shows a progression in learn-ing focus from her classroom-specific pedagogy to strategically creating tangiblelearning experiences across a school community. Chloé describes “learning on thejob” as a series of practically oriented experiences during her early teaching years.Her subsequentmentoring in leadership responsibilities supported her ongoing beliefin the importance of experience. She realised there was always more to learn, as evi-dent in her ongoing learning of leadership responsibilities. Her experience is likethose of other exemplary teachers where

they did not intend to become teacher leaders; they became leaders as their learning becamevaluable to others. Then, as leaders, the teachers discovered that they still have much to learnand that leading affords many new possibilities for learning. (Collinson 2012)

Chloé’s EPPL effectively addresses the constant challenge of the multitaskingrequired in combining teaching and leadership roles. She looks to her existing lead-ership network of colleagues to continue to learn from within her newly gainedpermanent leadership role. Her approach to her learning ensures that she plans tocontinue to maintain a teaching role along with her leadership role and so continueto benefit from learning across both roles.

Chloé has shown herself to be a teacher leader focused on her students and schoolcommunity. Her professional development revolves around her practice and leader-ship responsibilities. She collaborates with selected mentors and her PDHPE facultyas well as coordinating head teacher meetings for her region. Teacher leaders interactwith and influence colleagues and school communities to improve student achieve-ments in learning. Therefore, their development requires ongoing learning throughprofessional collaboration that is logically linked to practice and curriculum (Poek-ert 2012). At different times and to varying degrees, Chloé demonstrates a “learningby doing” approach, indicative of learning interactions with colleagues at school,community, state and national network levels (Collinson 2012).

Chloé’s unique EPPL has allowed her to construct a meaningful understandingof her development of expertise in classroom pedagogy. She endeavours to con-


tinue to develop her classroom teaching abilities along with her strategic leadershipcapabilities.

This chapter has represented the contextual significance of Chloé’s learningthrough a narrative interpretation of her story and indicated the influence of mentor-ing as a significant factor in shaping her personal professional development. Self-regulation and an experiential orientation are central to Chloé’s EPPL, and her devel-opment of self-understanding has relied on a growth in self-confidence in her teachingand leadership capabilities. The issues and possibilities of Chloé’s ongoing EPPL arediscussed later in Chap. 9. The next three chapters present the professional learningnarratives for Mia, Lilli and Anh, respectively.


Deliberation on the following EPPL questions with colleagues allows a review ofthe practice challenges and learning opportunities evident in Chloé’s narrative.

• In what ways did mentors in contextually significant spaces over time influenceChloé’s EPPL?

• How did the centrality of her experiential orientation, in which the need for feed-back on tangible experiences drive self-regulation in Chloé’s EPPL?

• The opportunity for reflection on concrete experiences allows for the meta-cognition necessary for experiential learning (Kolb and Kolb 2009). How doesthis opportunity relate to developing self-confidence and overcoming fraudulentfeelings within Chloé’s EPPL?

References

Collinson, V. (2012). Leading by learning, learning by leading. Professional Development in Edu-cation, 38(2), 247–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657866.

Dewey, J., & Archambault, R. D. (1964). John Dewey on education: Selected writings. New York:Modern Library.

Elbaz, F. (1983). Teacher thinking: A study of practical knowledge (Croom Helm curriculum policyand research series.). London: Croom Helm.

Hardre, P. L., Nanny, M., Refai, H., Ling, C., & Slater, J. (2010). Engineering a dynamic sciencelearning environment for K-12 teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 37(2), 157–178.

Klein, E. J., & Riordan, M. (2011). Wearing the “Student Hat”: Experiential professional develop-ment in expeditionary learning schools. Journal of Experiential Education, 34(1), 35–54. https://doi.org/10.5193/jee34.1.35.

Kolb,A.Y.,&Kolb,D.A. (2009). The learningway:Meta-cognitive aspects of experiential learning.Simulation & Gaming, 40(3), 297–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878108325713.

Long, J. S., McKenzie-Robblee, S., Schaefer, L., Steeves, P., Wnuk, S., Pinnegar, E., et al. (2012).Literature reviewon induction andmentoring related to early career teacher attrition and retention.Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 20(1), 7–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2012.645598.

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NESA. (2018). Record of school achievement. http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/leaving-school/record-of-school-achievement.

Poekert, P. E. (2012). Teacher leadership and professional development: Examining links betweentwo concepts central to school improvement. Professional Development in Education, 38(2),169–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657824.

Riessman,C.K. (2002).Narrative analysis. InM.B.Miles&A.M.Huberman (Eds.),The qualitativeresearcher’s companion (pp. 217–270). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications.

Roberts, A. (2000). Mentoring Revisited: A phenomenological reading of the literature.Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 8(2), 145–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611260050138382.

Schwille, S. A. (2008). The professional practice of mentoring. American Journal of Education,115(1), 139–167. https://doi.org/10.1086/590678.

Steinke, L. J., & Putnam, A. R. (2011). Mentoring teachers in technology education: Analyzing theneed. Journal of Technology Studies, 37(1), 41–49.




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https://doi.org/10.1086/590678

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Chapter 6Mia: Resilience and Pastoral Care BuiltWithin Determined Professionalism

Abstract Mia’s story reveals the richness of her professional learning, experiencedthrough teaching in diverse economic and sociocultural contexts. Her motivation fortravel provides ongoing incentive to seek a variety of experiences despite the stress-ful aspects of initiation into different teaching environments. This chapter revealsMia’s ongoing evaluation throughout her learning. She preserves her self-esteemand resilience in her secondary school teaching across education systems interna-tionally, alongwith negotiating student and parent relationships within her classroompractice and in her head of boarding house responsibilities. Finally, Mia presents heraspirations for new opportunities. Mia’s professional learning narrative reveals threecontextual aspects: her beliefs about the learner, her attitudes to student pastoral careand sharing of collegial knowledge and her focus on clues and conversations in herteaching and learning approach. The Summary and conclusion explores the con-cepts of resilience, pastoral care and life enrichment, which are considered in posingquestions for A conversation with colleagues relating on Mia’s Enacted PersonalProfessional Learning (EPPL).

Mia’s Story

International Experiences—“I Really Wanted to TrySomething Different”

Mia’s career progression from teaching in the UK and USA leads to her migrationto Australia, and employment at an independent boarding and day school for girls.She balanced a 60% teaching load with the one-point coordinator role for one of theschool’s three boarding houses for junior and senior secondary students. She learntto navigate the teacher accreditation requirements, initially awarded “professionalexperience” status through the Independent Schools TeacherAccreditationAuthority(ISTAA 2018) but subsequently registering for the state government accreditation(NESA 2018).


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84 6 Mia: Resilience, Pastoral Care, and Determined Professionalism

Mia was motivated by her interest in gaining different life experiences beyondher initial teaching. She looked outside the metropolitan area of her upbringing inthe north of England.

Oh well, the places I taught in England they were in the same rough area where I lived andwhere my family lived. I just wanted to see some different things and try living in differentplaces…. I could’ve just repeated myself, over and over again, at the same school or at adifferent school or whatever and it’s just very, sort of dull, I guess. So, I really wanted to trysomething different.

She sought a variety of personal professional learning experiences elsewhere. Indescribing the learning goals, she had set within her teaching practice; Mia wasfocused on gaining experience in more advanced curriculum courses. She learnt toreassess how to teach the syllabus content within different international contexts andto relate her understanding to student perspectives at the secondary matriculationlevel. She continues to draw on her early experiences as she negotiates the pastoralcare of adolescent girls in her teaching and coordinator roles.

Preserving Self-esteem and Resilience—“You just Have to Sortof Keep Carrying on Really”

Mia developed resilience in environments that challenged her confidence in herteaching skills during the first nine years of her career. Her practice primarily focusedon behaviour management in her first teaching job in England where she describedthe “power games” and “aggressive” lack of respect demonstrated by students.

I mean we had kids from really tough estates and it was just so ingrained in the cultureoutside the classroom to not do whatever you were asked… At my first school, the kidswould call it torture and they’d all decide to torture a teacher and just as a group go out oftheir way to be as awful as possible, but that was a very rough estate, that was very rough.

Her experiences in this challenging environment constrained Mia’s teaching andthwarted her attempts to develop her practice. She acknowledges that the schoolmanagement attempted to deal with difficult students, but she felt constrained withinthe UK inspection processes (OFSTED 2015) that led to exclusion of students where:

they’re just at home or on the streets or whatever and someone’s got to deal with them, youcan’t just pass them around if they’re really tough students.

Mia then decided to travel and broaden her experience. Her choice to further herteaching practice in the USA presented a challenge in coping with the differencesbetween education systems. Mia felt her professional judgement, creativity and self-assurance in her teaching practice were limited using packaged programs where “Icouldn’t go with certain things that I thought the kids needed”.“It was very incrediblycontrolled” with prescribed resources targeted for students at specified ability levelsandmandated assessment processes and teaching procedures that presented a tediousand repetitive learning environment. Despite this, she attempted to “try to work it

Mia’s Story 85

out” to assert her professional judgement. This experience significantly restrictedMia’s professional creativity, and she felt her discernment was inhibited within sucha prescribed system.

Mia also perceived that setting student achievement at such a low level did notencourage their learning. She experienced doubt about the influence of her practiceon student progress.

I think soul destroying is too dramatic a term, but it did hit my self-esteem a bit…. I wasn’tsure what exactly I’d managed to make the kids learn.

Mia was negatively impacted by the lack of empowerment in her teaching practice,as well as unsupportive school management. Yet she showed resilience in her pro-fessional acumen, maintaining a resolve to “keep carrying on” by reasserting herprofessional judgement.

Mia remained optimistic about being able to influence her teaching of the curricu-lum and adapt her classroom practice to the learning needs of specific students. Herresilience in maintaining her self-esteem also nurtured self-confidence in her teach-ing practice. Her subsequent holiday travels then became her impetus to migrate toAustralia.

Negotiating Student and Parent Relationships—“It’s AnotherPart of the Job Really”

Mia’s teaching practice and professional learning focus changed at a school locatedwithin an affluent NSWmetropolitan area. Her responsibilities broadened her under-standing of the specific needs of adolescent girls within an Australian independentday and boarding school.

This independent school represented a very different environment, economicallyand socioculturally, from Mia’s upbringing and previous teaching experiences. Theday school students travelled between the school and both inner and outer metropoli-tan areas,while the boarding school studentswere fromvarious regional rural areas ofNSWaswell as“a variety of Asian countries”. She recognised the“massive learningcurve” required in starting senior secondary school courses and their individual dif-ferences across the diverse social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including Englishliteracy levels. Mia acknowledged the relationship complications associated with thedistance separating the families of the boarding students. She further appreciated theeffects of the variety of factors on each student’s learning and the challenges for herteaching practice in addressing the difficulties experienced by these students in thisenvironment.

At this school, Mia gained a deeper understanding of parent–daughter relation-ships and their implications for student learning. She learnt to copewith the emotionalstrains that may occur between parent, student and teacher, as “there’s always a veryinteresting version of what actually happened gets told to the parents”. She under-stood the need to maintain candid and supportive relationships, and she approached


difficult situations as opportunities for developing relationships between herself, herstudents and their parents.

Mia felt professionally and personally challenged from emotionally charged inci-dents with students. She continued to develop her capacity to analyse such difficultsituations, pragmatically reflecting on experiences in contrast to her previous teach-ing challenges.

When it happens I just say, “here it is, the one for this year”… you’re upset as well because Iwould never behave in the way that has been reported or I would never say that or do that orwhatever, but you are sort of demonised in this home of one of your students. The first onceor twice it happens in your career it can be upsetting but I’ve been doing this since 1997 soat a point you’re just like it’s another part of the job really.

Mia developed a philosophical approach to her practice. She acknowledged theintensely personal aspect of developing relationships and recognised the associatedprofessional risks, including feeling “threatened”, experiencing “confrontation”and “harshly spoken accusations”. To negotiate such relationships, Mia relied onthe resilience and self-confidence she developed through her earlier teaching.

I have a really high threshold for that sort of thing because the first school I worked at wasvery tough, it was in a very deprived area and that was the way the adults’ problem-solvedby screaming and shouting and all the rest of it. So, I managed to keep calm pretty well.

Making use of her experience, she managed to maintain a professional demeanourin challenging situations. She developed an ability to model a professional image inher communication and interactions with parents and students.

Challenging New Contexts—“It Is a Higher Levelof Learning, More Intellectual Learning”

Mia’s expertise in English literature derived from the school and university curricu-lum of her native England. Her university study of American literature supportedher teaching of the prescribed US syllabus. Yet her migration to Australia provideda different curriculum and assessment focus within a new teaching context.

Mia needed to re-establish her contextual understanding for teaching in the learn-ing area of English in Australia. She experienced the teaching pressures that accom-pany high-stakes assessment of student learning, such as understanding “the sortof received way that the school is looking at it, and how the kids are going to beassessed”. Mia maintained confidence in her interpretive abilities and confrontedthe need to learn a different literature for the Australian syllabus. Yet she recognisedthat a gap in her expertise in terms of curriculum and assessment included:

finding what I thought what a piece was worth in relation to what the other staff did… So, itwas quite tough to pick that up and I was never quite sure that I understood it myself fullyor as well as I should.

Mia’s Story 87

Mia placed her international experience and situated knowledge of curriculum doc-uments, subject texts and literature into an Australian teaching context. However,her learning relied strongly on the advice of other teachers to ensure assessmentsaddressed the syllabus outcomes. Shewas challenged in accessing and understandingthe tacit knowledge that teachers have. Tacit knowing requires not only recognitionof what is known but also avenues for accessing and validating the understandingwithin context (Polanyi 1983). For Mia, the difficulty in accessing this tacit knowl-edge and approaching her colleagues impacted on her confidence and feeling “onmy own for quite a bit”. Furthermore, the lack of overt direction by colleagues mayhave reflected an assumption that Mia needed little assistance in transferring herexperience to this new context as:

the people here are so used to that’s the way it is, they think that everyone, they would assumethat everyone just knows that.

Mia focused on demonstrating and sharing her comprehensive knowledge of theEnglish literature texts. She recognised that collaboration with other teachers deep-ened her understanding, and so she sourced the tacit knowledge of her colleagues tofacilitate student learning. Her learning was also tied to the high-stakes assessmentof student learning and the external grading that impacts university admission.

The new environment, with few classroom management issues, presented uniqueteaching opportunities for Mia with “a higher level of learning, more intellectuallearning”. Mia addressed the contextual challenges of learning different curriculumand assessment requirements for her teaching. She reinvigorated her self-confidenceand self-assurance in her teaching abilities through embedding her learning experi-ences within a new teaching context.

Contemplating New Opportunities—“I’m Still Thinking Abouta Change”

Mia was “ready for something new” but remained uncertain on the direction of hercareer path. She deliberated about starting amaster’s degree in educational leadershipas she aspired to develop and progress professionally within this area. Mia alsoendeavoured to build on her learning from her head of boarding house role as wellas achieving a work-life balance. She applied for a full-time year coordinator rolewithin the day school but was unsuccessful. Then, she was encouraged to considerher future aspirations by a colleague from the school’s leadership team.

From 2011, Mia continued in her boarding coordinator role and taught Englishat junior and senior secondary levels. She put her master’s degree on hold—“I justthought ‘I can’t’”—after experiencing a stressful incident at school.

I had one of the students said I wasn’t teaching them right and being nasty to them and soon. And she later said that she was lying. But at the time the principal got involved and sentthis official letter.


Mia then refocused on the professional learning she required for teaching a seniorsecondary course that was new to her. Subsequently, the students in both of her seniorEnglish literature classes achieved good learning outcomes. She felt justified in herprofessional acumen when the results of her students were acknowledged by theprincipal and so reaffirmed her confidence in her practice—“So, I was really pleasedabout that”.

Mia remains open to change to meet her need for new experiences.

I don’t know if I’ll stay in teaching forever…. Sometimes I think I’d like to leave boardingand go full-time teaching. And then other times I think I do really quite like the pastoral role.Whereas in the past I always did think that I would be academic, more looking at going forheads of English and that kind of thing.

Mia asserts her improved confidence and contextual familiarity with the school envi-ronment, emphasising the personal importance of pastoral care for her continuingcareer in teaching.


The ideational, interpersonal and textual or spoken modes (Riessman 2002) of Mia’sstory reveal themeaning-makingwithin her teaching and learning. Ideationally,Mia’sbelief is in learner responsibility and the significance of her understanding the learner.She highlights her concern for student pastoral care and her ability to access collegialtacit knowledgewithin an interpersonal context. Her language reveals the importanceof “clues” and conversations within a textual or spoken context.

Ideational Context: Learner Responsibility and Understandingthe Learner

As a teacher in Australia, Mia identified her responsibility as a learner to accessthe tacit understanding of each new teaching context. Acknowledging the subjectivenature of teaching English literature also challenged her understanding of how toreframe tasks for her students. She recognised the importance of understanding thedevelopmental needs of adolescent students to encourage their responsibility forlearning. She did this by identifying the skills, interests and prior achievements ofadolescent learners.

I just think if you can like flick the switch or wake it up in them, then they’ll get going withit. And really, I mean if you say to your class right now “write a poem on this”, you can’treally say that to a bunch of kids, you can’t really say that to anyone, unless you had thatspecific knowledge already, you wouldn’t have a clue.

Mia’s developing expertise was based on the content knowledge and pedagogicallysound strategies for “finding the ways to break it down” for “a mixed ability group


of 14-year-olds”. Mia continually linked her content understanding and pedagogy toaddressing the physical, social and intellectual developmental needs of her adolescentlearners. Her development relied on accepting challenges in teaching. She integratednew techniques in her practice and shared her learning with colleagues and parents.

My recent experience has been helping out more special needs kids or kids with differentchallenges to learning. I’m not great with ICT but I’m willing to learn and I’m willing touse it so I think that’s quite positive.

Mia also participated in professional development courses, yet their generic naturemeant that “it doesn’t always end up in the classroom” and was less likely to applyto her need for contextual learning.

Mia observed that the pressure of exam results on adolescents—adversely affect-ing confidence in their abilities, reducing the resilience necessary to risk-makingmistakes, and so decreasing their motivation to learn and their responsibility forlearning. She also felt that:

if the kid hasn’t learned something or the kids not got a great mark, it is all the teacher’sresponsibility…. That’s pressure, that’s the stress of the job.

Encouraging student responsibility for their learning represented a challenge withinMia’s classroom practice. She associated an increase in teacher accountability witha high-stakes assessment environment. This created further pressures on the student,parent and teacher relationship.

Interpersonal Context: Student Pastoral Care and CollegialTacit Knowledge

The interpersonal context within which Mia found herself highlighted her need tobecome better acquainted with her peers and so to develop avenues for sharing oftacit knowledge. Of increasing importance was Mia’s professional learning aboutthe pastoral care of boarding students and relationships with their parents.

She initially felt there was no specific process to assist resource-sharing as partof her preparation to teach a new course syllabus. Without ongoing conversations,she was hindered in accessing the tacit knowledge and collections of resources sherequired for her practice. Mia realised the importance of informal communication insharing resources and ideas, and she learnt to foster more informal opportunities fordiscussions with her colleagues. Her involvement in professional staff days enabledher to share her learning with colleagues across departmental faculties and to benefitfrom the expertise of education professionals external to the school covering “pas-toral conferences”, “life skills”, “how to make people accept you … how to careabout other people”.

Mia valued the learning available to her through conferences on pastoral care thatspecifically addressed her concerns on adolescent developmental needs and the needsof boarding students. She recognised her need to remain attentive to the concerns


of her students and avoid becoming complacent in appreciating the impacts on heradolescent students. Being aware of the need to continually negotiate the intensityof adolescent emotions, she understood the professional fatigue that can lead todetachment from the concerns of students. This instilled in her a commitment tothe pastoral care of her students. She then gained understanding in the intricaciesof negotiating pastoral relationships with the parents as boarding house coordinatorthat required:

a lot of listening to them, talking it out, explaining things, telling them it’s really not so badthat teenage girls can act like the world is ending and it’s not.

She encouraged equal responsibility for learning, developing life-skill strategies,fostering long-distance communications and handling emotional difficulties. Thispastoral focus allowed Mia to negotiate the complications associated with the emo-tional changes of adolescence, aswell as the difficulties of communication for parentsand students. She developed a pragmatic approach to the relational strains that occurin dealing with complex parent and student relationships.

Mia placed increasing importance on the pastoral care of her students and theirparents within the boarding school environment.

That can make a difference. I’ve been in the boarding responsibility for about five years now,so I know some of these families pretty well at this point.

Mia valued the ongoing relationships possible through the extended boarding schoolcommunity.

Textual or Spoken Context: Clues and Conversations

Mia’s terminology indicated her search for understanding in her learning. She contin-ually used the word “talk” throughout her learning and teaching story, emphasisingher need for and enjoyment of conversation as part of her learning. She also expressedappreciation for being involved in the research process.

Mia used the word “clue” several times to indicate the understanding she requiresin her teaching practice. She related this to her teaching subject content knowledgeand the specific skills she needed to address for her students’ learning.

So, you pick up a lot of clues and tricks and ideas.

They didn’t have a clue.

Unless you had that specific knowledge already, you wouldn’t have a clue.

That sort of literature that I wouldn’t have had a clue about it.

Mia reinforced the importance of conversation throughout her story. She oftenreferred to talk as important for professional learning.

You have to just try to talk to each other. Be specific and ask each other.


We are good at learning about a particular topic, asking each other, talking to senior membersof the department.

And the other staff would be talking about them and I didn’t really know exactly what washappening. And you do just try and over hear these conversations that just happen to begoing on about it.

And it’s just nice going through the stuff and talking about it and listening to the speaker orwhoever and then having a coffee together and talking to colleagues from other schools aswell, and that’s just really nice.

So, I’ll talk at the odd meeting or give a bit of training, I’m talking this weekend actually forthe intake parents.

Mia valued the dialogue between colleagues and experts in the field and the conver-sations available to her through professional staff days and pastoral care conferences.She appreciated the importance of conversation in her relationships with parents andstudents.

I mean we do talk to the girls with things like that, but we also try to explain this sort ofthing to the parents too.

I don’t know if it’s counselling but a lot of listening to them talking it out, explaining things,telling them it’s really not so bad that teenage girls can act like the world is ending and it’snot.

Mia also acknowledged the opportunity to talk about her professional experiencesthrough the research interview process in that: “It is quite nice to chat about it aswell though”.


Mia evaluated the different environments she experienced within each socioculturalcontext. She then continually reinterpreted her understanding within each new con-text by building on her previous experience. The different education contexts and thesociocultural diversity that Mia experienced internationally were critical in shapingher personal professional development. Her experience extended across three edu-cation systems internationally, within various school environments, using differentcurriculum and resources and through various role responsibilities.

Fundamental to Mia’s EPPL was developing her capacity in each teaching con-text. She continually questioned her content knowledge and her understanding of thecurriculum for her students in each new situation. Her personal professional knowl-edge was extended in understanding different curriculum and assessment processeswith active interpretation and response to her practice. Complexity and context arerevealed in teacher thinking, demonstrated when they “mentally rehearse alternativeways of conceptualising and responding to the situations they face” (Calderhead1987). Evident in Mia’s evaluation of her learning across diverse contexts is the needto understand the content, curriculum requirements and milieu of each teaching sit-uation. It was also essential for her to contextually reinterpret this understanding to


address the learning needs of her students. Her teaching experience allowed her todevelop her personal practical knowledge within each school community, as well asher understanding from a sociocultural perspective internationally.

Relying solely on her own experience, however, was not helpful for Mia inaccessing the tacit understanding within each new teaching environment. Through-out “lived experience” (Dewey 1963), there is a difference between inferred tacitknowledge, explicit local knowledge and declarative situational knowledge (Fen-stermacher 1994). The latter two types of knowledge are represented in a teacher’sunderstanding of explicit statements and propositions that are context-specific, aswell as in their heuristic expression of formal policy and procedures. It is the tacitknowledge that is often not articulated to newcomers within a teaching context andwhich may represent a critical omission for the situational development of their per-sonal practical knowledge. For Mia, the process of accessing this tacit knowledgerelied on communication and collaboration with her colleagues, allowing them timeto share their unarticulated or customary understandings. Her development requiredher to access the tacit knowledge surrounding each new curriculum and to integratethis understanding into her personal practical knowledge.

Mia’s development included contributing to school-based initiatives by sharingher learning with colleagues and parents. Through growing self-confidence in eachcontext, she shared her understanding with colleagues. She participated in exter-nally presented courses to access scholarly and professional knowledge to developher theoretical understanding. She selected colleagues to whom she continued toarticulate her career aspirations for future leadership roles. Evident in Mia’s pro-fessional development are teacher involvement, school-based initiatives, collabora-tive problem-solving, continuous and supported learning, information-rich sourcesand developing theoretical understanding (Hawley and Valli 1999). Mia also twiceattempted to access scholarly resources through university master’s degree courses.However, the demands and challenges of her combined teaching and coordinationroles and personal considerations for financial security reduced her confidence andmotivation to continue with these studies.

Mia’s professional learning narrative highlights the difficulties that teachers mayexperience in creating contextualised and collaborative stories of their personal pro-fessional development. When teachers take “collective control of their work, inprofessional and personal autonomy”, they are “pioneering a new complex profes-sionalism” (Goodson 2003). The collective control of this complex professionalismencompasses teachers’ ability to influence the complex aspects of students’ learningand the programs within schooling, as well as engineering themechanisms necessaryfor their own professional learning that will enable collaborative problem-solving.Nurturing a personal professionalism requires an appropriately “sustainable envi-ronment” for teachers to create their own theories of context (Goodson 2003). Miaexperienced some obstacles in forging a professionalism that supported collaborativelearning for exerting her professional judgement. The early teaching environmentsshe experienced did not offer sufficient collective control or individual authority tosustain an enriching personal and professional development for her practice. Sheacknowledged the constraining influences of an overly prescriptive syllabus. She


then recognised the creative and innovative practice possible in a teaching environ-ment with minimal issues of student behaviour management. She was encouragedto explore higher levels of thinking and to promote critical insights in her students’learning and investigate avenues for her professional learning. For Mia, exercisingher professional judgement was central to developing self-confidence in her practice.The strength and determination of her character enabled her to maintain her profes-sional judgement even after experiencing obstacles. She developed resilience, a beliefin her professional acumen, and a self-confident determination in her teaching andlearning approach.

The critical challenges in Mia’s development relate to the questioning of anduncertainties surrounding her perceived professionalism as a teacher. Invoking achanged approach towards developing a teacher’s expertise requires professionallearning opportunities that:

engage with the “moral and social purposes” embedded within education syllabi; exercisetheir “discretionary judgement” on teaching issues; share their expertise and solve prob-lems within “collaborative cultures”; exert “occupational heteronomy” that reduces “self-protective autonomy”; embrace the emotional nature of their “commitment to active care”;self-direct their “continuous learning”, and recognise and appropriately reward the “hightask complexity” of their teaching practice. (Goodson 2003)

Mia’s story reveals a lack of some of these opportunities as well as the uncertaintiesthat impeded the inclusion throughout her personal professional learning. Her inabil-ity to exercise her professional judgement within overly prescriptive systems was notenriching for her teaching practice and so initially reinforced a “self-protective auton-omy”. Her confidence and motivation to extend her capabilities were unsettled byincidents that challenged her professionalism. She experienced times when there wasa lack of learning opportunities or where she was inhibited in accessing opportuni-ties to extend her personal professional learning. Her studies at a tertiary level weretwice suspended due to the demands of her teacher and leader roles and the stressshe felt from the questioning of her professional judgement. Experiencing a lackof “occupational heteronomy” restricted her learning. Mia also felt thwarted by theclient service and high-stakes assessment environment of an independent school. Herexperience of the “high task complexity” of teaching led her to compare the recog-nition and rewards available within teaching and other professions. Consequently,Mia faced an ongoing dilemma regarding remaining within the teaching profession.

Mia’s story also reveals opportunities that improved her ability to access somecomponents of “post-modern professionalism” (Goodson 2003), in contrast to theuncertainties she experienced. Her philosophical approach allowed her to look for-ward to “discretionary judgement” opportunities that enabled her to maintain self-esteem and promoted resilience in her practice despite her early career challenges.When she experienced personal attacks and a questioning of her professionalism,she maintained a positive approach and confidence in her ability. At these times, shefocused on the “moral and social purposes” of her teaching by modelling a profes-sional demeanour for students and parents. When she found difficulty in accessingthe tacit knowledge within each new teaching context, she was afforded the benefits


of a “collaborative culture” that encouraged her ongoing learning through communi-cation and collaboration with colleagues. Mia broadened her personal professionallearning by combining teaching with a pastoral care coordination role that promotedher “commitment to active care”. She learnt to foster pastoral care relationshipswith students and their parents in boarding and day school environments. At times,the intensely personal dynamics of these interpersonal relationships was stressful forMia. However, the emotional demands and relational strains that occur with teachingrepresent the “moral and social purposes” of the curriculum. Mia’s attitudes to andbeliefs about her own learning created the professionalism for her personal profes-sional development within the opportunities of her experience. Her understanding ofexpertise related to the degree to which she felt professionally acknowledged in thedevelopment of her pedagogical prowess and content knowledge in different envi-ronments. Mia acknowledged that it was her response to challenges that developedher expertise within teaching rather than an accumulation of years of teaching. Somuch so that Mia recognised that she could have “just repeated myself over and overagain” and so she continued to contemplate applying and developing her expertisein another profession.

Mia’s desire for a variety of life experiences was the impetus for her to travel.Teaching in different countries enabledMia to compare different systems and analyseher learning in different societal contexts and through continual analysis of the inter-personal aspects of each situation. Expert teachers are seen to extend their capabilitiesby engaging in complex tasks with a “willingness to reinvest mental resources andenergy” (Tsui 2009). For Mia, the compounded complexity of her tasks in each newsituation presented physical, intellectual and emotional demands. Nevertheless, shededicated her energy to pursuing an international teaching career with the incentiveof her personal professional development. In the third phone interview, Mia reflectedon the unique personal and professional opportunities of her EPPL—

As far as the analysis and being able to look at situations and trying to figure out how bestto act, I think that’s been really valuable, it’s really helped me. … You know, you grow intoyour profession and it influences your personal, sort of, head as well.

Mia’s reflection of her story emphasises the fundamental nature of the personal inher professional development and learning narrative.

This chapter has shown how Mia’s need for new experiences enabled her toseek new contexts for her career progression. Her professional development shiftsfrom classroom and curriculum considerations to the personal significance of studentpastoral care within her teaching and her coordination roles. There is a significantinfluence of cultural diversity and micro- and macro-context on the shaping of Mia’spersonal professional learning. Her attitudes and beliefs have enabled her to navi-gate professional development opportunities in relation to societal context, curricu-lum content and professional relationships. She came to recognise the satisfactionshe experienced in the nurturing of relationships across a boarding and day schoolcommunity. Finally, Mia determined her own professionalism through her uniqueapproach to learning.

The issues and possibilities in the personal professional development and learningof Mia will be further discussed in Chap. 10. The next two chapters will present theremaining two professional learning narratives examined in the EPPL study.



This chapter considers Mia’s motivation to learn through different economic andsociocultural contexts of varied international education systems. The following ques-tions enable contemplation of the practice challenges and learning opportunities forMia’s EPPL.

• How did the cultural diversity and micro- and macro-contexts onMia’s experienceshape her EPPL?

• In what ways did Mia’s attitudes and beliefs about her own learning afford uniqueopportunities, and refocus her EPPL from classroom behaviour management to astrategic involvement in pastoral care?

• How did Mia’s EPPL approach enable a meaningful construction of her ownprofessionalism to fulfil her personal professional development?

References

Calderhead, J. (1987). Exploring teachers’ thinking. London: Cassell.Dewey, J. (1963). Experience and education. New York: Collier.Fenstermacher, G. D. (1994). The knower and the known: The nature of knowledge in research onteaching. In Review of Research in Education ( Vol. 20, pp. 3–56).

Goodson, I. (2003). Professional knowledge, professional lives: Studies in education and change(Professional learning). Buckingham: Open University Press.

Hawley, W. D., & Valli, L. (1999). The essentials of effective professional development: A newconsensus. In G. Sykes, & L. Darling-Hammond (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession:Handbook of policy and practice (1st ed., pp. 127–150, Vol. The Jossey-Bass education series.).San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

ISTAA (2018). Independent Schools Teacher Accreditation Authority. https://www.aisnsw.edu.au/ISTAA/Pages/Default.aspx2018.

NESA (2018). Guide to Accreditation. http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/teacher-accreditation/how-accreditation-works/guide-to-accreditation.

OFSTED (2015). Common inspection framework: education, skills and early years from September2015. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-inspection-framework-education-skills-and-early-years-from-September-20152018.

Polanyi, M. (1983). The tacit dimension. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith.Riessman, C. K. (2002). Narrative Analysis. In M. B. Miles & A. M. Huberman (Eds.), The quali-

tative researcher’s companion (pp. 217–270). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications.Tsui, A. B. M. (2009). Distinctive qualities of expert teachers. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and

Practice, 15(4), 421–439. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057179.

https://www.aisnsw.edu.au/ISTAA/Pages/Default.aspx2018

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/teacher-accreditation/how-accreditation-works/guide-to-accreditation

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-inspection-framework-education-skills-and-early-years-from-September-20152018

https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057179

Chapter 7Lilli: Horizons for Harnessing EmotionalPositivity and Dealing with Change

Abstract This chapter recounts the professional learning narrative of Lilli’s expe-rience. Lilli’s story outlines her ongoing reassessment of her professional learning,which she characterises as a constant juggling of responsibilities. Four complicatingactions are explored for Lilli and the evaluation of these by Lilli herself. She indicateshow she learnt through teaching a student with special needs, building good relation-ships with students, coordinating a school’s professional development programmeand the collegial sharing of expertise. The coda of her story highlights Lilli’s positiveattitude to change and her ability to perceive challenges as satisfying in her approachto her own learning. The contextual aspects of learning within Lilli’s story reveal herinnovative approach to learning in an ideational context, while the interpersonal con-text signifies the positive power of relationships for her learning. Her use ofmetaphorand proverbial understandings to express her classroom teaching practice and coordi-nator role responsibilities are identified. Following the Summary and conclusion, Aconversation with colleagues poses Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL)questions to explore how emotional positivity and accepting change has influencedLilli’s professional learning horizon and allowed her expertise to thrive.

Lilli’s Story

Reassessing Professional Learning—“You Almost Haveto Start Again”

Lilli’s learning encompassed classroomand leadership responsibilities across variouscontexts within smaller government schools in England and a large independentschool in Australia. She developed her understanding of administrative budgeting,student and parent relationships in both primary and secondary school teaching,curriculum coordination, the impact of school target-setting on teachers, and theneeds and expectations of the broader school community.

After her initial five years of teaching, Lilli accepted a curriculum coordina-tor position at a different school in England. She learnt to integrate informationand communication technology (ICT) into her teaching practice and collaborative


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98 7 Lilli: Emotional Positivity and Dealing with Change

learning by “being enthusiastic about something yourself but spreading that enthusi-asm to someone else”. Lilli also extended her development with co-curricular activ-ities for students, such as netball, tag rugby, dance club and ICT club. In her sixthteaching year, Lilli accepted a role as leading teacher of ICT, in which she ledby example in sharing her expertise “informally one-on-one” and with: “faculty”;“whole staff ”; and “teachers from other schools coming into my class to observehow I incorporated ICT into the classroom”. Lilli’s final two years of teaching inEngland culminated in a leadership role with curriculum responsibility for Mathe-matics and whole-school target-setting. She contextualised her learning in combinedteacher and leader roles across a range of different socioeconomic school communi-ties.

Since 2005 in Australia, Lilli taught junior secondary Science and senior Biologyand Chemistry at an independent school for boys. She recognised her oscillating roleresponsibilities in that:

I was in a management position and thenmoved to Australia and stepped back and went backinto complete full-time teaching and then have gone forward into management again, so aleadership role again. And through obviously having made that transition from one countryto another you have to then look at where you were and where you are, and you almost haveto start again.

In 2010, as teaching and learning coordinator, Lilli was responsible for “runningbreakfast clubs and twilights or organising other people to share their expertise”as part of the professional development programme at her school. She continued todraw on her experience and share her expertise as she navigated her teaching andlearning in each new context. Her professional learning focused on improving herclassroom practice and realising the responsibilities of coordination and leadershiproles.

Juggling the Responsibilities of Teaching—“You’ve Gotto Spin All These Plates at the Same Time and There’s Alwaysthe Possibility that You’re Going to Drop One of Them”

The learning progression for Lilli within each new environment is “a balancingact between the two”—leadership roles with the responsibilities of her classroomteaching—“it doesn’t matter what country you’re in it’s the same”. Balancing theexpectations and demands of a large independent school operating within a moreadvantaged socioeconomic localitywas challenging in terms of “privileged educationand attitude” and “a different set of problems because of sheer numbers”.

Lilli taught more than her award mandated requirements while fulfilling her coor-dinator responsibilities. Coordinating the professional learning of the school’s staffas well as fulfilling her own teaching allocation, she found her workdays would spanup to 10 h.

Lilli’s Story 99

There are never enough hours in the day, never … So, it’s a real juggling act and you’ll findthat most teachers will tell you it’s the old thing, you’ve got to spin all these plates at thesame time and there’s always the possibility that you’re going to drop one of them becausethere are so many plates you have to keep them in the air at the same time.

It was her determination in such circumstances that provided Lilli with the induce-ment to continue learning where “you’re having to adapt, it’s constantly changing”.She links this to her motivation for balancing the responsibilities of her classroomteaching and leadership roles.

I really respond well to pressure, not everyone does. I mean there are days when you get,when it’s really busy and it is overwhelming but to be able to complete everything on timeis good, is satisfying.

Lilli is aware that she has a need for challenging roles to thrive. She recognises hermotivation to strive to successfully complete tasks even in situations that requiretremendous effort.

Differentiating Student Needs and Building GoodRelationships with Students—“You Always Feel if that Doesn’tHappen then You’ve Failed Somehow”

A major influence in her second year of teaching in England was Lilli’s Scienceteaching and pastoral care as a homeroom teacher of a student with Down syndrome.She felt:

Huge responsibilities, and it also made me much more aware of student development emo-tionally, and physically, and psychologically.

Lilli learnt to cater for different developmental levels in her teaching within the rangeof adolescent ability levels, “differentiating hugely and how that could coexist in thesame room”. For Lilli, the significance of this learning experience is enduring: “Thatwill never go away, that will never go away”. The learning from Lilli’s experience incaring for and teaching a student with special needs contributed to her understandingof building relationships to cater for individual student needs.

Lilli is aware of the value of her interpersonal abilities in building rapport withboth students and parents. She shared with a parent her experience of perseveringwith his son:

And the dad was laughing because he knew exactly what his son was like … It was nice forthe dad to be able to say, “well I’m really glad because at least you tried and other peopledidn’t”. So, you remember little things like that.

She recognises “little moments” when students “suddenly say ‘I get it’” and thepersonal interactions outside classroom teaching as: “little things like that which don’tsound like anything do they?”. These relational moments maintained the impetusfor Lilli to further her understanding of her adolescent students. However, she is


realistic about the times she was not successful in building rapport with studentswhen “You’ll remember the one that you feel ‘oh I didn’t get it right’”. Lilli valuesbuilding successful relationships with students and is concerned when she fails to doso.

Sharing Expertise for Professional Development—“We’d Liketo Have More Opportunities to Do that”

Lilli experienced both success and challenges when she coordinated a school’s pro-fessional development programme for over 100 teachers. In this role, she promotedlearning between colleagues and encouraged opportunities for sharing outside teach-ing time, although aware that teachers are “time poor”, and that outside courseshave “cost implications for the school”. She learnt to deal with the time and workconstraints in organising teacher professional development sessions as well as theassociated costs and people management issues.

Learning was a daily occurrence for Lilli in her teaching and learning coordinatorrole. She developed her own communication approach and strategies to address spe-cific teacher needs. She understood the increasing need for teachers to develop theiruse of ICT within their classroom practice. She became aware of the range of abilitylevels and the need to boost confidence through collaborative learning. She drew onthe skills of her colleagues to work in small groups or pairs during ICT sessions.Lilli valued facilitating and sharing collaborative learning with colleagues throughthe in-school professional development sessions. It was the administrative and peo-ple management structures that govern the professional development programmethat presented challenges for her.

You learn things about people, how to handle people. I’ve learnt very quickly which thingsstaff or teachers are very sensitive about. I think that’s the best word.

Dealing with many individuals to provide a variety of professional learning experi-ences in a large school became a tense experience for Lilli. When she relinquishedher teaching and learning coordinator role she felt:

A huge relief because the more you deal with people face-to-face the more stressful it is.And for some reason professional development is a very touchy subject.

Lilli continued to investigate new approaches to her teaching. Team teaching witha colleague in one secondary Science class provided an opportunity for her and hercolleague to tailor lessons around specific areas of their Science teaching expertise.

So, we spent a lot of time looking at the concepts and the areas of Science that students finddifficult … and then we planned a series of lessons that would tackle those. We’d work asa team in that one of us would introduce the topic and one of us would be around the classtalking to students in small groups or we’d reverse the roles, or we might have a bit of a tagteam sometimes but there would be two of us to call on, so we would share our expertise.

Lilli’s Story 101

This was an encouraging experience for Lilli, with an initial improvement in thelearning outcomes for some students and an increase in the number of studentsstudying Science in their senior secondary years. Shewas able to question the relativeinfluence of different teaching approaches, and then to adapt her practice: “So, it’sstill developing”.

Lilli continued to question her practice and learn through the team-teaching expe-rience “that’s always very helpful”, recognising the need to bemindful of the specificcontext to refine her approach with her colleague. She further identified opportunitiesfor teachers to share one class, for two classroom teachers to open a dividing wallto share one learning space, and for a group of teachers in one classroom to cater tothe needs of gifted and talented students. Lilli continued to encourage team-teachingopportunities for collegial learning.

Approaching Change and Finding Satisfying Challenges—“IHave to Keep Doing Different Things Because I Don’t LikeBeing Set in a Rut”

Along with relishing the intellectual challenges, Lilli recognised the various skillsrequired to approach change. Accepting coordination and leadership roles enabledher to fulfil her need for challenges. Her learning encompassed adapting her teachingpractices and extending her capabilities within these roles.

I have to keep doing different things because I don’t like being set in a rut. … So, every timeI re-teach a topic I try and do it in a different way or add something to it that makes it better.

In 2011, she accepted a new role on the curriculum leadership team as NationalAssessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)1 coordinator, in whichshe relied on her previous experience. She also became aware that tracking studentprogress over time leads to greater teacher accountability.

Lilli also valued her ability to positively deal with the change involved in a schoolrestructure.

So, if it’s the point of view that you might not agree with a change, but you’ve got to do it,then you might as well do it properly and have a good go at it. And I think that is part oflooking at it positively.

Lilli recognises her adaptability and positive attitude as significant attributes forembracing change, allowing her to thrive on challenges. Her ongoing learning incor-porated the “juggling act” of her classroom teaching and the coordination respon-sibilities of her curriculum leadership role. In 2012, Lilli took on a new role in theschool’s leadership team as Executive Officer Operations. She was responsible forteaching two senior classes of Chemistry and Biology along with managing the daily

1In Australia, NAPLAN is the assessment of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in reading, writing,language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy (ACARA 2016).


organisation of the school’s teaching staff and the construction and maintenance ofthe school timetable for all teachers.

It’s been a steep learning curve, it definitely has. It’s been difficult [laughing] how can Idescribe it?

Lilli consistently demonstrated an ability to embrace change as an opportunityand to relish challenges in satisfying her need for ongoing learning as “you’d getbored if you didn’t have a challenge, wouldn’t you?”.


Lilli’s story is open to three modes of contextual interpretation (Riessman 2002). Inthe ideational context, Lilli requires cooperative approaches to investigate innova-tive practice and embrace change. Positive relationships with students, parents andcolleagues are important in the interpersonal context for Lilli. Within the textual orspoken context, she uses a “juggling” metaphor and proverbial understandings of“little things” and “can of worms” to convey the emotional aspects of her teachingand learning.

Ideational Context: Innovative and Cooperative Approaches

Lilli identified the important attributes associated with her learning as thriving onpressure, relishing a challenge and positively responding to change. Within eachcontext, Lilli sought challenges that capturedher interestwith newandvaried learningopportunities. She valued innovative and cooperative approaches for teaching andprofessional learning that could counter the negative aspects of competition resultingfrom increased teacher accountability.

She was aware of the importance of learning through both her classroom teachingand coordination roles. Lilli’s ongoing learning incorporated her willingness to learnfrom others. She was not content to rely on habitual practice and maintained herimpetus for ongoing improvements in her practice.

I really like to learn off other people … then you have to think “how could I change that?How can I make it better?” So, I’m always looking for new and different ways especiallyof getting students involved. I don’t like passive learners, and my classrooms aren’t ones, Idon’t know, there might be a bit of anarchy at times.

A constant for Lilli was encouraging students to be active and interactive in theirlearning. She felt that this dynamic approach was needed to keep enhancing herpractice by “finding all different ways of approaching things, never being static,always looking to improve”. Lilli acknowledged the importance of incorporatingstrategies to address different learner needs in lesson planning to provide variety inher students’ learning and in her approach to her own learning.


Lilli placed value on a collegial learning approach for teacher professional learn-ing. Her learning also focused on demystifying individual teachers’ practice throughsharing and increasing opportunities for peer observation and discussion of lessonsas well as team teaching.

And I think that’s coming a long way from teachers going into the classroom and shuttingthe door and nobody knows what’s going on in there. It’s now opening up the doors andsharing good practice much more than we ever used to do before.

However, Lilli’s coordination roles highlighted the tensions for TPL in using statis-tical measures of students to extrapolate target-setting from outcomes to individualteacher accountability. Lilli acknowledged the caution needed with analysis of theNAPLAN results.

A negative effect on some people who would perhaps want to make sure that what they aredoing looks better or has better results and then tend to keep things to yourself and I don’tthink that’s healthy … [or] if somebody is struggling it’s a matter of supporting them andnot condemning them.

Significant for Lilli was the need to guard against adverse impacts of greater teacheraccountability on collaboration in teaching practice and professional learning.

Responding to challenges and change was important for Lilli’s learning at varioustimes in her career. Her innovative approach to teaching, understanding of learningstyles and sharing of teaching practice were central to her ideational context. Herown learning and that of her colleagues was at risk from result-driven competition.This posed a dilemma for Lilli in the ongoing fostering of collegial learning andenhancing of teacher performance.

Interpersonal Context: Positive Relationships and Learningby Sharing Expertise

Central to Lilli’s learning was maintaining her positive approach to professionalrelationships with colleagues. She also valued her ability to build relationships withstudents to foster their learning. She nurtured student relationships through her useof humour within a non-confrontational approach to her teaching practice.

So, I think you try as much as you can to be positive but of course there are times when youare going to have to say, “Don’t do that”. But I don’t go in for confrontation, that’s not me,diffusing, humour, I like to use humour.

Navigating a unique relationship with each individual student was fundamental forLilli’s teaching. She recognised the need for regular positive feedback and for negat-ing conflict. She developed an ability to light-heartedly minimise those intenselyemotional situations experienced with adolescent students.

Lilli values being observed and commended on her teaching expertise. She per-ceives that there is an issue of isolation for teachers when they are not able to obtain


feedback from colleagues. Her early experience in England where she regularlyreceived exceptional reports during the school inspection process provided her witha self-confidence that positively influenced her professional learning:

It reaffirms what you thought, you are doing the right thing. And I think the one thing withteachers because we are in rooms on our own isolated as adults, it is important to get somekind of reassurance that you are doing a good job. And that’s the one thing sometimes thatyou don’t get.

In her early years of teaching, Lilli appreciated the encouragement of another pro-fessional opinion on her teaching practice. She recognises that this experience is notoften created or even possible for many teachers, and as a result she has worked atmodelling and sharing her practice with others. She feels that team teaching reducedher isolation from colleagues. Further opportunity for collaborative learning withcolleagues in her school context includes “a project or learning things from them orsharing things with them” rather than external courses that “go on for longer thanthey should”. Professional development in which teachers were involved in devel-oping and presenting learning activities enabled Lilli to share the decision-makingprocesses of practice.

And most teachers will take it on board not as a criticism of what they’re doing but asperhaps a great idea that they can now incorporate into their range of approaches, range ofstrategies, their pedagogy whatever you like to call it… it’s where you sit together in groupsor somebody leads something, or you work together on a project … is the best form ofprofessional learning.

Fostering camaraderie in teaching and learning has been important for Lilli in devel-oping her expertise. She has been able to be involved in unique in-school projectsand reciprocal sharing of classroom practice with colleagues.

The importance of this interpersonal context for Lilli is that the dialogue andcommunication necessary in sharing practice can offset the isolation of the classroom.Significantly, Lilli values learning through the expertise of her colleagues abovethat of externally provided PD courses. Consequently, she willingly reciprocatesthe sharing of expertise through team teaching. She advocates professional learningopportunities for teachers in which they can share classroom practice.

Textual or Spoken Context: Juggling Act, Can of Wormsand a Little Proverb

Lilli uses proverb and metaphor to illustrate the nature of her teaching and learn-ing. She humorously addresses her ability to talk and references the importance ofknowing when to stop talking in a lesson.

During the interview process, Lilli used a common maxim—“there’s a wholecan of worms”—to express the complexity of her practice and learning experiences


throughout her teaching career. This proverb represents the experiences of her learn-ing narrative as diverse and unrestrainable as a container of worms on a fishingtrip.

The following examples demonstrate Lilli’s use of metaphor to represent thedynamic nature of her learning across her teaching and leadership roles:

So, it’s a real juggling act and it will vary from day to day as well, so it’s very difficult toquantify. Does that make sense?

I’ve never had a leadership role without a teaching role, so it’s always been a balancing actbetween the two. There are never enough hours in the day, never.

Look at the mess I’ve got on the wall; with all the things that I’ve got that are going on. Isaid before about juggling plates or spinning plates, that’s it.

The juggling act metaphor expresses the difficulty of balancing the various roleresponsibilities, while also acknowledging the messiness that may result if the bal-ancing is not successful.

Lilli also frequently referred to “little” things or “moments”. The quotes belowshow that she recognised the emotional significance of these for her teaching,although downplaying these as everyday occurrences or incidents with students.

I suppose we all have those little moments in class where you’re teaching.

… and little things like that which don’t sound like anything do they?

… just those little things.

… it’s the little things every day … that keep building up.

So, you remember little things like that.

Lilli often used the word “little” about memorable incidents and positive relation-ships with students. Using this word appears to understate the importance of thisinterpersonal context for Lilli. Yet it may indicate that she is unsure if others valueand share her understanding of the significance of these interpersonal relationshipsfor her teaching. There is a sense of not wishing to reveal her reliance on positiverelational experiences, indicated by her minimising the emotional significance of“little” things.

Lilli’s use of language reveals a textual context that acknowledges the changingand often precarious nature of her learning and highlights the motivation for herongoing learning in meeting these challenges. Lilli’s language also reinforces thevalue she places on the relational nature of her teaching and learning.


Lilli’s opportunities to reframe her practice were made possible by the changingnature of her situation and the new role responsibilities she undertook. She devel-oped her understanding of the detailed context in primary and secondary schoolclassrooms. Her understanding broadened within small school and large school con-texts, and her learning required her to develop an alternative perspective when she


moved from England to Australia. Her move between countries was the impetus forLilli to identify the similarities and differences between her previous and presentexperiences and so adapt to different coordination and leadership roles.

Embracing the complexities of the teaching and learning relationships also con-tributed to Lilli’s learning. She applied her understanding of specific student needsto differentiate approaches within her teaching and to building unique relationshipswith students. She experienced collegial support in her own professional learning andreciprocated by sensitively supporting others in their professional development. Yether responsibilities in reporting on student achievement presented qualms for Lilli.She was torn because the increased accountability of high-stakes testing impactedon her collaborative learning and how she needed to work with her colleagues.

Lilli’s EPPL enabled the development of her expertise through honing her teach-ing approach to match the specific details of classroom and school context andthen rethinking her learning within her teaching and leadership roles. Similarly,the tensions and ambiguities of teaching and learning are embraced by “expert ped-agogues” who develop their professional knowledge of practice through refiningand reframing their practice (Loughran 2010). In this way, cultivation of practicerequires an ability to develop understanding beyond the technicality of basic detailsand to develop an alternate perspective to reframe similar situations and so developinnovative approaches (Loughran 2010).

For Lilli, integrating student feedback and their responses to adaptations in herteaching practice each year was vital for motivating her students and herself. Inher second year of teaching in England, she responded to the unique requirementsof a student with special needs as well as the student peers who were involved inthis teaching and learning experience. Lilli continued to develop her understandingof the differentiated teaching required for her adolescent students. She encouragedstudent participation in conducting and formulating learning activities and trustedher students’ responses to their learning experiences. Her seeking out and integratingfeedback from students on her teaching approach shows the value placed on theirperceptions of their learning experience. An expert teacher’s development of practicerequires nurturing a dynamic learning and teaching relationship in which studentsare trusted in their learning. Lilli’s approach in this respect aligns to that of expertteachers who are able “to construct pedagogy in ways that facilitate students asactive learners” (Loughran 2010) and so develop expertise of applying professionalknowledge in practice.

In the pastoral care aspects of her teaching role, an appreciation of the emotionsof her students is significant for Lilli. Her approach is non-confrontational, usinghumour in tense situations and presenting a positive attitude in dealing with stu-dent issues. Having responsibility for a student with special needs was cherished byLilli as a learning experience. She values the emotional involvement of her teach-ing, despite her tendency to play down these “little” incidents in her relationshipswith students. Emotional needs for teacher and student dictate her strategies, fore-grounding excitement and enjoyment, that are “often tied to senses of creativity,breakthrough and achievement in teaching students and in themselves as teachers”(Hargreaves 1998). Lilli enthusiastically described her use of humour and her enjoy-


ment of the “little” moments as significant emotional investment to individualise herteaching approach to the unique needs of students. She fostered positive relation-ships to create an enjoyable, interesting and interactive learning environment. Herpersonal professional development centred on the emotional aspects of her teachingin cultivating her relationships with parents, building positive rapport with students,and remaining sensitive to her colleagues. The emotional purpose of teaching in pro-viding the satisfaction and enjoyment that motivates teachers to “change and developpedagogically” and to “take pride in that development over time” (Hargreaves 1998)is evident in Lilli’s ongoing professional development and her approach to her EPPL.

Lilli demonstrated an understanding of her motivational need for challenges. Sherelished the satisfaction she felt in responding to work pressures and overcoming achallenge. Her expertise indeed derived from being challenged and through fulfillingclassroom teaching responsibilities and the demands of a coordination or leadershiprole. She maintained a positive attitude to change when it was directed to a soundeducational purpose. The cultivation of self-understanding and awareness is essentialfor the development of an expert teacher’s practice (Loughran 2010). At the sametime, Lilli showed an understanding of the professional quandaries she experienced.She learnt how to handle people and to deal with people in a sensitiveway through theresponsibilities of her professional development coordination role. Lilli was support-ive in the development of other teachers when competition resulted from increasedpublic accountability of standardised assessment results. She perceived competitionas unhealthy and stifling of collegial learningwith a negative implication of increasedteacher accountability. To counter this, Lilli advocated an “open-door” approach toteam teaching and the sharing of practice. Recognising the need to be tolerant, adap-tive and supportive in these roles was important for her EPPL and allowed her toencourage this learning disposition in others.

Lilli values positive working relationships that enhance opportunities for teachersto share practice through collaborative learning activities. An interest in collaborationfor an expert teacher’s development of practice relies on recognising the “value ofplanning, teaching and reviewing practicewith a valued colleague” (Loughran 2010).The public sharing of professional knowledge by “accomplished, experienced teach-ers” through professional learning communities demonstrates that teacher ownershipof their own learning is essential to enable “formal and informal planned opportuni-ties” (Fraser et al. 2007) that encourage transformative learning. For Lilli, her first fewyears of teaching provided the groundwork for a growing confidence in her practicethat enabled her to begin sharing her expertise. She was a forerunner in encouragingcolleagues to incorporate ICT into their practice and she investigated new practicesthrough team teaching, always thinking about and experimenting with how to changeand improve her teaching approach. The importance of an inquiry mode into practiceis described as “Going public” to enable teachers to learn with peers, and so disruptthe isolation to build “intellectual community: finding out that they can learn fromtheir peers, and in so doing become members of a collaborative group” (Liebermanand Pointer Mace 2009). For Lilli, her EPPL is built on collaborative learning withpeers, with the aim of self-reflection and evaluation of practice. She relies on com-munication with her students and peers in her learning, and she values feedback that


enables her to refine her practice. Like Jaxon’s approach detailed in Chap. 4, Lilli’sunderstanding of her development emphasises the dynamic nature of her learningthat is critically influenced by interpersonal relationships and intrapersonal motiva-tions. This view of expertise highlights the limitations of an accumulation of yearsof experience as the sole indicator of teacher development without qualifying under-standing of the learning narrative over that time. In our final interview, Lilli reflectedon her learning as a constant process in the continual development of her professionalknowledge.

Obviously, you’re still learning a lot and whatever you do there’s still more to learn. Younever stop learning, I think, as a teacher. Or if you do perhaps that’s when you stop being agood teacher.

Lilli was motivated by the challenges associated with change and eager to under-take new opportunities to enable her learning. Expert teachers select and completetasks that represent “increasingly difficult problems” as part of the process of extend-ing their expertise (Tsui 2009), which is critically different to those of experiencednon-experts. Lilli took on leadership roles that extended her understanding of cur-riculum coordination, professional development and standardised assessment, andconstantly created new learning horizons for herself. Her learningmoved from teach-ing in her own classroom to sharing practice with colleagues and to an understandingof the strategic needs and issues of the whole school community.

The narrative portrayal of Lilli’s story reveals the personally contextual signif-icance of her EPPL. Essentially, the development of Lilli’s practice has entailedaddressing her and her students’ emotional needs. Relationships with students, col-leagues and members of the school community have motivated her interactive andinnovative approach to teaching and learning. A range of complex situations haveprovided challenges for Lilli’s professional learning, and her learning has developedout of resilient attitude to change, a positive response to challenges and a core beliefin the value of experiencing a variety of collegial learning opportunities. Lilli hasconstructed meaning in her personal professional development in her ever-changinglearning horizon.

The issues and possibilities of Lilli’s ongoing personal professional learning willbe discussed in Chap. 9. The next chapter constructs and analyses the story of thefifth and final teacher, Anh, and in it can be seen a distinctly different story to thatof the other four teachers in the EPPL study.


The practice challenges and learning opportunities for Lilli’s EPPL can be consideredby questioning:

• In what ways did emotions and the complexity of situations influence Lilli’s devel-opment of professional knowledge and the cultivation of practice through herEPPL?


• How was Lilli’s EPPL enhanced through her belief in collegial learning, her pos-itive attitude to change and her personal drive to achieve under pressure?

• Lilli developed professionally by expanding her learning horizon, initially of herclassroom teaching, then incorporating collegial learning and finally encompass-ing strategic education concern for the school community. How did the personalconstruction of meaning for Lilli’s professional development afford her a contin-ually expanding EPPL?

References

ACARA. (2016). NAPLAN: National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy. https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan.

Fraser, C., Kennedy, A., Reid, L., &McKinney, S. (2007). Teachers’ continuing professional devel-opment: Contested concepts, understandings and models. Journal of In-service Education, 33(2),153–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674580701292913.


Lieberman, A., & Pointer Mace, D. H. (2009). The role of ‘accomplished teachers’ in professionallearning communities: Uncovering practice and enabling leadership. Teachers and Teaching:Theory and Practice, 15(4), 459–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057237.

Loughran, J. (2010). What expert teachers do: Enhancing professional knowledge for classroompractice. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.



https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan

https://doi.org/10.1080/13674580701292913

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(98)00025-0

https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057237

https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057179

Chapter 8Anh: Emotional Suffering of Resistanceand Limitations

Abstract Anh’s professional learning narrative across 30 years of classroom teach-ing is constructed in this chapter. The challenges in leadership and teaching of lowerability students that Anh faced led to a refocusing on his classroom practice. Severalcritical incidents demonstrate the personal dilemmas and professional challengesfor Anh: evaluating the failures in his career; balancing stress and satisfaction; andaccepting and relinquishing of difficult situations. As a coda to his story, Anh con-siders his life goals outside of teaching. The narrative mode of analysis highlightsthe unique contextual aspects of Anh’s story. The tensions between his establishedpedagogy and possibilities of innovations in practice, and the self-understanding hegains in the interpersonal context with his students are explored. Anh’s use of lan-guage reveals his need for re-energising and maintaining the right approach in histeaching. Finally, the Summary and conclusion reveals how Anh’s approach to hislearning enables him to construct self-understanding from his personal professionaldevelopment, while an understanding of the inherent value of years of teaching expe-rience is considered in the Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL) questionsposed in A conversation with colleagues.

Anh’s Story

Refocusing on Classroom Teaching—“from Time to TimePeople Suggest to Me that I Should Go for Positions and I JustSay, ‘I Don’t Want It’.”

Since commencing teaching in 1987, Anh experienced a spectrum of learner needsacross a variety of school communities and education systems. He appreciated eachchange of context as a chance to reinvigorate his teaching. His contemplation ofmoving to a new school offered an opportunity to “energise the batteries a bit too ina different situation”.

Anh’s third teaching position, from 1996, was at a school catering for boys injunior secondary and coeducational for senior secondary students. The motivationfor maintaining classroom responsibilities were interactions within his Mathematics


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112 8 Anh: Emotional Suffering and Limitations

teaching. Anh didn’t wish to take on the “tedious” administrative tasks he perceivedas prominent in the coordination of a subject department. In 2000, after the stressfulexperience of a year in a pastoral coordination role, Anh determined not to seekpromotional roles and their additional responsibilities.

I found it very draining and I don’t know if I didn’t have the right personality to sort of switchoff. … You know from time to time people suggest to me that I should go for positions andI just say, ‘I don’t want it’.

Anh recognised that the emotionally exhausting role strained his personalwell-being.In 2009, Anh accepted a teaching role as 80% of full-time load. He attended the

school every workday but was not happy with his allocation in teaching all juniorsecondary Mathematics as “three of them were below what you’d imagine as anaverage class”. Often the recognition for years of teaching experience includes anallocation of a senior secondary classwithin a distributionof classes across year groupand ability levels. Anh acknowledged that this is an assumption held throughout histeaching experience.

Anh’s teaching allocation presented a challenge, in that he had to manage diffi-cult junior secondary students. This undermined his personal satisfaction with histeaching situation, and he again considered taking leave from his role at the schoolin 2011. Subsequently, he accepted a 40% part-time role to job share with a teacherreturning from maternity leave in 2012. For Anh:

It seemed an attractive option. So, I had to think about it and I’ve agreed to do it next year,which means I’ll only have to go in Thursday-Friday of each week. I’m still uncertain aboutmy long-term future of staying at this school.

After more than 30 years of teaching, Anh confirmed that his development focuswas on classroom teaching. He acknowledged that he did not have the inclination orability to deal with the stress of a teacher leader role. He quelled the doubts aboutremaining at his current school by accepting a job share role on a part-time basis.

Influences Within New Situations—“Wanting to Teachin not Such an Ideal School but Try and Make a Difference”

Anh’s first teaching appointment was in a government school in an area impactedby lower socio-economic issues. His first head teacher of Mathematics established agood reputation for the department within a difficult school environment. For Anh,this head teacher presented a rolemodelwho significantly influenced the developmentof his teaching philosophy:

He once said to me that he had two ambitions when he started teaching, one was to be a headteacher and one was to teach in a tough area. And that’s what he did…. He didn’t do histhree years or whatever that gave you enough clout to get to a school with less challenges.He stayed there for over 15 years.

Anh’s Story 113

The rolemodelling of this first head teacher influencedAnh to remain in a challengingschool environment and was influential in helping him to accept difficult situationsin his career.

Dealing with discipline and behaviour management issues was a substantial partofAnh’s learning during his early years of teaching.At the time, he thought the schoolprincipal was unaware of the difficulties that teachers were dealing with, includingwhen the police handled a gang that “came into the school and started causingmayhem”. Anh recognises the significant impact of his first school environment onhis learning about student behaviour management. The Mathematics head teacher’sleadership contrasted to the negative exemplar of the principal’s leadership, and thiscontrast was formative in Anh’s development and teaching approach.

After teaching for three years in this difficult school environment, Anh accepteda position at a neighbouring school in a similar socio-economic area. After anotherthree years, he decided initially against a transfer to a school of his choice andremained true to the philosophy of “wanting to teach in not such an ideal schoolbut try and make a difference”. His subsequent transitioning from a governmentto a private school environment left Anh somewhat compromised in his teachingphilosophy of influencing the learning and future directions of students from lessadvantaged socio-economic areas. However, at the private school he identified newchallenges due to a range of academic and socio-economic issues. He gained insightsinto his students’ home lives and their relationships with their parents when he wasin a house dean role. His concerns centred on the effects of parenting and time theyspent with their children, questioning their priorities when “they would just throwmoney at the kids”.

In his pastoral role as house dean, he was aware of difficulties students expe-rienced outside the school environment. He felt this was a privileged position thatprovided opportunities for developing relationships with them. For Anh, “the goodpart” was providing a safe and happy environment at school for the students whowere struggling to improve. Anh’s awareness of the differing personal situations ofhis students guided his ongoing pastoral approach. However, the emotional stressof bearing responsibilities for many students eventually led him to resign the housedean position.

Anh described his practice in teaching early adolescents of below average ability:

There’s a skill that’s probably taking me longer than most people to realise that you’ve justgot to keep at it, keep working away, hoping that it’s going to happen, that they’re going tosee the light, they’ll understand what I’m trying to teach them.

Anh recognised that his learning entailed making mistakes and felt that his mistakeshad diminished over time. He also searched for strategies to differentiate his teachingas required for varied learner ability levels.

Whereas earlier in my career, I’d be trying to teach them the same as students with moreintelligence or more ability, so I try and adapt to the class I’m teaching. There are someclasses I make very little effort and yet they understand it because in some of the top classes,the students I am teaching are a lot smarter than me.


Anh continued to evaluate his professional learning through the complications anddilemmas of his teaching experience.

Reflecting on Motivation and Failures—“I Always Wantto Think Well I’ve Made an Effort”

Early in his career Anh applied for the eligibility listing to become a head of depart-ment in a government school. Colleagues encouraged him to put aside personalmisgivings that he was not personally equipped or inclined to undertake a leadershiprole. He was not successful so “for quite a while I felt a failure that I’d gone for itand it had gone badly”. This thought-provoking experience clarified Anh’s personaldisinclination for seeking a head of department role. However, his unenthusiasticattitude and subsequent failure in the eligibility negatively impacted his subsequentteaching of a senior class.

Anh resolved that “I always want to think I’ve made an effort” after recognisingthe negative impacts that poor motivation had on his teaching practice and his stu-dents’ learning. Although he also believed that some students were not fulfilling theirlearning responsibilities, his failures played on his concerns about his work efforts.

I don’t know if I’m being too hard on myself, but I do feel as if I’ve had a lot of failures overthe years. I sometimes get a bit despondent about that.

Anh aimed to dedicate time and effort to his practice, but at times discouragementpresented a hurdle to maintaining his motivation. The thoughts of those previousfailures impacted on his confidence. However, he directed his understanding of hisfailures into developing a better self-understanding of his professional capabilities.He reaffirmed his teaching approach with an understanding that his enthusiasm wasreflected in his students’ motivation for learning.

Anh’s confidence and motivation were again challenged by the pressure and emo-tional strain of his house dean responsibilities later in his career. He was particularlydrained by the dilemma of addressing one boy’s unacceptable behaviour while alsoproviding pastoral support for the boy and his father.

The father rang up and said, “oh he’s really depressed about not going to this dance and I’mworried that he’s going to do something to himself”. And I said …“if I turn around now heis not going to learn anything from this” … In the back of my mind I kept on thinking “youknow what if he does do something” and I went the whole weekend with it on my mind …I probably took things a bit too personally, but I just found it too stressful. I couldn’t sort ofswitch off.

The experience of the house dean role provided Anh with significant realisations. Hecame to understand the detrimental impact of the emotional strain he experiencedfrom critical incidents, though he still valued the personal and professional satis-faction of working with students in a pastoral care role. When he decided to resignfrom this role, the house dean coordinator for the school recognised Anh’s commit-ment and encouraged him to stay. Although Anh experienced critical insights into

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the benefits he derived from student pastoral care, he was also aware of the debil-itating impact of the associated emotional stress in a leadership role. This greaterself-understanding influenced his ongoing approach to his teaching practice.

Accepting then Relinquishing Difficulties—“I Knewthat There Was no Point Going on with It”

Teaching junior secondary students of mainly below average ability presented achallenge for Anh. He initially accepted the role of teaching a particularly difficultclass of immature development, lower academic ability and motivation levels. Hefound that “it was just getting ridiculous to how much time I was spending not onteaching but on disciplining them”.

Although it proved to be a continual challenge, the relationship Anh developedwith a particularly difficult class led him to consider teaching the same class in thefollowing year. His focus was on improving the ongoing learning for the students aswell as realising the benefits of the behaviour management he had put in place withthese students. Anh aimed to spare his colleagues the challenge of managing such adifficult class, yet he was “relieved” when the head teacher decided both Anh andthe students would be better served with changing their class teacher. He continuedto focus on classroom behaviour management and the pastoral care aspects of histeaching practice.

Anh was aware of weaknesses in the mathematical ability of some students. Heperceived this as a learning opportunity, so he approached the school principal andproposed a professional learning initiative that involved contacting some local pri-mary schools to share insights between teachers on ability levels, group work andstudent responsibility in learning. In proposing this initiative, Anh was eager toapply insights he had gained from previously implementing similar initiatives, buthis suggestion was not acted on by the principal.

I couldn’t convince him that I had done this at other schools … In the end, he tells me thereason he says, “I’m worried that you’re going to go down there and tell them they’re doingeverything the wrong way”. At that point, I knew that there was no point going on with it.

Upset that his evaluation was taken as a criticism, Anh became frustrated and cyni-cal with the principal’s lack of professional trust. He lost his initial enthusiasm andeventually gave up on this initiative as “it was nine months before he finally cameout and told me that he didn’t want to do it”. This lack of support for Anh’s pro-posed initiative represented another negative effect on his professional confidenceandmotivation. He believed that his pedagogical focus and experience as a classroomteacher were undervalued by those in leadership positions, so he continued to lookfor other possibilities to stimulate his interest.


Juncture for Consideration—“It’s One of the Few Times in MyLife Just Thinking ‘What Do I Want Out of My Life?’”

In 2010, Anh was feeling guarded about the learning experiences possible in his jobshare arrangement for the coming year.

Initially, he acknowledged that he may experience “a fairly steep learning curve”but felt the reduced face-to-face time would be a bonus. Anh intended to use hissubstantial free time to investigate ongoing connections with the teaching of sec-ondary Mathematics through his membership in a talented students committee forhis professional Mathematics association. Up to the time of our final interview, hewished to investigate the input he could provide into activities for extension studentsat matriculation level. However, Anh’s investigation did not eventuate into his envi-sioned possibilities of working in schools. In 2012, he took combined leave withoutpay and long service leave that allowed:

an interesting way to look at life … Retiring early looks very attractive. … Like not havingto stick to timelines, not having to deal with any stressful work situations, even just havingso much time now and being able to do things I enjoy.

Distancing himself from the demands of his teaching career and the personal stress hehad experienced enabled Anh to envision a different future with activities he enjoyedor had postponed through work commitments.

Anh’s time on leave also allowed him to come to an important revelation con-cerning the role of teaching in his life.

I’m surprised at how comfortable I am that if I didn’t have anything to do with teaching orMathematics again I’d still be alright. I’d still have a good life. … It’s one of the few timesin my life just thinking “what do I want out of my life?” From the moment, I left school Iwanted to be amaths teacher. It’s probably getting older…You know it’s almost a significantchange in my life that if it never happened again, well, worse things could happen.

The personal stress and ongoing demands of teaching became more unattractive asAnh contemplated retirement. The importance of teaching Mathematics no longerprovided him the personal motivation to consider ongoing connections to education,which also enabled him to find fulfilment in focusing on his personal interests andneeds.


As in the preceding chapters, the ideational, interpersonal, textual or spoken modes(Riessman 2002) provide an interpretation of Anh’s personal professional learn-ing experiences. In Anh’s story, the ideational context shows the tensions betweenhis established pedagogy and potential innovations for practice. The interpersonalcontext relies on developing self-understanding and the learning achieved throughrelationships with an influential role model and with students. The textual or spoken


context reveals his need for re-energising himself and maintaining the right and bestapproach in his teaching.

Ideational Context: Tensions Between Established Pedagogyand Innovative Practice

Anh’s early experienceswere influential in formulating his desire tomake a differenceto the lives of less advantaged students, while his later years of teaching practicecentred on motivating more difficult students to learn. His impetus was a belief thatstudents at all ability levels can achieve if they are encouraged to care about theirlearning. His pedagogical focus was on challenging student thinking through theestablished traditions of his teaching practice. He incorporated incremental changesin his classroom practice, but new learning technologies represented a tension tohis established pedagogy. His ideational context incorporates a vision of sharing hisexperience across different schools, which is somewhat at variance with his reticenceto embrace innovations for his practice.

Anh envisaged a different future for his Mathematics teaching and professionallearning through different school environments.

Well I’ve had this bizarre dream for years, as time goes on it seems less likely that it willever eventuate, but I’ve had this goal of just sort of being freelance, going from school toschool, taking year groups, throwing some ideas around, trying to cater for all the differentlevels. So, it will never happen … But it’s still a goal, it’s still there, it’s still in my mind.

His aspiration was to share his established teaching practice with colleagues and toteach students of varying academic ability and maturity levels.

Anh’s personal interests in other subjects, such as History and Science, also influ-enced his teaching practice. He applied real-world examples to promote students’understandingofmathematical concepts.He aimed tomotivate students in their learn-ing and to encourage them to care about their learning. He created cross-curriculumlinks for his students, offering them real-world examples to develop an appreciationfor the learning of abstract concepts such as algebra. Anh believed that as studentscan achieve in an occupational context, so they should be able to achieve in “doingsimple arithmetic” within the secondary school environment. This broadening of stu-dent learning beyond their current context was aimed at envisaging future situationsin which they could apply their learning. The important aspect for Anh’s pedagogywas making this real-world connection for his students to motivate them in theirlearning.

Through encouraging his students to explain their thinking, Anh aimed to instil amore thoughtful approach to learning Mathematics. By asking his students to thinkabout: “What do you understand by this formula? What does it mean?”Anh’s teachingwas aimed at improving their articulation of understanding. He also underplayed thecapacity of technologies such as an interactive whiteboard with the use of thoughtfulpedagogy in the explanation below.


I can put on the board a trapezium, a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides, and Ican just say “write down three ways to work out this area, three different ways”. And it’shappened a couple of times where one boy has found four ways and I just think to myselfthat doesn’t require expensive material, it doesn’t require hours of preparation, it’s relativelyopen-ended, it’s giving students a chance to show what they know or what they can puttogether.

Challenging his students’ mathematical thinking through problem-solving was morevaluable to Anh than the technology used to pose the problem. In such ways, Anhexpressed confidence: “in the later years it’s more fine-tuning, it’s just adjusting theway I’m teaching slightly rather than making radical changes”.

Anh represents the established aspects of his teaching practice as a proven peda-gogical approach.

And that’s one thing that worries me that these new ideas come in and everyone throws outthe baby with the bathwater. I think that’s a shame because there are some parts of teachingthat will never be out of date, that will always play a part.

In comments such as these, Anh reinforces his established pedagogical practice thatis cautious in adopting new practices in a faddish manner while entertaining thepossible benefits of technologies such as the interactive whiteboard. His approachinvolved initial investigation of some new practices, but concern about early adoptionof new technologies led him to remain with his established practices.

Anh’s teaching philosophy focused on accepting difficult situations existing indifferent school environments. He expressed confidence with his teaching practicesand was comfortable with his proven pedagogical approach. He sought personalrenewal in his practicemore through investigating a possibility for a sharing approachto teaching Mathematics than through the adoption of new practices.

Interpersonal Context: Self-understanding and Learningfrom Students

Learning in Anh’s early years of teaching relied on observing teachers and beinginfluenced by a head teacher. His later teaching did not involve peer observations,although he attested to the positive influence of role models and colleagues for hislearning. His teaching philosophy centred on pastoral care and motivating studentsto learn. He gained a better understanding of his students and developed greaterself-awareness, though his relationship to leaders became contested.

Anh’s reflection on his failures allowed for greater self-awareness regarding hispersonal professional capabilities. He recognised the importance of specific rolemodels early in his career in determining his teaching philosophy and valued ongo-ing collegial support “in keeping a belief that things are going in a good direction atleast some of the time”. His philosophy determined his teaching experiences withindifficult school environments and influenced him to help students from less advan-taged socio-economic areas. Anh realised he initially had “a naïve view” in thinking


“here I am to save you and help you” but then became aware that student motivationwas essential for improving student educational outcomes and future opportunities.This influenced his approach to teaching Mathematics and his behaviour manage-ment of students of differing academic ability and maturity levels. Anh experiencedboth physical and emotional strains through these demanding interactions and wascognisant of resetting himself to the needs of each new class. He used periods ofquiet written work at times to “calm things down” as he believed it necessary to “getthrough this hour of class with these boys and not be drained at the end of it”. Thebehaviourmanagement issues of teaching a difficult class later in his career promptedAnh to question the impact of the age gap with his students where:

It’s hard to get into their heads. It must be a factor because some of the students I’m teachingare 40 years younger than me. A lot of students I can relate to quite well, some of the harderones you’re thinking is the age gap a factor here.

The learning for Anh occurred through modifying his practice to address the intel-lectual and emotional needs of his students at varying academic ability and maturitylevels.

Over his career,Anhdeveloped an awareness that hewasnot equipped toundertakea leadership role. He also saw “over the years, and it’s in the minority, teachers that Ithink should not be teaching”.AsAnh could not relate to colleagueswho did not sharethe same pastoral care approach, he also recognised that he did not want to managecolleagues who did not prioritise student relationships and did not adequately dealwith behaviour management. His experiences in the house dean role allowed himto empathise with colleagues undertaking leadership roles when “there are just toomany students, they’ve still got their own classes to teach and you just can’t do it”.In the later stage of his classroom teaching, Anh found that he valued the “releasevalve” of shared humour with a like-minded colleague when dealing with a difficultclass where: “I can say well it’s not ideal but they’re worse things that can happento you”. The camaraderie of this colleague provided positive support for Anh andenabled him to maintain a pragmatic perspective in evaluating this experience. Incontrast, a lack of leadership support was disheartening for Anh, especially with thelack of acknowledgement of his views on:

Things that on their own wouldn’t be major issues but when I add them all up I just thinkwell nobody wants to listen to me.

Anh was deflated by his lack of influence with school leaders in implementing a newschool initiative. He expressed increasing dissatisfaction with how student behaviourmanagement was addressed and was unable to confidently voice his ideas when hefelt his expertise was not recognised by those in school leadership. Throughoutthis time, he continued to contemplate cross-curriculum links to improve studentunderstanding but was not proactive in observations of other teachers to broaden histeaching with new practices.

I should do some observation … [but] that’s something that I don’t do enough, I don’t goand observe lessons and I should but for some reason early in my career I did that, I’d goand observe experienced teachers.


Motivating students to learn was central to Anh’s ongoing learning for his class-room teaching within his established pedagogy. His interpersonal relationship withcolleagues was dependent on sharing a similar teaching philosophy and approach topractice. He recognised that he needs to take the initiative to reap the benefits of thistype of collegial learning and support but was unable to harness the energy for thislearning.

Textual or Spoken Context: Re-energising and Maintainingthe Right and Best Approach

Anh’s spoken language reinforces his unique motivations and approach to his class-room teaching practice. He uses metaphor to convey the emotional underpinnings ofhis experience and more traditional idiomatic expressions to given meaning to hisbehaviours and those of colleagues and parents.

Anh uses the idea of energy to metaphorically represent his emotional state. Hementions several times a need for recharging his energy to carry on through thepressures of teaching and notes that he could not emotionally disconnect from thestress of a demanding pastoral care coordinator role. Anh represents the revitalisationhe experienced in new situation with the metaphors below.

… energise the batteries a bit too in a different situation.

I didn’t have the right personality to sort of switch off.

I couldn’t sort of switch off.

I don’t know if at the end of each year I just switch off or as I said my memory mightn’t beas good. I don’t think a lot about individual classes unless they were a bit different to thenorm.

Through metaphor, Anh expresses the emotional impact of his pastoral care respon-sibilities. Conserving energy for emotional and physical aspects of teaching indicatesAnh’s concern for his longevity in the profession.

Anh’s language also expresses the significance of his teaching responsibilities andmeeting the requirements for student care and learning needs.

I suppose everybody cuts corners, but I wasn’t going to cut corners to a ridiculous level.

It’s not as if I’ve cut corners with the other classes.

I know in their minds they are probably thinking “I’m doing the right thing”, it’s not as ifthey are always cutting corners.

I’m going to cut this kid loose and not even make an effort.

His metaphorical use of “cutting corners” implies that he feels he and others did notdemonstrate the gamut of behaviours and attitudes needed to address the pastoralcare needs of students.

Anh often refers to what is “right” or “best” in relation to his abilities and hisattitudes towards his teaching practice as shown in the quotes below.


… whether it was the best work I could do …

So, I just thought it wasn’t the best for me necessarily.

… which possibly is not the right motivation.

I’m not the best at following things through.

I intend to do the best I can.

He also refers to his influence on his students’ development and learning as beingthe “right” or “best” approach or desired outcome.

I sort of felt as if I did something to get them back on the right path that was satisfying too.

So that sort of encouraged me to try and do the best I can.

… think about what I’m supposed to be doing, what’s in the student’s best interests …

I didn’t do the right thing, I didn’t push them.

I didn’t do the right thing by those kids.

I’ll still make an effort to direct them in the right path.

I’ll still make an effort to direct them in the right way.

I probably should be going in and thinking well this is the best for the students, this is thebest for the school, but I’m thinking well I like the idea of the release time.

With these terms, Anh questions whether his professional attributes represent themost acceptable teaching efforts. His language also reinforces his established peda-gogical approach as the standard for most appropriately addressing the needs of hisstudents. However, with his most recent teaching challenges, Anh expresses concernthat perhaps his intentions focus on his own needs rather than on those of his students.

Anh uses idiom to indicate the appropriateness of the actions of others for moti-vating adolescent students to learn. In the statements below, he acknowledges theinfluence of other teachers as well as the parents of students in their pastoral careresponsibilities.

You’re not doing the right thing by that student. Even though you’re complaining about thatstudent, you’re not doing the right thing by that student.

Being a good parent; you’ve got to put a bit of time in too you know, you’ve got to get yourpriorities right.

These idioms reveal the standards of behaviour Anh values. He feels responsible forthe adolescents’ well-being as well as being able to adequately address their learningneeds. His language also emphasises the emotional significance of student pastoralcare on his own well-being.


Anh recognised the positive influence of an early role model, along with significantincidents of failure, as shaping his personal professional learning. The defining natureof these influences in someways overwhelmed the subsequent learning opportunities


for him. Anh acknowledged that the pedagogy he established in his first teachingcontext was little altered through his middle and later teaching years. This in turnrestricted his motivation for and acceptance of the need to develop his practicesthrough a PLC. He mostly relied on an established schema for understanding studentlearning, until his later challenges, when he came to understand the differentiationrequired in teaching practices formore challenging students. Anh’s overall attitude tolearning was to maintain the pedagogical approach of his early classroom successesto counter the emotional stress of his failures. His professional rewards in teachingwere compromised by his belief of not being “good enough” to achieve leadershipeligibility, to meet the responsibilities of a pastoral care coordination role or toinfluence future strategic directions for teacher learning through a proposed initiative.There is a noticeable difference between Anh and the other teachers in the way theyconstructmeaning from their personal professional development. For example,Anh’sapproach to his professional learning shows less desire and capacity for innovationin teaching practice than the approach of the four teachers in the EPPL study. Thetendency towards limitations rather than envisaging personal opportunities in Anh’sdevelopment and learning provides little empowerment. His tendency to reflect inisolation does not afford the reflexivity on his experiences possible through sharingwith colleagues.

The defining influences of Anh’s initial teaching context are not replicated withinhis later school contexts. His motivation to teach and make a difference to the lives ofstudents underpinned the development of his philosophy of teaching in less advan-taged schools. His choice to remain longer in his early school environments wasbased on the role model of his first head teacher of Mathematics. In these earlyyears, Anh adjusted his classroom practice through observation of this role model.The critical incident in which he failed to gain eligibility listing for a leadershiprole then reinforced a negative assessment of his performance and capabilities. Theinfluence of the role model teacher and Anh’s failure within his early career contextboth influenced Anh’s personal professional learning. Examination of the develop-mental processes of experienced teachers reveals “critical differences between expertand non-expert teachers (including novice and experienced teachers)” (Tsui 2009).Significantly, expert teachers connect with each new teaching context and the under-standing established within this context. A noticeable difference for Anh and theother teachers in the EPPL study was their approach to each new context.

Anh’s subsequent changes in teaching context did not appear to provide the impe-tus to act on his reflections. He reframes his formative learning experiences throughan approach that reinforces his early successful teaching practices. He also perceivedhis move from teaching in challenging schools to a less difficult teaching environ-ment as a compromise in the philosophy he forgedwith his first rolemodel. His initialfailure at eligibility listing and his later relinquishing of a pastoral care coordinatorrole also impacted on his self-confidence. He was reticent to compound this initialrisk-takingwith the possibility of further failure and expressed frustration about thesedisempowering experiences. Relevant to Anh’s experience is the “ambivalence” ofteacher sentiment in accepting “the hegemony of the school system on which he iseconomically and functionally dependent” although still yearning for greater control


(Lortie 1975). For Anh, his perception of the different approaches to education ineach new situation appeared to fall short of his initial experiences. He negativelyreflected on the management of student behaviour by those school leaders responsi-ble for incidents and issues outside his classroom. He held, however, a comparativelypositive view of the empowerment and control he experienced within his classroom.This contrasted to his criticism of school leaders; early in his career, he had beenempathetic to the demands of pastoral care leaders but when he felt misunderstoodand unable to exert influence later in his career, he presented a negative perceptionof the school leaders.

Anh’s teacher education and early teaching experiences indicate the challenge ofneeding to continually reframe personal professional learning over many years ofteaching experience. Reframing for an accomplished teacher requires being “ready,willing, and able to teach and to learn from his or her teaching experiences” (Shulmanand Shulman 2004). This appears to have altered for Anh as his career progressed.Anh’s practice was influenced in his early years of teaching by his observation ofmore experienced teachers. He initially adjusted his classroom practice and, in thisway, developed an acumen for his established pedagogy in teaching Mathematics.The role of reflection was important to improve his performance in his early teach-ing practice. However, Anh identified that the failures in his leadership experienceadversely impacted his teaching at those times. Nevertheless, although he did notallude to specific reflective periods through his middle teaching years, he describeddeveloping an awareness of learner differentiation during his later years of teachingdifficult classes. Anh’s experience exemplifies a reflection in isolation that is notproductive for a teacher’s learning, as it restricts any shared improvement of a socialpractice or “practice turn” that focuses on understanding tacit knowledge and thesocial dimension of learning (Kotzee 2012).

Socially situated learning entails a legitimate transformation of the learner throughtheir participation “in becoming part of the community” (Lave andWenger 1991). Incontrast, Anh’s sharing of practice was not evident when he was at the two schoolsof his later career, where he was more guarded in interpersonal interactions withcolleagues. He acknowledged the positive collegial support he received from onecolleague in dealing with a difficult class and only reciprocated support for thosecolleagues who had previously supported him. Anh remained aloof from the PLCand restricted his involvement to the direct sphere of his faculty. Anh’s reflectionson his later years of teaching focus on his reduced energy levels, which accountsfor his restricted professional involvement within a restricted time frame and withlimited physical and emotional resources. This difference between Anh in his laterteaching years and the other teachers detailed in Chaps. 4–7 is indicative that “fullparticipation” in a learning community is mostly reassessed and renegotiated fromearly to mid-careers. Yet both Anh and the other teachers demonstrate an ongoingstruggle in developing confidence and capabilities. The professional developmentexperiences for these teachers were entwined with accepting “an increasing sense ofidentity as a master practitioner” (Lave and Wenger 1991).

Anh’s demonstrated lack of confidence outside his classroom practice led to dis-engagement with colleagues and school leaders. Anh was derisive of the principal,


characterising the principal’s view of Anh as a “lowly classroom teacher” unable toimplement an initiative he had proposed. Anh was also aware of creative and inno-vative practices of other teachers throughout the progression of his career. Despitehis understanding of new education technologies and practices, he did not pursueopportunities for observation or team teaching in which to share and reflect on theuse of new technology in teaching practice. In his later career, Anh had difficulty inlearning to use new technology and did not envisage “making radical changes” tohis practice. Anh’s later learning was not characterised by a renewal of practice. Itwas evident that he had not achieved full participation in demonstrating expertise inhis practice within a PLC—he was not able to persevere with his early career effortsto engage in learning with others outside his classroom. Legitimate peripheral par-ticipation within a learning community allows “a newcomer becoming an old-timer,whose changing knowledge, skill and discourse are part of a developing identity—inshort, a member of a community of practice” (Lave and Wenger 1991).

Anh’s development of practice occurred particularly within his early years ofteaching and was limited through his middle and later years of teaching. The pro-tracted and individual nature of developing expertise is demonstrated in differencesbetween novice and expert teachers in their understanding and use of knowledge(Berliner 1987). Specifically, experts develop cognitive “schema” or templates forunderstanding, and “scripts” that enable practice routines (Calderhead 1987). Anhinitially developed “schema” for understanding the needs of his secondary schoolstudents, and his philosophy and motivation for teaching were primarily focused onstudent learning. His significant learning occurred through interactions with studentsin the classroomand the development of “scripts” for hisMathematics teaching.How-ever, he replicated the established pedagogy from his early career into his middlecareer. Anh was in jeopardy of portraying “the adage that ‘twenty years’ experi-ence is one year repeated nineteen times’” (Calderhead 1987) following his failurein gaining promotional roles. It was the later challenge of teaching a particularlydifficult class that provided a significant learning in his practice. In contrast to hisearlier practice, his last few years of teaching broadened his understanding of differ-entiating learning needs for more challenging students. He expressed an awarenessof catering for a range of levels in students’ academic ability, maturity and motiva-tion. Yet on the whole Anh presented a conservative approach in his professionallearning, relying on his established pedagogy rather than risk-taking for innovationand change. His tendency to reflect in isolation without the reflexivity afforded bypeers and the collegial support to reframe possible failures was characteristic of hisdevelopmental experience. Anh’s professional learning narrative demonstrates that“experience should not be a synonym for expertise”, in as much as some experienceis necessary yet is “certainly not a sufficient condition for expertise” (Berliner 1987,italics in the original).

Anh’s failure in the promotional eligibility listing for leadership negatively influ-enced his motivation from his early years of teaching. He acknowledged the inca-pacitating effect of this failure on his teaching efforts and the subsequent negativeimpact on his students’ learning, and he began to perceive himself as “not goodenough”. This early failure and his later stressful leadership role destabilised Anh’s


personal contentment and confidence. The philosophical vision of a teacher is linkedwith their motivation to learn (Shulman and Shulman 2004). A disparity between ateacher’s perception of their performance and their vision for teaching can lead tonegative feelings. These feelings are represented in a teacher’s “disillusionment anddespair that can lead them to become jaded about the possible success of efforts inthe future” and can also lead teachers “to feel deflated and discouraged, to lose confi-dence, and sometimes to become more conservative in their teaching” (Hammerness2006). Anh’s experiences were influential in forming his attitudes and beliefs abouthis ongoing professional learning and did indeed discourage his learning.

For Anh, the interpersonal relationships with students were the most significantelement of hismotivation to teach and to re-establish his self-esteemwithin his teach-ing. He held strong views on the pastoral care of his students, and this motivated himto undertake a coordination role mid-career and so afforded him an understand-ing of the limiting effects of emotional stress. Anh’s teaching of difficult classes inlater years also provided him with learning on differentiated learning needs. Emo-tional gestures and statements that allow feelings to be easily expressed or dissipated“are the very site of the capacity to effect change” and when “repeated over years,have very profound effects on one’s identity, one’s relationships, one’s prospects”(Zembylas 2005). Emotional drivers are evident throughout the professional learningnarratives of all teachers in the EPPL study. However, the significant difference forAnh is the more pessimistic characterisation of emotional influences.

Anh presented a largely negative attitude to change and supported a conservativebelief in maintaining an established practice. He attributed his early career failureto a naïve understanding of his capabilities for such a role. He also acknowledgedhis inclination for being influenced by his colleagues. In accepting his personallimitations and professional capabilities by the middle phase of his career; Anhacknowledged that he could not balance the stress with the satisfaction of his pastoralcare responsibilities for a large cohort of students. Of relevance here is the conflictbetween a teacher’s “emotional rules” and the “normative rules” of school culture thatbecomes “emotional suffering”. The consequence of this suffering is low self-esteemand shame in which “one’s self has been exposed as having some kinds of flaws”(Zembylas 2005). This type of “emotional suffering” is represented by the stress Anhexperienced in coping with the responsibilities of a pastoral care leadership role. Heput aside his previously expressed doubt as to his capability or readiness for such arole and accepted a promotion to this role based on his years of teaching experience.Anh’s emotional suffering is also evident in his continuation of established practicesalthough acknowledging that he should engage in learning through observation andthe incorporation of new education technologies. He also demonstrated a compliantapproach in his engagement with leaders when a new initiative he proposed wasrejected. Consequently, Anh fatalistically accepted that his views were not valuedby others and was less assured of his teaching experience.

In contrast to the experience of “emotional suffering” is the “emotional freedom”that “is at the core of a teacher’s capacity to act (or not to act) as one chooses orprefers [within] … emotional rules or norms” (Zembylas 2005). Anh refocused onhis classroom teaching to offset the emotional suffering of his early career failure and


his later recognition of his personal professional limitations in pastoral care coor-dination. He can, then, be seen to experience an emotional freedom in reinforcingthe expertise of his established practice. Like Anh, “some teachers might be able toconstitute spaces of emotional freedom that make their professional lives meaning-ful or tolerable” (Zembylas 2005). Emotional freedom is dependent on intellectualand emotional rewards, and if not addressed can produce negative effects such asemotional exhaustion, professional demotivation or permanent withdrawal from theprofession (Zembylas 2005). This threat was evident for Anh when his teachingof more difficult classes in recent years challenged the emotional freedom he hadestablished in his middle years of teaching. Anh then negotiated a new emotionalfreedom by initially gaining more free time through a job share for one year and hissubsequent year of leave to reflect on his life goals outside of teaching.

Anh’s approach to his own learning continually referenced the expectations andattitudes forged in his early career experiences. His lack of success in subsequentinteractions with leaders and colleagues established obstacles to the broadening ofhis interpersonal learning or embracing more radical changes in his practice. Inlater years, Anh’s contribution to the Mathematics association was also limited inthe time and effort he offered. His professional development was influenced by anoverwhelmingly negative self-assessment and his emotional response reinforced the“safe place” of his established practice (Zembylas 2005). Anh’s refuge becomes hiswithdrawal from learning interactions with his colleagues and his perceived lack ofinfluence with leaders and within the school system.

Anh’s involvement in the EPPL study allowed the necessary reflexivity withanother thatwas long-suppressed in his personal professional development. The auto-biographical nature of studies on teacher emotions demonstrates that storytelling can“facilitate, however painfully, the articulation of reasoned differences” (Nias 1996).Anh’s solitary personality encouraged more self-reflection than being able to trusthis colleagues for support in his learning and in the sharing of ideas. His experi-ence points to the nuanced nature of expertise and is further highlighted by Anh’snomination for the study, in that teachers may be viewed as expert in different ways.Anh’s written response as to what constitutes teaching expertise articulated aspectsthat were evident in the stories of the other teachers in the EPPL study but were notrepresented in his own story. From his ideas of expertise, Anh concluded that:

Having written these words, it makes me more convinced that you have asked the wrongperson … if I am supposed to be an expert.

Anh’s response also highlights that the “personal” aspect of teacher developmentshould not reinforce solitary pursuits. Most important is that years of experienceshould harness the contextually diverse responses of ongoing challenges to allow forunique EPPL approaches.

Anh’s personal professional learning narrative is distinctly different to those of theexperience of the teachers detailed in Chaps. 4–7. Anh’s story shows an establishedpedagogy that maintains his perception of the “right” approach for his studentsand an understanding of his emotional limitations in difficult situations. The pivotalinfluences shaping Anh’s personal professional learning are his first role model and


the critical incidents of failure. The beliefs forged in his initial teaching years andhis resistance to change limited his approach to his learning and so restricted hispotential for personal professional development. The example of Anh challenges theconceptualisation of an expert teacher that readily equates expertise to the numberof years of teaching experience. Anh’s selection by a colleague as an expert seems tocontradict a long-held assertion that “Education, as it happens, is a field where thereis a widespread belief that experience and expertise are quite different” (Berliner1987).

Chapter 9, Learning Principles for EPPL—Perspectives, Problematics and “ThirdSpaceThinking”, interrogates the issues and possibilities in the ongoing personal pro-fessional learning of Anh, Lilli,Mia, Chloé and Jaxon. I explore themeaning-makingof all five teachers in the study and delineate the phenomenological constituents thateach teacher navigates in their professional learning narratives.


The following questions allow consideration ofAnh’s response to practice challengesand learning opportunities and discussion on how Anh’s EPPL is distinctly differentto those of the other four teachers detailed in Chaps. 4–7.

• How did Anh’s pedagogical approach form with his overall EPPL and reinforceaspects of his expertise in teaching Mathematics?

• How did Anh’s EPPL support his pastoral approach within the confined environ-ment of a classroom? In what way did his failures in teacher leader roles reinforcehis perceived limitations and focus his awareness mostly on his own teaching?

• Exploring the development of expertise through Anh’s story necessitates consid-eration of the inherent value associated with years of experience as well as of theimplications of achieving or not achieving promotional positions. In what waysdid Anh foreground the different understandings of having experience and demon-strating expertise in his EPPL?

References


Calderhead, J. (1987). Exploring teachers’ thinking. London: Cassell.Hammerness,K. (2006). Seeing through teachers’ eyes: Professional ideals and classroom practices(The series on school reform). New York: Teachers College Press.

Kotzee, B. (2012). Private practice: Exploring the missing social dimension in ‘reflective practice’.Studies in Continuing Education, 34(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2012.660521.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation (Learning indoing). Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press.

Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Nias, J. (1996). Thinking about feeling: The emotions in teaching.Cambridge Journal of Education,26(3), 293–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764960260301.


Shulman, L. S., & Shulman, J. H. (2004). How and what teachers learn: A shifting perspective.Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(2), 257–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027032000148298.


Zembylas,M. (2005). Beyond teacher cognition and teacher beliefs: The value of the ethnography ofemotions in teaching. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 18(4), 465–487.https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390500137642.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764960260301

https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027032000148298

https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057179

https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390500137642

Chapter 9Encapsulating EPPL Perspectivesand Problematics

Abstract Here I draw together the insights on teacher expertise from the preced-ing case study Chaps. 4–8. The conceptualisations on experience of otherness andwhat constitutes meaning in the development of teacher expertise are situated withinthe personal being and becoming of TPL. This chapter shows how perspectives ofempathetic understanding and non-competitive collegiality are critical to developingexpertise. The professional learning narratives of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia, Barbara andAnh and teacher quotes chosen for representing the phenomenological constituentsof disruptive dissonances are viewed through the theoretical tools discussed inChap. 3. I unpack the dissonance encountered through three problematics for theteacher’s Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL). Essential third spacethinking for the development of expertise is represented by: a philosophy of opennessto create communicative, collaborative pedagogy and avoid professional isolation;the confrontation of uncertain challenges to undergo the struggle for developmen-tal opportunities, and a developmental awareness of prevailing through the seem-ingly impossible possibility of becoming to accept the acknowledgement of beingan expert.

Introduction

Firstly, I advocate the personal aspect of expert teachers’ EPPL and distinguishthe experiences of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli from those of Anh. The first fourhighlight the personal professional development they experienced from a variety ofenvironments and relationships. They reveal contextual factors along with their atti-tude towards ongoing learning and their belief in taking risks as contributing to theirexpertise. They emphasise a dynamic approach to learning that is open to changein pedagogical approaches and to creating links between theory and practice. Theirapproach to learning continues to nourish their expertise by combining their reflex-ivity in discussions with others with their responses to challenges as opportunitiesto learn.

I then explore the perspectives of empathetic understanding and non-competitivecollegiality for the five teachers. The phenomenological findings also reveal that four


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130 9 Encapsulating EPPL Perspectives and Problematics

of the five teachers in the EPPL study value the greater self-understanding affordedby their developing expertise and their ongoing personal professional learning.

Finally, I reveal the pivotal nature of disruptive dissonances within the devel-opment of expertise. The disruptive dissonances of three ongoing problematics, asintroduced in Chap. 3, are evident within the teachers’ relational and communica-tive spaces. The spaces for EPPL are imbued with being and becoming (Buber andKaufmann 1970; Dall’Alba 2009; Dall’Alba and Sandberg 2010). The applicationof third space thinking for expert teachers enables their construction of meaning bytraversing the disruptive dissonances of three identified problematics.

The Personal Nature of Teacher Professional Learning:Narratives of Being and Becoming an Expert Teacher

The EPPL study highlighted the personal nature of the professional developmentand learning of the five teachers through the creation and interpretation of individualnarratives for each teacher. The five narratives suggest that recognition of the con-textual factors, specific attitudes and beliefs, and specific approaches to learning areall essential in being and becoming an expert teacher.

Teacher Recognition of Contextual Factors

The teachers all recognised contextual factors as significantly shaping their per-sonal professional development. They identified their personal motivations in beinga teacher, the responses they received from their students and their relationshipswith peers. They also shared notions of mentoring and selection of mentors basedon personal professional relationships rather than system-stipulated roles. Jaxon,Chloé, Mia and Lilli concurred that generic professional development courses donot wholly meet their unique learning needs. They endorsed tailored opportunitiesfor theorising about their practice, such as university study, mentoring relationshipsand targeted practice-based learning, such as before- or after-school sessions withcolleagues on information and communication technology (ICT) or reviewing ped-agogical approaches within their specific subject areas.

For the teachers, the nurturing of relationships and reflective responses to theircontext has been central in shaping their personal professional development. Jaxonidentifies the emotional nature of personal practical knowledge and the significantinfluence of relationships for personal professional learning. Chloé maintains thatmentoring is central for her learning. Lilli believes that the emotional needs of herselfand her students provide the impetus for her learning. Mia’s story demonstrates theimportance of sociocultural diversity across micro- and macro-contexts and theirrelationship to her personal professional development. Anh’s focus in his early years

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of practice with only one role model teacher and his exposition of critical incidentsof failure are influential in shaping his personal professional development.

The findings of the EPPL study suggest that, for Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli and Mia,contextual sharing of practice relies on collaborative relationships, which developthrough mutual trust and respect. Expert teachers learn about their professional prac-tice through communicative interaction with colleagues and students. Essentially,this entails collaboration in teaching practice with “a valued colleague” and facil-itation of feedback from “students as active learners” (Loughran 2010), as well asfrom peers. Jaxon, Chloé and Lilli confirmed the importance of obtaining studentfeedback. They each talked of valuing the learning available to them through positivefeedback and constructive criticism. These teachers, along with Mia, demonstratedself-regulated learning (Zimmerman 2002) and engage in “‘productive’, construc-tive, or ‘authentic’ reflection” that demonstrates the capability for broad reflexivitywith colleagues “within wider personal, social and cultural contexts” (Moore 2004).Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli and Mia described actively seeking discussions with other teach-ers and students. They exhibit an openness to sharing ideas and practices in theircollaboration with colleagues. Central to their demonstration of “critical friendship”is the dialogic process of “being collective, reciprocal, supportive, cumulative andpurposeful” (Swaffield 2008). For Lilli, Jaxon, Chloé and Mia, dialogue is central topedagogy. Their personal professional development involves communicating theirshared teaching purpose and approach, as well as their personal dispositions towardslearning. By contrast, Anh does not engage in such sharing, instead progressivelyisolating himself from professional development interactions with colleagues overhis career. Teacher isolation does not nurture developing expertise. Rather, teacherssharing accomplishments of their teaching practice within their school communityfoster a collaborative learning environment.

Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs About Learning

For the teachers in the EPPL study, their attitudes towards and beliefs about theirown learning contribute to their notion of developing expertise. Jaxon, Chloé, Lilliand Mia believe that the certainty of accepted practice needs to be challenged asthey are motivated to explore alternatives. They accept the possibilities of failing andsucceeding, and consciously reflect on their experience for insights into their ownlearning.

The EPPL study evidenced teacher’s ability to improvise and adapt in uniqueways throughout the professional learning narratives of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli.Adaptive expertise in developing agency to improve (Timperley 2015) and cultivateimprovisational capabilities (Sorensen 2016) is central for developing teacher exper-tise. The personal professional learning of an accomplished teacher is supported byan approach that incorporates the following five traits:


Ready (possessing vision), Willing (having motivation), Able (both knowing and being able“to do”), Reflective (learning from experience) and Communal (acting as a member of aprofessional community) (Shulman and Shulman 2004).

The recognition of these characteristics highlights the entwined nature of teachers’perceptive abilities within the context of their learning and their capabilities to har-ness development opportunities within their professional community. Jaxon, Chloéand Lilli place emphasis on reflecting by contextually framing and reframing theirunderstanding. Mia shifts her early career focus of classroom management and cur-riculum content to the reflection possible through her pastoral care interactions withstudents and in her collegial relationships. Expert teachers are found not only to inte-grate their practical knowledge but to demonstrate “their response to their contextsof work, and their ability to engage in reflection and conscious deliberation” (Tsui2009). Furthermore, expert teachers can view a situation from “alternative perspec-tives so that different ways of acting are more readily apparent” (Loughran 2010)and so reframe their understanding and practice. In contrast to the other four teachersin the EPPL study, Anh did not fully engage in the reflective and communal aspectsand demonstrated these traits to varying degrees due to his inconsistency and lack ofdrive at different times throughout his narrative.

Jaxon espouses the fostering of happiness and well-being for development of thewhole person as central to his learning. He represents his expertise as broader thanspecific content knowledge, which he believes to be a limited form of expertise. Heconsciously acknowledges that there is no line of demarcation or point at which youarrive that delineates you as an expert. Jaxon’s understanding of being an expertentails the proviso that you are always learning and so supports his receptive attitudeto challenges.

Chloé’s experiential orientation to learning entails feedback on tangible experi-ences. She attributes her development to a personal desire to improve, in combinationwith an appreciation of the specific context and the suitability of her mentor. Shebelieves she demonstrates expertise through her desire to learn and in recognisingthat there is always more to learn. Her genuine interest in student well-being and herrecognition of appropriate opportunities for learning contribute to developing herexpertise.

Lilli demonstrates a resilient attitude to change, a positive response to challengesand a core belief in the value of experiencing a variety of collegial learning oppor-tunities. She attributes her development to continually learning and recognising thatthere is a lot more to learn. She acknowledges being “tired” in trying to cover thebreadth of role requirements and the requisite ongoing learning. She also believesher expertise encompasses characteristics such as content knowledge, understand-ing people, communication skills and a rational approach exemplified by humour,calmness and a resolve to defuse situations.

Mia shifts her focus from content and behaviour management to a belief in thepersonal significance of pastoral care and the satisfaction gained from nurturingrelationships. She perceives that developing expertise entails “growing into yourprofession”, as well as constantly enriching yourself and your learning. She believes

The Personal Nature of TPL: Being and Becoming 133

her expertise is demonstrated in her ability to figure things out. She acknowledgesthat her expertise is not representative of a flawless individual but is influenced byher personal moods, energy and stamina, and that she is “not always being perfect”as a teacher.

Anh demonstrates a resistant attitude to change and maintains his beliefs in apedagogy forged in his initial teaching years. His learning focuses on developingteaching expertise in the knowledge of his subject and an ability to identify the contentareas that prove difficult for student understanding and so require extra revision. Inthis area of teaching, Anh acknowledges the ongoing nature of developing expertise:“I’m guilty of reinventing the wheel, making the same mistakes over again but as Iget more experienced I do feel that I’m making less mistakes.”

The similar attitudes and beliefs of Jaxon, Lilli and Chloé emphasise being ready,willing and able to engage in reflection, both personally and within a professionalcommunity. For Mia, creating a productive attitude towards community redirectsthe difficulties of her early teaching experience and restores a positive belief inpastoral relationships for her learning. Each of these four teachers indicates that theirmotivation to take on challenges requires ongoing stamina to support adjustmentsin their personal professional development. However, Anh is unable to envisionchange within his practice or sustain a motivational willingness to take risks throughprofessional learning with colleagues.

Teacher Approaches to Learning

The teachers’ approaches to learning influence their personal professional develop-ment. Jaxon, Chloé,Mia and Lilli emphasise learning as a dynamic process. Learningentails reflection on past experiences to accept the uncertainties of present challengesand to project these as opportunities to positively influence the future. These fourteachers are open and reflexive towards their experience,which in turn enables greaterself-understanding. However, Anh’s reticent approach to engage in collegial learningthroughout his career has ramifications for his personal professional development.

The EPPL study found that the teachers’ interrogation of their expertise improvestheir confidence and provides a positive perception of their ability. They seek under-standing of their teaching from others, encouraging feedback to foster the self theyaspire to be. Jaxon’s emphasis on pastoral care in his learning places health and well-being as central to construction of the self. Chloé’s involvement with selected men-tors, in combination with self-regulated and experiential learning, assists in devel-oping her confidence and in reframing her fraudulent feelings. Mia’s determinationin her professionalism enables her change of focus from behaviour management togreater involvement in student pastoral care. Lilli continually expands her learninghorizon through different contexts of classroom teaching and considerations for theschool community and collegial learning. In contrast to each of these teachers, Anhrestricts his learning by not accessing alternate pedagogical practice and the poten-tial of collegial reflection. He feels that “I just need to know someone before I work


with them” and does not like to work with others who may do things differently. Heappears unaware that in sharing understanding with others he may better understandhimself and so enrich his personal professional development. Fundamental to theprofessional development of expert teachers is perception and awareness of self inthat “who we are is an integral element of how we teach” (Loughran 2010) and sorequires enrichment of self-understanding.

Chloé, Jaxon, Mia and Lilli embrace change and reflect on both positive andnegative aspects for their learning. This encompasses a greater awareness and under-standing of self in reflecting on what is known and accepting that there is alwaysmore to know. Reflection on difficult, unforeseen or unexpected experience can pro-vide “pre-reflective interruptions” and so reframe negative experience “as ‘problems’for examining and exploring” (English 2009). Therefore, the impetus for examin-ing the opportunity as a contextual problem enables reflective inquiry. The devel-opment of expertise as an exploration process requires teachers to engage in “theproblematic nature of teaching” as “an educative rather than rudimentary trainingprocess” (Loughran 2010). Adopting a “reflexive turn” (Moore 2004) acknowledgesthe broader socio-cultural and political context for engaging in ongoing cycles ofinquiry (Timperley et al. 2007) and so enables reflexivity on self with others.

The EPPL findings demonstrate that it would be simplistic to assume that devel-oping expertise is based on defined factors within a prescribed career path. Theprofessional learning narratives predominantly highlight that Anh’s experience isdifferent to those of Chloé, Lilli, Jaxon and Mia. The findings indicate the unique-ness of each teacher’s learning experiences: Jaxon’s motivation for learning focuseson happiness and the whole person; Chloé’s orientation to learning includes tan-gible experiences, feedback and self-regulation; Mia’s professionalism focuses onresilience and life enrichment; Lilli’s emotional positivity and acceptance of changecontinually refresh her learning horizon; and Anh’s emotional suffering, establishedpedagogy and resistance to change limit his learning opportunities. For Jaxon, Chloé,Lilli andMia, in contrast to Anh, the multifaceted nature of their individual approachto learning all influence their developing expertise. This presents questions, then, asto ways that Anh could have been put on a different path and ways that gruellingstretches experienced by Mia, may have been more nurturing and less stressful.

Valuing Relational Caring and Supportive Interactions:Perceptions Within Relational and Communicative Spaces

Here I distinguish the insight from experience portrayed by the teachers through theirrelational caring and support interactions, in utilising the theoretical tools presentedin Chap. 3. The teachers in the EPPL study all exhibit relational caring and supportiveinteractions towards their students, colleagues and the broader school community.Their perspectives indicate the value they place on understanding the learner and ontheir professional relationships with colleagues. Their stories exhibit post-reflections

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on relationships that are used in new situations as developmental experiences. Addi-tionally, the teachers present an “outward” orientation in which they live and experi-ence “encounters in a different way” (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010). The teachers’perspectives afford insights into their personal professional development. At times,being able to uncritically attune to the pre-reflective meaning of their experiencethrough insightful presence also provides greater self-understanding for the teachers.This awareness also reverberates in their understanding of others. Below I illustratehow the perspectives of empathetic understanding and non-competitive collegialityprovide meaning to the development of the teachers’ expertise.

Empathetic Understanding

The notion of empathetic understanding forms part of the teacher’s development oftheir expertise. Their professional caring for the learner for each of the five teach-ers resides in an empathetic understanding of their students, the parents and schoolcommunity. The nature of emotions in teacher development and learning is evidentin: “a sense, ‘feeling with’; and … being caring and passionate about what oneexplores” (Zembylas 2005). The teachers’ motivation for learning stems from emo-tional considerations of their own and others development, consciously exploring thefeelings of others and espousing for compassionate caring of others. Through a per-ceptive and compassionate understanding for another, the teacher shows relationalcaring in an intuitive communicative space. Understanding their students throughtheir own development and learning relies on: “a non-verbal ‘resonance’ that allowsfor empathetic communication across possible gaps” (Zembylas 2005). Empatheticunderstanding therefore encompasses the meaning of the experience and the insightsfor self-understanding and understanding of others. They confront the difficulty ofrelating the different experiences of others to their own experience, and they negotiatepossible insights that afford greater self-understanding.

Chloé’s empathetic understanding allows her to identify the similarities and dif-ferences between qualities in herself and those of her students. Reflecting her ownfeelings by not calling on those students who do not volunteer answers, she is:

really conscious of doing that to kids, like “what do you think?” because you think they’renot listening, I won’t do it because it’s an awful feeling, I hate it.

Her focus on relating to students who are dissimilar to her requires finding “a littlepocket” to resonate with each student within a relational space. She recognises thecomplexity for empathising with different students in that:

The art is actually finding qualities in kids that you can’t see anything of in yourself, youknow. I struggle with that sometimes.

I think that’s a real art … being able to empathise and things like that. I think that’s an areathat I’m always trying to develop and refine, just that emotional intelligence.


Chloé refers to the notion of “emotional intelligence”, popularised by Goleman(1995), that incorporates “the capacity to reason about emotions” and the use “ofemotions to enhance thinking” (Mayer et al. 2004). Chloé’s recognition of the emo-tional aspect of understanding is significant for her relationships with students andis also a catalyst for her learning.

Chloé’s sentiment is like Jaxon’s feeling that “it’s about me as a person walkinginto a room and being able to relate and know that I’m able to do that”. He perceivesempathy as vital in addressing the needs of a student at risk to assist their ongoingdevelopment.

Very difficult for me to relate to that but if you can empathise and if you can try and drawon, in that case I wasn’t able to draw on my past life experience but that doesn’t mean thatI wasn’t able to show empathy and to show care. I think a lot of the times that is your firsttrack into helping somebody, is trying to relate to them in some way.

Being someone who showed her care when she hadn’t been shown care before … like thatthat you can’t measure… the relating to other people is much more important than any ofthe content or stuff that you’re going to do, and I think that’s where your satisfaction comesfrom as well.

He places less significance on academic results and greater importance on enablingthe student to develop into a healthy and happy adult. Jaxon’s perspective allows fora mutual fulfilment—a constructive and affirming experience for his students as wellas his professional satisfaction in relating to his students.

Lilli demonstrates a respectful approach with students, continually emphasisingthe need to be positive and avoid confrontation with adolescents who like:

to find out which buttons to press. Don’t have any buttons, don’t lose your temper and shout,it’s not going to do you or anyone else any good. Using a sense of humour in defusing thesituation and dealing with it in a calm and rational manner. I always say to the boys “I expectthe same amount of respect back from you as I give to you”, so that’s the thing you have todo.

Similarly, to Chloé and Jaxon, Lilli demonstrates an empathetic understandingthrough mutual respect and nurturing relationships for the development of both stu-dent and teacher. She continually notes that “those little moments are really good”in her relationships with students in which her feelings and understanding are repre-sented as “real”.

Mia describes her approach in providing a supportive response with parents totheir daughter’s emotionally charged behaviour when residing in a boarding house.

You use a lot of empathy and you try to get to the specifics and you say “look, this is usual,this happens a lot”… but “if you speak to her the morning after, you’ll find that she is mostlikely OK”.

For Mia, there is a continual need to empathise with adolescent girls throughoutthe school day and after hours in the boarding school. Her pragmatic perspectiveresonates with a school counsellor:


… because she listens to kids with problems five hours a day, day in and day out and allthe rest of it, and she does a lot for them, but she says sometimes that she has compassionfatigue because by the end of it you’re like “oh, sort it out and get over yourself”. … youcan be thinking quite mean things about these kids who were upset.

Mia recognises the emotional strain of constant empathising along with the impor-tance of being “caring and welcoming and nice and approachable” but feels thather internal resources often fall short of her aspirations. Similarly, Chloé alludes tothe fallible nature of maintaining a perspective of empathetic understanding while“being really honest and letting them see that I’m human”.

Anh also emphasises that being able to provide a safe and caring environment forstudents at school is the one positive aspect of his role as house dean. He reflectson his efforts for developing student relationships throughout his career in saying “Idon’t think there’s ever been a situation where I’ve just said, ‘I’m going to cut thiskid loose and not even make an effort’.” However, the effort required for empatheticunderstanding became increasingly difficult later in his career. Anh described thedifficulty he felt in relating to his students as “it’s hard to get into their heads”and required more emotional bargaining required to “sort of win them over”. Healso realised that he was unable to consistently maintain this emotional drive. Anhcontrasted being “a bit overextended” in his earlier approach to his later years ofteaching.

I’ll still make an effort to direct them in the right way but I’m not going to disrupt the lessonabout it, I’m not going to spend a lot of time in or out of class trying to change that one ortwo students. I’ll just, within reason, I’ll probably tolerate a bit more.”

Although Anh maintained a perspective of empathetic understanding, in his latercareer approach he endured what he had previously deemed as unacceptablebehaviour to cope with the associated emotional strain as he contemplated his retire-ment from teaching. Although emotionally challenged in his practice, he continuedto espouse the importance of addressing student’s emotional well-being.

School aged students will have all the issues of growing up and attempting to find their placein the world while attending classes will not always run smoothly. There will be times whereincomplete homework, poor class behaviour and lack of academic success will take secondplace to the welfare of the individual.

Each of the teachers considers empathetic understanding to be central to theirrelationships and a motivator for influencing the developmental and life outcomesof their students. Anh and Jaxon want to “make a difference” for their students.Chloé describes “a genuine desire to want to do the best for the kids”, and Miavalues “teaching the next generation how to live”. Lilli describes the significance ofbeing “much more aware of student development emotionally, and physically, andpsychologically” and “aware of differentiation in the biggest sense possible”. Theirperspectives also extend to parents and the broader school community. Lilli describesher developing understanding fromfirstly being: “aware of all those classroom issues,pastoral care, parents, you then start to become aware of the school as a whole”.Jaxon values “being able to make a difference in people’s lives” inwhich his influence


may extend to “a great grandson that I’ll never know, and they’ll never know me”.Chloé relates her own childhood to how she teaches, “wanting the same things forkids that I had given to me by teachers and my community”. Mia acknowledges theunderstanding of herself and others within her relational space that “does have a nicesocial aspect to it and once you get to know the families as well that can make adifference.” The perspective of empathetic understanding provides meaning for theirdeveloping expertise.

Critically, empathetic understanding also provides tensions within the teachersdeveloping expertise. Mia, Lilli and Chloé all refer to the exertion and fallibilityassociated with their empathetic understanding of students, yet they cushion theirpersonal disappointments and emotional fatigue with an understanding of studentdevelopment and learning. Anh’s emotional strain, however, does not necessarilytransform his empathetic understanding of students into new approaches to learning.At different times, he alleviates the emotional difficulties in maintaining his empa-thetic understanding through comparison with others. Anh feels, for example, thatsome parents “didn’t take responsibility for being parents”, that some colleagueswere “coming to me from a selfish view point” and “not doing the right thing by thatstudent”, and that some students “didn’t do their part of the bargain”. The ambiguityin Anh’s empathetic understanding represents a more distant stance than is evidentamong the other teachers. An apparent inability to address the emotional overloadoften associated with maintaining empathetic understanding may also align to aninability to access support available through professional networks and relationships.

The teachers’ perspective of empathetic understanding aided their understandingof students’ development and their personal professional learning. Characteristic ofa “state of uncritical relation” (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010), the teachers repre-sented their empathetic understanding for students, parents and the broader schoolcommunity as well as their teaching peers.

Non-competitive Collegiality

For the teachers in the EPPL study, a perspective of non-competitive collegialityinfluences the development of their expertise. Supportive and nurturing relationshipswith colleagueswere important to varying degrees for each of the teachers throughouttheir EPPL.

Overwhelmingly, connectingwith others enabled a self-awareness in the teacher’sdeveloping expertise. Portrayed as “I-Thou meetings” in which a teacher is “seenand confirmed”, this positive influence for their becoming is also troubled by theirinsightful understanding of being (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010). Therefore, theteacher’s insights on self-understanding are dependent on their orientation towardsa non-competitive collegiality to make visible their pre-reflective perspective onexperience. The insight afforded from the unique emotional nature of experience(Mezirow 2009) and the paradoxical interplay of being and becoming (Jarvis 2009)then allows for transformative learning. The insightful understanding that allows for


transformative learning within the relational possibilities with colleagues and stu-dents is often difficult to sustain. However, a “more feasible and desirable positionwould be the will to be present, the desire to create a relationship… as a possibility”(Lindqvist andNordänger 2010). Significantly, the teachers desire to create a relation-ship between teacher and student is as important as the relationship with colleagues.The creation of situations that foster non-competitive collegiality is essential forthe teachers’ personal professional development and necessary in their approach totheir own learning. The possible moments of “insightful presence” in relationshipswith colleagues enable the sharing of imaginative vision on intuitive judgementswithin pedagogical prowess and the teachers’ philosophical approach to learning.This discursive sharing of experience and adapting experience to new situations iscentral for the development of their expertise, as demonstrated through the differentperspectives of non-competitive collegiality for each of the five teachers.

Jaxon highlights that creating supportive environments is:

where the satisfaction of the job comes from, in having positive relationships and workingtogether. I’ve worked in environments where people are very competitive, and they wanttheir kids to do better so they don’t share any resources and they write exams and then catertheir classes towards the exam. It’s a very untrusting environment and it’s not a nice one towork in.

Jaxon need for positive relationships also requires the recognition of colleagueswith whom these possible relationships may be created. Similarly, the fostering ofpositive interpersonal relationships is influential for Chloé’s as she values “beingmade to feel worthwhile” when colleagues willingly mentor her in their free time.Jaxon endeavours to create relationships that enable others to feel worthwhile. As aleading teacher mentor, Jaxon:

always wanted the person that I was mentoring to feel that they were lucky to get me as amentor. And so, I was always working really hard to really support them as much as I canand to really be as helpful as I could.

Jaxon acknowledges that some teachers within defined mentoring positions may notnecessarily be people who can create a relationship for professional development.Although these people may act as the official support person he feels that the teachershould choose mentors for their development. Jaxon demonstrates a strategic colle-giality in differentiating between official mentors and those teaching colleagues whooffer support. Chloé focuses on non-competitive relationships in her belief that suc-cessful learning is negotiated between colleagues. Her relationships with colleaguesrequire the same honesty, human fallibility and time efficiency that she exhibits inher own practice with students. Chloé respects mentors who acknowledge mistakesand demonstrate the beliefs they espouse through modelling these behaviours, con-trasting those who are disingenuous. Chloé believes that her selection of a mentorenables the formation of a relationship to support her in becoming the principal sheaspires to be. Her mentoring relationships initially arose from friendships with moreexperienced teachers who shared similar values, sense of humour and beliefs aroundteaching.

Non-competitive collegiality is evident in Jaxon’s experience where:


There are some teachers here who will just go up to other teachers and say, “Hey I knowyou do this, can you come to my class and talk about that to the kids?” That’s a much betterenvironment for the kids and for your own sanity and your own satisfaction in the job. So,it comes back to having those positive relationships.

Similarly, Lilli recognises that the shared vision in creating positive relationshipsand to work as a team requires:

not to see yourself in competition with another teacher if you are teaching the same course orthe same year group but as a colleague you should be supporting each other. And everyone’steaching gets better if everyone shares and supports each other.

Lilli believes that the increased emphasis on “school performance, student perfor-mance” makes teachers as professionals “much more publicly accountable than anyother.” She feels this is an additional pressure in fostering relationships to supportprofessional learning and reducing competition is “still very difficult and getting moredifficult all the time”. Lilli perceives greater difficulty in fostering non-competitivecollegiality for improving teaching practice when the focus moves beyond learn-ing and into performance accountability measures. Like Lilli, Jaxon’s experience ofwork structures influenced his relationships where:

I didn’t realise that what I was missing was that no one was in the office with me! … Itshouldn’t be surprising to me that not having a relationship, being stuck on my own was thething that was eating away at me. But it was so obvious when you look at it now, but it justmakes a big difference to every day and to how happy you are to be here.

Jaxon identifies the importance of not being in isolation and sharing ideas withcolleagues for fostering his learning and professional contentment.

The independent nature of classroom teaching may also lead to isolation outsideof the classroom, as demonstrated in Anh’s approach to his learning. At one point,he described the camaraderie shared with a colleague in his more recent dealingswith difficult students. However, he did not express the need for non-competitivecollegiality despite the significance of one influential colleague in his early teachingyears. He did not seek to create relationships with colleagues, and he did not exhibitthe desire for relationships throughout his middle and later career, tending instead toplace his experience in opposition with those around him. In the following excerpt,Anh places the perception of his experience as being in competition with schoolleaders and colleagues.

My experience well that’s a frustrating part of it, I am often in situations where I have someidea about the best path to take, maybe not the solution but the one that’s going to get thebest result… So, people listen to me, people will say yes, but then too often that advice getsignored. I don’t know if it’s just peculiar to my school or whether it’s common to a lot ofschools but at times I’ve just got to bite my tongue and not say something that I know maybe interpreted the wrong way or maybe interpreted offensively.

In this way Anh expresses the relational and communicative tensions he has experi-enced with colleagues, a perspective which does not incorporate collegial relation-ships. He discusses his relationships with colleagues using the I-It language of a


spectator (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010). Anh’s focus is on his frustrating experi-ences, his view of situations, his decision not to accept leadership responsibilities andhis being misunderstood by those in leadership positions who are mostly youngerthan him. Furthermore, becoming requires the teacher to “connect” with others to be“seen and confirmed” (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010). For Anh, his understandingof being an expert teacher was not shared with his peers and was not acknowledgedin his interaction with teacher leaders through non-competitive collegiality. He doesnot appear to “connect” to be “confirmed” and so a sense of becoming is impededfor Anh in contrast to the other four teachers.

Mia exhibits a cautious disposition like Anh with a more selective collegiality. Inher relationships, she feels less confident and “intellectually intimidated” by somecolleagues in non-supportive and competitive school environments. With a guardedapproach to colleagues and selectivity in developing relationships, Mia needs to feel:

that I can approach a person and I have to feel that I can be a bit relaxed with them as well.Because a lot of it’s about admitting that you don’t know something, and that’s a big thingbecause a lot of people would feel embarrassed about that. As well I do think that a lot ofpeople would sort of try to make someone else feel a bit useless if they said, “I don’t knowthis text, I don’t know this concept, what does that mean?” and so on. Some people are a bitsuperior.

Overcoming this vulnerability in developing collegial relationships requires risk-taking. Mia also describes her enjoyment in sharing ideas with colleagues fromother schools at professional development courses and then fostering this learningwith her school colleagues as: “the big thing really; try to make a point of passing iton”.

In contrast to Anh, the other teachers all seek to create collegial relationships thatare non-competitive, pursuing relational and communicative spaces to continue todevelop their expertise. Their aim to create relationships is interwoven with theirperspective of empathetic understanding. These teachers maintain a perspective thatallows the possibility of a relationship and the affordance of insights for greaterself-understanding and understanding of others.

For Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli and Mia, their perspectives of emotional understandingand non-competitive collegiality afford insightful understanding of their experiencein shaping their EPPL. For Anh, stifled communicative and relational perspectivesare evident when empathetic understanding of others provides emotional overloadat various times throughout his career and is seen in his unwillingness to access theinsights afforded by non-competitive collegiality.

Learning Through Risky, Uncertain and SeeminglyImpossible “Disruptive Dissonances”

Presented as three problematics in Chap. 3, how each of the five teachers negoti-ated disruptive dissonances and exhibited varied responses are discussed below. For


four of the teachers—Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli and Mia—the learning they experience isperceived as an insightful response to their unique disruptive dissonances. For Anh,a retreat from and an avoidance of disruptive dissonances means that the possibil-ities for personal professional development are limited and so foreground a stifledapproach to learning.

To What Extent Is There a Risk in Isolating My Experiencefrom Communicative, Collaborative Pedagogy?

The idiosyncratic nature of teaching poses a potential risk by isolating the teachers’experience and stifling their personal professional development. Within their stories,the teachers represent an environment of educational accountability that poses anongoing dilemma between individual responsibility and the EPPL possible throughcommunicative, collaborative pedagogy.

Several forms of disruptive dissonance are possible when developing communica-tive, collaborative pedagogy. This pedagogy incorporates learning through reflexivepracticewith colleagues aswell as being open to critique from students. Initial collab-orative learning experiences, such as modelling by a mentor, present a preliminaryrisk. In these situations, a teacher needs to develop self-confidence. The affirma-tion from these initial learning experiences provides security in developing furtherprofessional learning relationships. However, negative experiences or lack of pos-itive learning experiences early within one’s communicative and relational spacesthreatens the cultivation of communicative, collaborative pedagogy. The challenge ofreflexivity with others may pose a risk in becoming a mentor for colleagues. The fol-lowing discussion highlights how these disruptive dissonances have been negotiatedby the teachers with a third space thinking openness to cultivate a communicative,collaborative pedagogy as a prerequisite for their learning.

Jaxon experienced a disruptive dissonance within his first few years of teachingin being pressured by one mentor to model behaviours that were unnatural to himand “being told that the way that I was working was wrong”. However:

When I started working with and for Stan as his assistant year coordinator, I saw somebodywho worked in a way that made sense to me, in a way that I thought “yeah, I can be likethat” and not exactly the same but I can operate a lot more like him.

Jaxon recognised the powerful impact of Stan’s mentoring in providing a modelthat aligned with his personal attributes and the relationship focus of his teaching.Watching Stan model, a pastoral approach to a whole-year group, in contrast tohis previous mentor teacher, resonated with Jaxon’s own philosophy. Jaxon wasable to develop self-assurance in his teaching philosophy and approach throughthe influential mentoring of Stan. Jaxon responded productively to the disruptivedissonance of differing mentor role models. He confirmed his belief and ability increating a classroom environment through modelling the teacher he aspired to be andso provided meaning for his personal professional development. This formed part

Learning Through “Disruptive Dissonances” 143

of a continuing cycle for building his confidence in his teaching practice and furthermotivated his professional learning.

Similarly, Mia described the significance of modelling respected colleagues “whoI see as successful, how they would handle situations and interpret situations andtheir reading of different students or situations” as “a very constant thing. It’s alwayshappening”. For Mia, the comparison then with those “who have not been ableto handle or understand or interpret situations” affords the disruptive dissonancenecessary to determine how to successfully behave and respond in various situations.Recognising this contrast also provides an ongoing positive influence for her personalprofessional learning.

Chloé acknowledges the risk of not being able to observe characteristics that arepositivemodels for teachers’ ongoing development. She also recognises the complex-ity of professional judgement and breadth of pedagogy that needs to be incorporatedinto developing practice through exposure to expertise of professional mentors: “Youneed to be able to see it to sort of work out whether you’re there or not quite there”.The risk for Chloé is not being able to draw on the expertise of another colleague aspertinent to her developing needs in aligning personal practical knowledge to the-oretical understanding. Her insight demonstrates that communicative, collaborativepedagogy enabled productive learning throughout her career.

A minimal response to a disruptive dissonance for Anh was his negligible obser-vation of other teachers and an initial mentor early in his career. This foreshadowedthe risk of remaining more isolated rather than cultivating a communicative, collab-orative pedagogy. Anh observed “a couple of experienced teachers that took on headteacher roles” in his early career but noted that “I didn’t try and change my teach-ing to their way, but I’d pick things up”. Like the other four teachers, Anh adaptedhis practice to role models. However, unlike the other teachers, Anh did not seekspecific collaborative learning situations with colleagues to maintain the disruptivedissonance for his learning through his middle to later career.

Lilli expresses her belief in “opening up the doors” of classrooms to enable com-munication and collaboration with colleagues and ongoing reflexive practice. Thisrepresents a disruptive dissonance in that she is open to critique from others. Sherecognises that the productive potential for learning relies on the teacher being opento “constructive criticism” to act on feedback and developments in practice.

Having somebody watch me and give me feedback and vice versa. Also, student feedback isvery important. Asking your students to evaluate how you’re teaching something and thenreflect on their assessment of you. Often that is very informative.

Like Lilli’s use of feedback for self-evaluation, Jaxon values feedback from studentsand colleagues. He recognises the shift from needing “big moments” for nurturing hisconfidence fromhis earlier years of teaching.His affirmationnow lies in his “student’sreactions to things and from noticing that they learn and things like that, but I thinkthe mentoring thing is big for that as well”. A necessary disruptive dissonance forJaxon is acknowledging interactions with others as central to the development ofhis own expertise. His observations and responses to students and colleagues in


mentoring relationships propelled his ongoing personal professional development.His immediate relational and communicative spaces allowed for communicative,collaborative pedagogy as a prerequisite for his learning. He recognised the risk ofteaching in isolation and so actively sought out other teachers to ask their advice.Throughout his career, Jaxon consciously avoided isolating himself and “enjoyedhaving someone watch my lessons and talk to me about it”. He was aware that somecolleagues “would be really frightened” as “it is a very daunting thing” to haveanother teacher observing their classroom. The enjoyment Jaxon experiences whenothers observe his teaching is viewed as “helping me become such a better teacher”and represents the positive potential of this disruptive dissonance in alleviating theisolation of teaching and supporting his learning. Sharing a critique of his practiceenables Jaxon to draw on the experience of his colleagues and mentors.

By way of contrast to the other teachers, Anh expressed reticence regarding teamteaching with novice teachers or those with whom he had not interacted profession-ally. He couched this as:

Probably a bit with my own inadequacy, I don’t know if I’d do my part of the job properly…I’d need to know something about them and just how they view what I think would beimportant: procedures or ideas, even classroom management.

Anh’s guarded approach does not use the disruptive dissonance to potentially enrichhis personal professional development. He remains apprehensive and unforthcomingin sharing his teaching approach. His lack of engagement and unreceptive mindsetshields his experience from perspectives or practices different to his own. Anh’spersonal professional learning in his later teaching years is not indicative of commu-nicative, collaborative pedagogy.

Chloé has mentored “about processes and things like that, but in terms of bigpicture, deeper things I don’t think that’s going to happen quite yet”. Chloé indicatesher lack of confidence in representing her expertise in a theoretical realm, whichrepresents a shift in the disruptive dissonance of communicative, collaborative ped-agogy.

I don’t think I’m quite ready. I’m still learning. I’m still trying to get my head around stuff.So, there are always opportunities for it, but I don’t like it when it’s forced … it doesn’twork.

For her, further development would be acceptable within a mutually selected pro-fessional relationship. She needs to negotiate this shift in disruptive dissonance forher mentoring role to have the productive potential of communicative, collaborativepedagogy.

Jaxon identifies the learning he experienced through the disruptive dissonancepresented in his role of mentoring teachers through their professional accreditationprocess.

I really found that when I observed lessons, I’d pick up some little things that people do…and it’s something that I hadn’t thought of trying but it’s something that I’ve picked up fromwatching somebody else. So, I think sometimes you’re giving advice to the other person thatyou need to listen to yourself.


Jaxon’s reflexive process affirms the confidence he feels in his teaching and rein-forces the positive aspects of his practice. This process also enables identificationof improvements in his own practice and so provides a disruptive dissonance that isproductive for his learning.

Anh’s preponderance is not to negotiate disruptive dissonances to cultivate acommunicative, collaborative pedagogy. He reinforces his spectator approach:

I have just seen too many young teachers who leave teaching and I’ve never discussed it fullywith them, but I get the impression that they came in enthusiastic, they got sick and tired ofcopping the same abuse from kids day after day, they didn’t get the support and they’ll nevercome back.

His description infers another “someone” to support new teachers. Although Anhhas concern for the development of young teachers, he did not actively represent hisinvolvement or inclination to engage in these relational and communicative spaces.Dissimilarly, the other teachers identify activementoring relationships and the disrup-tive dissonance of negotiating a communicative, collaborative pedagogy as necessaryfor their learning.

The following discussion explores the disruptive dissonance of approachinguncertain challenges as developmental opportunities and how teacher’s third spacethinking negotiates this problematic.

In What Ways Should I Approach Uncertain Challengesas Developmental Opportunities?

Challenges in the teachers’ practice and philosophy present tensions in their con-fidence and motivation to learn. Discursive reflection on practice and sharing ofvision with others allows them to address the often-uncertain challenges they facein their personal professional development. Negotiating new teaching practices andencountering broader role responsibilities represents disruptive dissonances withintheir relational and communicative spaces. The disruptive dissonances of uncertainchallenges offer potential developmental opportunities throughout the careers of allfive of the teachers as discussed below.

Chloé is eager and somewhat spontaneous to developmental challenges: “I tendto jump into things and then go ‘oh maybe that wasn’t a good idea’.” Her “highexpectations” and “we’ll see” approach allows the disruptive dissonance of possiblesuccess or failure.

I have a work ethic that says “well, if I organise an afternoon tea to give the coaching packsout, and it starts at three and finishes at four, well what’s the big deal”. Then no one shows upand you think, “oh, okay”. So, … it doesn’t happen as much anymore. I don’t know whetherthat its people now know what I expect, and they have seen maybe the outcome of havingthose expectations or whether, and I know, I’ve adapted.

Chloé’s self-study enables interpretation of her own high expectations against theorganisational expectations of her colleagues. Her reflection on this challenge allows


for a development opportunity in terms of understanding andmanaging expectations.After some lack of success, Chloé reached a compromise in the organisation ofmeetings that reframed her expectations and enabled positive involvement from hercolleagues.

Throughout her career, Lilli embraced the disruptive dissonance of uncertain chal-lenges via the integration of information and communication technologies ICT. Sheaccepted the challenges as developmental opportunities—being an early adopter ofICT in her teaching, mentoring colleagues as a leading teacher of ICT and creatingprofessional development situations for colleagues by facilitating learning in ICT.She describes how ICT has broadened her approach to her practice and her learningby:

utilising something other than the traditional teaching space…So, there’s an extra dimensionand although it doesn’t sound like space it is, it is space.

Lilli associates the physical and virtual space afforded by ICT to her practice as anew space for learning. She embraces the disruptive dissonance of this developmentalchallenge as a space that provides additional meaning for her practice and learningwith colleagues.

In contrast, during his career Anh did not respond to the disruptive dissonanceof ICT challenges to generate a developmental opportunity. He found the continualchanges in ICT throughout his career as an overwhelming confrontation for hislearning:

I look at my time in teaching as a time of fair amount of change, I suppose technologywise…. There is a lot of resource available, but I find it hard retaining it all. I get to masterone thing and suddenly another thing comes up. Not getting enough opportunity to practiceit enough I suppose… I need that instruction or that guidance.

Anh reconceived the challenge of integrating ICT into his practice as too precarious:the changes were too frequent, his retention of new information was limited, and histime for practice was too restricted. He set himself apart from his colleagues in thispossible developmental opportunity, creating a division through the greater numberof years of his teaching experience and the limitations of his technological ability. Hewas unable to draw on communicative and relational spaces to harness this disruptivedissonance as a productive development opportunity. In doing so, he was distinctlydifferent from later-life computer learners who embraced the opportunity to learn(Russell 2008).

During her career, Mia’s approach was comparable to Lilli’s in that she soughtout the disruptive dissonance of uncertain challenges rather than remaining passivetowards her development opportunities. She exhibited an alternative view to Anh inher willingness “to try something new and different” rather than miss the opportunityor squander time.

I suppose it’s been quite brave to do these things but as well I’ve always been quite scaredof just sitting and doing nothing and wasting my time or my years.

The challenge of managing difficult student behaviour in varied environments hasrepresented a disruptive dissonance for Mia during her career. However, her current


role provides the challenges of a different relational space within a boarding schoolenvironment and allows for development of innovative practice. Her initiative intaking on possible uncertain challenges enables this disruptive dissonance to beproductive for her EPPL. Mia believed that if “you haven’t got it within yourself tobe willing to find these things out and look for them and do it yourself, you’re notgoing to develop and you’re not going to learn more.”

LikeChloé,Lilli andMia, Jaxon relishes the unpredictability of challenging spacesand pursues the disruptive dissonance of a less conventional or typically traditionalpath. He is insightful on experiences believing that:

some of them are positive and some of them are negative but if you’ve got spaces where youare facing challenges, some of them can be sink or swim kind of challenges, and some ofthem can be opportunities too…. But to have a wider expertise; an expertise feeling like Icould take on something because I’ve taken on things before…. Those opportunities, theywere really the things that drove my learning more than anything else.

Jaxon’s negotiation of uncertain challenges is the disruptive dissonance that enablesthe nurturing of adaptable characteristics of his teaching and learning. Drawing oncommunicative and relational spaces, he reframes his understanding of his teachingexpertise. Essential in his thinking is that:

I’m not really afraid of messing up and making a big mistake… that doesn’t really faze me…I think learning from my mistakes, learning from positive experiences as well. Adapting thethings that I do and trying new things and building a set of skills that I can use to walk intoa classroom and be able to handle that classroom effectively.

Jaxon reframes his teaching and learning approach with his students, creating a spacefor representing learning as a mutual investigation that requires risk-taking.

Anh’s uncertain challenge with a new role presented a disruptive dissonance inwhich his response did not provide potential for a development opportunity. Hetentatively noted that he sawhis new job-sharing role “as sort of new ground” thatwas“going to be on-the-job experience” in which “apart from teaching the shared classesa lot of it’s going to be a new experience”. Distinctly different to the approaches ofChloé, Lilli, Mia and Jaxon, Anh’s perspective towards this challenge was muchmore pessimistic:

I know that it will involve doing things, having to be more organised and having to com-municate with the other teacher… I think I realise that when I get into this job-sharing it’sgoing to require me making, I don’t know for how long, but making regular adjustments thatI’ll have to assess; “is this working?” I think at the moment it’s difficult to understand whatproblems are going to arise.

Anh recognises that his approach to his teaching procedures, communication andclassroom practice may require modifications, without qualifying these with positivepossibilities or presenting an optimistic attitude.

The third and final problematic explores the unique responses of the teachers tobeing an expert teacher despite the seemingly impossible possibility of becoming anexpert teacher along with the transformative possibilities.


How Do I Articulate Being an Expert Through the SeeminglyImpossible Possibility of Becoming an Expert?

In this problematic, the disruptive dissonance is the disjunction between a teacher’snotion of ongoing learning as essential for developing expertise and the sociopo-litically accepted acknowledgement of expertise represented through successfulachievement in teacher leader roles. All the teachers perceive that their expertiselies within their classroom practice. Anh’s reflection based on his involvement in theEPPL study resulted in his questioning of his expert nomination due to his unsuc-cessful leadership experience rather than his classroom teaching. Jaxon, Chloé, Lilliand Mia are reticent to accept the title of expert because they see learning as ongoingand see development as requiring challenges. Furthermore, there is a quandary intheir career progression in terms of their leadership roles. They are happiest in con-tinuing to learn as teacher leaders within the relational and communicative spacesthat include classroom teaching and they continually negotiate the seemingly impos-sible possibility of becoming an expert teacher. The portrayal of their professionalexperience lacks the language to articulate the meaning of their developing expertisethroughout their careers.However, the teachers found it difficult to reconcile acceptednotions of experience as representative of expertise. This notion did not align withthe development of self-understanding they realised through ongoing learning and sowas a disruptive dissonance for them. Furthermore, they recognised different aspectsof their expertise.

For Chloé, the disruptive dissonance required resolving the fraudulent feelingsabout her expertise as she “had lots of practice” and “lots of pretending” undertakingleadership roles in a relieving capacity. She acknowledged the difficulty in reconcilingher perception with that of her colleagues who:

don’t understand why I think like that either. … I sort of sit there and go “well, I’m notactually a head teacher, I’m just relieving”. I don’t know. I don’t know why I think like that.

She attributed her gaining roles to chance; “partly being in the right place at the righttime and having a changeover of very experienced staff ” as well as “having a desireto improve and learn continually”. Chloé recognised her growing confidence gainedthrough mentoring support and her own motivation for learning as contributing toher expertise. She was conscious of the need for continually sharing with colleaguesfor her ongoing development. She commented that this required “More time [pause]more time.”

Chloé perceived “a strong base” in her existing network of friends in leadershippositions to assist her future development but was “conscious of consuming theirtime”. However, for her there was no time to access this support in undertaking herfirst permanent leadership role. Her continuing development of expertise involvednotions of being “conscious” and “aware” of the significance of her communicativeand relational spaces. Chloé felt that her former mentor “recognised that I wascontinually trying to find ways to improve what I do” and this led to her nominationfor the EPPL study that would contribute to her learning through “self-reflection andreflection on how things have progressed”.


Lilli attributed her nomination for the EPPL study to her colleagues’ acknowl-edgement of her ICT prowess from her UK experience that “was part of the initialreally big push to start using technology more widely in the classroom and sort ofrevamp teaching practice”. Lilli experienced the disruptive dissonance of broaden-ing her understanding from specific classroom aspects of “getting into teaching” to“thinking outside that” with an awareness that aspects of practice became intuitive.She recognised that teachers are aware of the theoretical foundation supporting ped-agogy but that this may not necessarily be demonstrated in conversations amongteachers whereas “most of us who are teaching we do a lot of these things with-out realising that we’re doing them”. During her career, Lilli continued to makeconnections between her practice and emerging educational theories. She realisedthat incorporating change within curriculum, assessment and pedagogical practicerequired an ability to specifically target individual learning. Her developing expertiseoften required personal stamina to cope with her own expectations in incorporatingchanges to practice, along with the “overwhelming” sociopolitical changes in thebreadth of responsibility and accountability for teachers.

Particularly, at the moment the pace of change is so rapid that I think there are some people,myself included, probably that will never get to grips with all of it because there is just toomuch to try and do at once. So, you’re better off just stepping back and saying “right, I willdo this one new thing well” rather than trying to do a bit of everything that’s new and endup not doing any of it very well.

Lilli became aware of all she had to learn as she progressed through her career.She described the effect of this awareness as contributing to her “lack of sleep” and“nightmares [in] being late for class or getting to a class and for some reason notknowing what on earth I am going to teach. I think they are probably your anxietiescoming out in your dreams”. The disruptive dissonance for Lilli was representedin her ability to maintain confidence in her expertise while balancing the everydaydemands of her teaching with the emotional, physical and intellectually challengesof change.

Mia’s ongoing disruptive dissonance concerning her notions of expertise focusedon reconciling expectations within relational and communicative spaces. Shedescribed the significance of personal abilities in fostering professional judgement,behaviour and relationships as part of the development of expertise, in which “peoplehave some quite good powers of analysis, of insight into trying to read other peopleand read situations”.Mia saw her development within the relational and communica-tive spaces as part of the ongoing nature of becoming an expert teacher to “alwayskeep figuring things out and learning things”. She acknowledged that the need forstamina and the ability to moderate her personal feelings at challenging times wasimportant for applying professional learning. She also felt “it’s very difficult to sumthings up” in portraying her developmental experience as “because it’s just got somany outcomes for what you do in your life and your time”. Mia’s personal andprofessional attributes and overall approach to challenges in life illustrate a forma-tive approach for becoming an expert teacher. Mia’s response to the third interviewrevealed her self-selection as a teacher leader.


Well to be completely honest, what it was, there was an email that came around to the seniorstaff; saying is anyone interested in taking part. I wasn’t singled out in any way at all. I justsaw the email and thought that might be quite interesting. Because I also didn’t have muchof an idea what a PhD involved so I thought it might be quite nice to do. So that’s why really.

However, her disruptive dissonances regarding the notion of expertise are the ongo-ing personal and professional challenges that represent becoming. Mia perceives thatbeing an expert teacher requires proving herself as a “decent teacher” and demon-strating her pastoral abilities in her current head of boarding house role.

Jaxon acknowledged the peer recognition regarding his nomination for the EPPLstudy in that “I’d been teaching for a while and I had a range of experiences that fit intothe thing you were talking about”. Jaxon’s disruptive dissonance concerning notionsof expertise was reconciling school and university experiences with his approach toteaching.His compulsion to be a better teacherwas based on his schooling experiencethat fostered his:

thinking “I can do this better, I could do that, I can picture myself setting up and doing thatand this is how I’d do it”. And I always think that that was my calling to say, “this is whatyou’re going to do”. … the only other time I’ve really had that similar feeling was at the endof the Economics degree I did a Dip Ed… And I remember thinking I can see myself doingthat job.

Jaxon has been aware of the development of his expertise over time and recogniseda continuing desire to “be a better teacher all the time”. He identifies a formativeapproach to learning in always becoming and developing his expertise.

I know that I’m getting better all the time and that’s what I want to do. I want to learn thingsand I want to take things in. I don’t want to be in that position where I’m just in cruise controland go “no, I know everything”.

Yet Jaxon feels that his family and friends did not know “the real me” and thatthe leaders at his current school did not have “the whole picture” of him and hisapproach as a teacher leader. Reading his professional learning narrative enabledhim to articulate the self-understanding of his teaching expertise.

I loved the story. Every once in a while, I open it up and read through it again. It’s been areally affirming process to look over all of that. I really enjoyed the picture that got built …I would love for that to be in my résumé, for somebody to read it and say, “Hey that Jaxonguy, I’d really like to employ him”. And I’d like to say to somebody “if you employed meas a teacher, this is the package that you get”… When I read the story and interpretation Iwas like ok, I feel really understood by that piece of writing.

Jaxon emphasises the importance of revealing this self to others and of confirmingthe teacher he is. However, for him there was a disruptive dissonance regarding thefuture projection of his positive agency as a teacher leader. His self-understandingand his aspirations for leadership did not align with how he felt understood andperceived by others. His conception of who he is in being an expert teacher is alsoat odds with his formative approach to learning in terms of always becoming andalways developing his expertise.

Conversely, Anh queried the alignment of characteristics he attributed to an expertteacher with his demonstration of these characteristics.


So, from what I’ve written, I think, so how much of that do I really do? I try and do mostof it, so I suppose it’s just the word expert I don’t feel comfortable with. I said I’m flatteredthat the person asked so I’m sitting both sides of the fence saying, “I’m not worthy but isn’tit good someone thinks that I might be”.

He did not allude to a formative notion of developing expertise and shied away fromthe use of the term expert.

Anh’s disruptive dissonance for being an expert became problematic as hereflected on his story that did not portray ongoing possibilities for becoming. Hedid not respond to the disruptive dissonance within relational and communicativespaces despite his perception of being a “team player”. His perspective was differentto those of the other teachers as he was wary of personal and professional change.He was cynical about the trends associated with ICT and perceived change cycles ineducation as something to be endured. He believed that the essential nature of theteacher’s role was the same as “200 years ago”. Furthermore, his lack of desire tocontinue in a teacher leader role focused his notion of expertise on the years he spentin classroom teaching. He perceived his expertise as the accumulation of his pastexperiences, and he described his classroom expertise through his optional lecturesession offered to Year 12 Mathematics students prior to their matriculation exam-ination to tertiary studies. Anh found that double the number of students attendedhis sessions as compared to his expectations for a class of 30, attributing this to hisobservation that “over a number of years I’ve seen so many students struggle withthat topic”. In his summary of what constitutes being an expert, Anh included thedemonstration of content knowledge as well as attributes like those identified by theother four teachers. However, the recounting of his teaching and learning experiencesled him to the following conclusion:

Having written these words, it makes me more convinced that you have asked the wrongperson … if I am supposed to be an expert.

Anh expressed a disruptive dissonance in not attaining his notion of being an expertafter reviewing his professional learning narrative.

This chapter posits the personal nature of being and becoming within each pro-fessional learning narrative for the teachers in the EPPL study. Significantly, eachteacher’s perspectives and response to the problematics was indicative of third spacethinking. The next chapter reconsiders the significance of distinguishing expertisefrom experience, and the how embedding EPPL principles relies on a philosophyof openness, the confrontation with struggles and the development through beingand becoming as the foundations for understanding the teachers’ development ofexpertise.


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Chapter 10Expertise, Third Space Thinkingand EPPL Principles for Action

Abstract In this final chapter, I outline the books original contribution to knowledgein three ways. Firstly, using a dual methodological stance reveals representations ofthe teachers’ constructions ofmeaningwithin their lifeworld. Secondly, interrogatingexpert teachers’ experience of personal professional learning uncovers new under-standing on the development of expertise. Thirdly, positing the centrality of learningwithin the lifeworldof expert teachers provides principles for action. Finally, I arguefor developing all teachers Enacted Personal Professional Learning (EPPL). Learn-ing principles for EPPL are visualised as a 3-D flower-like image in which personalprofessional learning blooms. In the centre resides the disruptive dissonances withinbeing and becoming. The nurturing of contextual, dynamic and reflexive influenceson teachers’ developing expertise intermingle with the growth of what I propose asthird space thinking for negotiating three problematics. Surrounding the develop-ing expertise are three professional learning principles that support EPPL as well asguide research into practice.

Introduction

TheEPPLstudypresents one version of possible phenomenologicalmeaning-makingabout the experience of the teachers. Re-imaginingwhat constitutes teacher expertisethrough phenomenological findings requires distinguishing insight from experience.I explore the fraught nature of identifying experts within the research process for thissmall-scale study and the methodological responsiveness in utilising the theoreticalunderpinnings of narrative inquiry and phenomenological inquiry. Meaning repre-sentations comprised the expert teachers’ reflections on story as well as uncoveringthe pre-reflective understanding existing within their experience. The phenomeno-logical constituents of teachers’ experience are represented as “lived through” (Giorgi1989), with influential interrelationships necessary for EPPL.

I conceptualise the emerging and interdependent nature of the concepts within myfindings and conclusions through Fig. 10.1. This visualises the teachers’ experiencein a three-dimensional shape that continuously reblossoms over time. This illustra-tion merges the understandings, developed from the findings and their implications,


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154 10 Expertise, Third Space Thinking and EPPL Principles for Action

with recommendations to provide some necessary conditions for teachers’ EPPL.Here, I propose that the disruptive dissonances for developing expertise, as phe-nomenological constituents within the lifeworld of expert teachers, require essentialsupport. Fundamentally, EPPL relies on the professional learning principles listedbelow.

• Sharing the language of teaching and learning through storytelling• Livingwith the uncertainties of being and becomingwhile rejecting the dichotomyof expert versus non-expert, and

• Promoting professional learning communities that encourage the linking of theoryand practice, the resonance of individuality and collegiality, and the mutuality ofbeing and becoming.

Promoting these professional learning principles will harness the possible benefitsand impacts of the EPPL study for the development of expertise and personal profes-sional learning of teachers. Additionally, I suggest future research possibilities forunderstanding the incidental and emancipatory nature of expert teachers’ personalprofessional learning.

In conclusion, I acknowledge the others within their lifeworld: students, col-leagues and teacher leaders and mentors. I recognise that an interactive researchprocess allows for reflexivity on lived experience.

Distinguishing Expertise from Experience

The methodological responsiveness of the EPPL study provided understanding ofTPL through expert teacher meaning-making, highlighting the fraught nature ofidentifying experts and revealing the third space thinking in negotiating the disruptivedissonances of teachers’ EPPL.

Methodological Responsiveness

The EPPL study contributes to the methodological responsiveness necessary tounderstand the complexity of phenomena within our lifeworlds. Chapter 3 situatedthe EPPL study within a constructivist perspective and outlined the use of narrativeinquiry and phenomenological inquiry. The use of these dual methodologies enabledthe creation of hermeneutic understandings of how expert teachers construct mean-ing from their personal professional development and approach to their learning. Theconstruction of their professional learning narratives allowed for an examination ofthe unique human experience of the five teachers in the study. An analysis of thephenomenological meaning-making that traverses the five narratives then revealedthe insightful understanding often repressed or constrained within the experience.

Distinguishing Expertise from Experience 155

Consequently, the phenomenological constituents were posited as disruptive disso-nances that represented problematics across the teachers’ experience.

Additionally, Chap. 3 supports the accuracy of representations that providedescriptive validity through the interpretation of teacher perspectives. Theoreticalvalidity is achieved with plausible and legitimate research explanations in attempt-ing to establish new concepts, principles or theoretical frameworks (Maxwell 2002).For the EPPL study, the transferability is underpinned by the trustworthiness of anal-ysis when representing and interpreting expert teachers’ views and enables teacherrecognition of the EPPL findings at local, thematic and global levels.

Furthermore, the phenomenological writing of the EPPL study invoked a“selfother” approach using “a participatory mode of consciousness” (Heshusius1994) to focus on mutual understanding of the meaning constructed by the teachersfrom their experience. Although aware that total suspension of culturally imposedunderstanding is not possible, I was conscious of immersing myself in the teacherstories to construct meaning from their EPPL. Exploring the lifeworld constituentswithin the professional development experience of the teachers denotes an intercon-nectedness with their personal professional learning. The philosophical aspects oflearning in being and becoming “are inextricably intertwined, and human learningis one of the phenomena that unite them, for it is fundamental to life itself” (Jarvis2009). Consequently, I posit that learning is a central part of being a teacher in theirlifeworld and EPPL enables the creation of meaning in becoming expert through thedevelopment of expertise.

The Fraught Nature of Identifying Experts

Detailing the construction of meaning that occurred through the development ofexpertise for five teachers reveals the need to distinguish between the meanings ofexpertise from years of teaching experience.

Chapter 3 discusses the approach that allows for extensive analysis on themeaningconstructed by the participants of the EPPL study. The use of criterion sampling anda snowballing process enabled the nomination by colleagues of teachers and detaileddescriptions (Denzin 2002; Kvale and Brinkmann 2009; Lichtman 2010; Riessman2002; vanManen 1997), as is typical of small-scale qualitative research (Yates 2003).The recognition of expertise by teaching and learning colleagues was supported bythe teaching expertise criteria developed for the EPPL study (refer to Appendix A).The decision to invite only five teachers wasmade after initial interview transcriptionand analysis, where the gathering of considerably varied representations of expertteachers’ experience for interpretation negated any need to expand the number ofparticipants.

Importantly, the EPPL findings uncover the teachers’ perspectives as to why theywere nominated. Chloé, Lilli and Jaxon acknowledged the aspects of their exper-tise recognised by colleagues, Mia attributed her self-selection to her recognitionby others as a teacher leader, and Anh recognised his nomination as being due to


years of teaching experience. The teachers’ representations of their personal profes-sional development and their understanding of the reasons for their nomination alsohighlighted the differing perceptions of the term expert. Four of the five teachersrecognised that expertise in teaching and learning included the continual recontextu-alising of competence in practice, along with developing self-understanding throughongoing challenges. The findings question the perception that expertise is exclusivelyachieved through years of teaching experience.

Expert Teachers’ Third Space Thinking

The professional learning narratives for the teachers in the study highlight their per-spectives on empathetic understanding and non-competitive collegiality within theirEPPL. Additionally, the pre-reflective meaning-making of the teachers highlightsthe unique disruptive dissonances they experience as phenomenological constituentsthat propel their EPPL. The different needs of each expert teacher suggest that thirdspace thinking is necessary for their EPPL. Third space thinking is an enabler forthe development of teaching expertise. Once again, the findings in relation to Anh’spersonal professional development and learning are different to those for Jaxon,Chloé, Mia and Lilli. Fundamentally, the EPPL study suggests that harnessing anontological third space is central for expert teachers in creating meaning through thedisruptive dissonances of their lifeworld. They negotiate these dissonances throughthree problematics, as outlined in Chap. 3 and explored in Chap. 9.

The first problematic is identified as: “To what extent is there a risk in isolatingmy experience from communicative, collaborative pedagogy?” The responses ofJaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli exhibit an openness to the development of their expertisein teaching and learning. They demonstrate a third space philosophy through anintentional search for and nurturing of communicative, collaborative pedagogy. Theydo not aim for a fusion of their experience with that of others but strive to remainreceptive to the possibilities presented through sharing experience with others. Theharnessing of such “both/and also” openings rather than conclusions (Soja 1996) isindicative of their third space philosophy. In contrast to the other four teachers, Anhrecognises his expertise through his knowledge of content and as being synonymouswith his years of teaching experience. However, he does not acknowledge that hisexpertise could be shared with a less experienced teacher to assist the developmentof their expertise. The teachers all demonstrate the notion of Bildung (Lovlie andStandish 2003; Olesen 2010) in addressing the needs of the whole learner and aimingto make a difference in the life outcomes of their students. However, in contrast tothe other four teachers, Anh does not apply the same reasoning to his own personalprofessional learning by sharing his developmental experiences with colleagues.Dewey’s concept of experience, along with the “democratic potential” of Bildung,illuminates “a fundamental similarity in some of the problems that people face”(Wahlström 2010). Anh does not recognise that his experience provides challengesaswell as developmental opportunities like his peers. There is little acknowledgementby Anh that self-transformation is possible within EPPL.

Distinguishing Expertise from Experience 157

The second problematic, “In what ways should I approach uncertain challengesas developmental opportunities?”, requires confrontation within a third space. Theteachers all experience struggle and resistance when facing uncertain challenges asdevelopmental opportunities. The EPPL experiences of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lillidemonstrate the need for confronting accepted practices and understandings, con-testing alternate approaches with colleagues and making mistakes to learn. Anh’sperspective, however, does not encourage further self-understanding or transforma-tive learning possible through third space thinking.

A response to the third problematic, “How do I articulate being an expert throughthe seemingly impossible possibility of becoming an expert?”, represents a thirdspace awareness for EPPL. The teachers negotiate the recognition of being an expertwhile acknowledging the evolving nature of becoming an expert. Chloé,Mia andLillido not refer to their expertise as a fixed end-state but as an ongoing process in whichcompetence develops by undertaking “increasingly difficult problems” (Tsui 2009).Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli experience changes in self-understanding and under-standing of others at different times within their lifeworld. They encounter changesincrementally over a long time frame as well as through instantaneous experience,which is negotiated in the first two problematics. However, Anh’s invitation to par-ticipate in the research assumed that his more than 30 years of teaching experienceequated with high levels of expertise. Anh’s understanding of his expertise focusedon pedagogical skills for targeting the learning needs of his students. His broaderomission of sociocultural change and sharing collegial understanding was thereforelimiting for his own ongoing personal professional development. After 30 years ofteaching, Anh demonstrated limited EPPL in the negotiation of disruptive disso-nances to embrace the formative nature of becoming.

For four of the five teachers, third space thinking of their EPPL enriches theirteaching and learning expertise through a philosophy of openness, a conceptualisa-tion of uncertain challenges as developmental opportunities and an awareness of themutuality of being and becoming.

Embedding EPPL Principles: Implications for ExpertTeachers’ EPPL

The three problematics for EPPL inform the conceptualisations illustrated throughFig. 10.1. The pivotal constituent is the encountering of disruptive dissonances forthe teacher within the being and becoming of their lifeworld. This visualisationrepresents the budding nature of being and becoming. The contextual, dynamic andreflexive influences on teachers’ developing expertise blossom with the nurturing ofthird space thinking to negotiate the problematics within the teacher’s lifeworld. Theteachers’ EPPL is enclosed by three professional learning principles that, I propose,are needed to provide the necessary support and encouragement for the ongoingdevelopment of teaching expertise.


Fig. 10.1 Embedding EPPL principles

Value of Sharing the Language of Teaching and LearningThrough Storytelling

The narrative inquiry of the EPPL study enabled each expert teacher to articulate andreflect on their professional learning narrative. Storytelling and the use of metaphorand idiom represent a search for a language of teaching and learning and signify theunique nature of each teacher’s experience.

The teachers were able to articulate the unique nature of their experience. Theyprovided amendments to their narratives through the checking of their stories. Theyalso shared reflections on my analysis of their stories in the ideational, interpersonal,and textual or spoken contexts. Analysing interview transcripts allows for the cre-ation of interpretive stories that form “a personal experience narrative” and so thenarratives “highlight both the individuality and the complexity of a life” (McCormick

Embedding EPPL Principles: Implications 159

2004). Sharing of teacher narratives identifies the significance of others in providing“opportunities for fostering critical consciousness of praxis” (Latta and Kim 2009).Furthermore, story enables an exploration of the emergent and complex nature ofreality and creation of meaning, thus necessitating a “grappling with the relationalimmediacy of this negotiation” (Latta and Kim 2009). The teachers all providedpositive comments on the opportunity to share and reflect through reading and dis-cussion of their professional learning narratives. Additionally, they continued theircommunication with me to garner information on ICT, leadership specific literatureand avenues for professional development.

EPPL supports the need for a space to develop a professional language for teachingand learning. Recording exemplary practice through case studies or “pedagogicallaboratories” was previously suggested to enable the creation of “some language todescribe lessons” (Berliner 1987). Subsequent ridicule of a “specialised language ofteaching and learning” creates a perceived gap in theory and practice and ignores theneed to provide purposeful and “more informed examination of the pedagogical intentunderpinning practice” (Loughran 2010). The EPPL study found that the scarcity ofa shared language often required teacher to use metaphors to explain pedagogicalexpertise or the intuitingof developmental opportunities not overtly articulated.Therewas also little time or opportunity to expressly develop a language with peers or asmentors with novice teachers. During interviews, the teachers would often seekclarity of their own understanding and that of others when expressing themselves.Jaxon commented that “I actually never thought about that” when reflecting on hisneed to communicate with peers. Chloé repeatedly said “I don’t know” and “I guess”when sharing her experiences. Lilli asked, “Does that make sense?” when she usedmetaphoric or proverbial expressions. Mia echoed the need to “try” to find waysand opportunities to share learning with peers. Anh expressed surprise at his use ofrepetitive language within his narrative after reading my analysis of the textual orspoken context of his story.

During the interviews, all five teachers used specific language within the space oftheir personal professional development in place of a dedicated language of teachingand learning. In particular, they revealed their developmental experience through theuse of metaphor or idiom: Jaxon’s being “unfazed” by challenges and accepting ofuniversal difference; Chloé’s expressing doubt in reconciling her feelings of fraud-ulence with her expertise; Mia identifying “clues” in her search for understanding;Lilli describing important incidents as “little” experiences and speaking of “jug-gling” her workload; and Anh expressing his emotional needs in terms of beingable to “switch off ”, to do the “right” or “best” thing, and not to “cut corners”. Aprofessional language would enable teachers to understand the tacit knowledge ofteaching practice and to articulate the characteristics of their EPPL. An “enunciativeagency” of a professional language would replace the use of metaphors, not as “apoetic embellishment” (Lindqvist and Nordänger 2010), but a way of enabling themeaning created by the teacher to be understood.

Understanding how actions are affected and characterised through metaphor pro-vides personal clarity in the understanding of teachers’ professional development.Although descriptions vary between teachers and change over time, the understand-


ing is essentially represented within context. Focusing on individual teacher lan-guage also demands an interrogation of the language within different discourses atthe institutional and system levels of education. This includes addressing the ongo-ing differences between understanding of years of experience and expertise, and thepersistent dichotomous use of the terms expert and non-expert. This lack of clar-ity tends to reinforce more traditional notions of an expert teacher and hinders aprogressive language of teaching and learning. This language should authenticallydraw on the metaphor and idioms that reflect how teachers think about learning, aswell as the storytelling that meaningfully represents the conditions for learning inthe development of teaching expertise. Therefore, storytelling provides a source forunderstanding personal professional development as well as a rich foundation for thedevelopment of a language of teaching and learning.

Living with Uncertainties of Being and Becoming WhileRejecting the Dichotomy of Expert Versus Non-expert

The teachers who participated were reticent to identify themselves as experts. Theiremphasis was on living with uncertainties in their ongoing learning that dynamicallylinks their practice to their theoretical understandings. I suggest that the developmentof expertise requires the revelation of insights on experience, encapsulating thirdspace thinking for dealing with the disruptive dissonances central to EPPL.

EPPL articulates teachers’ revelation of insights as afforded by their experience.Insight resulting from experience is demonstrated through the insightful presence ofteachers (Lindqvist andNordänger 2010) and so reveals the pre-reflectivemeaning oftheir experience. Therefore, teacher story “develops newways of being and identifiesnew avenues for becoming through exploration of understandings” (Pinnegar andHamilton 2011). The analysis of the professional learning narrative for the teachersreveals their relational caring and supportive interactions. Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli andMiaemphasise empathetic understanding and non-competitive collegiality throughouttheir stories. Anh espouses the importance of perceiving the learner as a humanbeing, although he is unable to extend this to fostering relationships with his peersfor collegial learning.

Third space thinking demonstrated by Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli in their EPPLentwines being and becoming expert teachers. Always becoming enables teachers tolive with “ambiguities, not simply as conflicts to be resolved” (Dall’Alba 2009) butin constructing meaning in their EPPL. The three problematics of EPPL demonstratethe mutuality of being and becoming in the development of expertise. Anh was flat-tered to be nominated for the EPPL study; however, his third interview reflectionsimplied it was his participation that provoked the problematic of being and becoming.His narrative suggested that he did not successfully negotiate disruptive dissonanceswhen he remained isolated from his teaching colleagues. He did not embrace thechallenges of integrating ICT, job-sharing or the possible mentoring of novice teach-


ers. Anh’s notion of being an expert focused on his established practice and theassociated learning as central to his becoming. Early in her career when her chal-lenging environments make her hesitant to engage with colleagues, Mia was at riskof leaving the teaching profession or replicating the experiences of the young Anh.However, Mia broadened her experience internationally and was then more respon-sive to the learning she experienced in the relational spaces of the boarding school.Mia continues to aspire to succeed in coping with her disruptive dissonances. Theunique experiences of Jaxon, Chloé, Lilli and Mia provide opportunities for growthand allow insight into pedagogical understanding and understanding of self. EPPLsupports the transformative being and becoming of experts in teaching profession.To enable “rich opportunities for critically reflecting upon existing forms of practiceand how they can be improved” (Dall’Alba and Sandberg 2010) necessitates thejuxtaposition of being and becoming in teacher’s EPPL.

The personally challenging EPPL for Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli enables themto engage with their disruptive dissonances in a progressive way. In contrast, Anhinhabits a space with a traditional approach focused on his isolated classroom prac-tice. These findings have significant implications for how the personal professionaldevelopment of teachers is conceptualised in the discourses at the institutional andsystem levels of education. Anh is an individual example representative of broadersystemic influences that can restrictively and oppressively lock in people to genericpathways and disregard individual needs and learning contexts. The frustration ofnot being heard or recognised can limit individual motivation for interrogating theirpersonal professional learning and so negatively influence individual development.Equally important is that Anh’s participation in the research presented a disruptivedissonance that challenged his accepted space as normative. The research challengedhis notions of being and becoming within the development of his expertise. In thisway, the EPPL findings highlight that this type of research is a practice that gener-ates new knowledge on the phenomena within our lifeworld as well as a conceptualexploration for participants that influences the understanding of their lifeworld.

Promoting PLCs: Interweaving Theory and Practice,Individuality and Collegiality, and Being and Becoming

EPPL calls for promoting professional learning communities that interweave practiceand theory, that value individual approaches to personal development within com-municative, collaborative pedagogy, and that resonate with the mutuality of beingand becoming.

For the teachers in the EPPL study, there were not consistent opportunities forthe linking of their pedagogical practice with current theory and relevant research.Early in their careers, the link between educational theory and practice was pivotal intheir personal professional development. Their development then became structuredby the remuneration and accreditation progression through their teaching careers.


The experience of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli in teacher leader roles acknowledgedrecognition of their expertise and experience. They articulated that in their develop-ment path as teacher leaders, their focus was to continue to teach along with pastoralcare leadership roles. Greater responsibilities in teacher leader roles represent thechallenge of a new developmental opportunity, although in such roles risk-taking isless acceptable and there is an expectation of deferring to the accepted wisdom ofmore senior colleagues. The gap between teacher vision and their contextual practiceis fundamental for creating a cycle that applies new pedagogical interpretations ofteacher vision and provides motivation for learning (Hammerness 2014). Teachersrequire a “reasonable” gap between their theoretical vision and pedagogical prac-tice to “feel inspired to reflect upon past practice and to evaluate their strengthsand weaknesses” (Hammerness 2006). The EPPL study shows that all five teachersencountered times in their careers when it was not acceptable to be seen to makea mistake. Anh’s confidence was shaken through his perceived failures in teacherleader roles that undermined his expertise. He reacted by centring his personal pro-fessional development on the pedagogical practice of his classroom teaching. Anh’sexperience in this regard highlights the need to reassess the personal nature of theprofessional learning spaces for the ongoing development of teaching expertise. Forteacher leaders, their ongoing developmental need to continually engage in classroomteaching necessitates an EPPL alternative that provides the required role structureand time to explore their teaching and learning.

The EPPL experiences of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli demonstrate the continualbalancing of their isolated practice with collegial and collaborative approaches totheir learning. Mia’s difficult teaching environments early in her career fostered aprofessionalism in which she could embrace relational and communicative spacesfor her learning. Lilli’s collaborative learning with colleagues was enriched throughvarious modes of team teaching, in contrast to the previously strained experienceof predetermined programs that aligned to an accountability regime of professionallearning. Both Chloé and Jaxon discovered that they needed to renegotiate the riskof being isolated in their teacher leader roles. Chloé and her selected leader mentorshad restricted time and opportunity to address her professional learning needs, whileJaxon had limited role models and restricted parameters for taking risks to further hispersonal professional development.Anh’s isolated approach to his learning continuedto limit opportunities for his personal professional learning throughout his career.

EPPL rests on the ontological significance of being and becoming for teachers’personal professional development. Succinctly, professional learning that integrates“knowing, acting and being” (Dall’Alba 2009). The somewhat tentative framing ofexperience by the expert teachers demonstrates the uneasy nature of disclosing theirself-awareness. However, the interrogation of their experience enabled the articula-tion of greater self-understanding. Jaxon was aware that he was initially naïve andunconfident but that later he recognised his competence and expertise. Chloé wasaware that others viewed her as capable when she did not, acknowledging this recog-nition of her teacher leader roles. Lilli was aware that others perceived her as anICT expert whereas she recognised the broader aspects of her expertise, includingmeeting the ever-demanding requirements of her learning. Mia was aware of her per-


sonal fallibilities and instances of feeling “intellectually intimidated”, but she alsorecognised the development of her pastoral care capabilities. Anh acknowledged thata peer recognised his teaching expertise, although he believed he was “not worthy”;yet he still recognised his years of teaching experience. The EPPL findings supportcommunicative, collaborative pedagogy that embrace being and becoming in thedevelopment of expertise.

EPPLvalues transformative learning possibilities and so necessitates a revisioningof approaches for systems, schools and teachers to enable third space thinking withinpersonal professional learning. The narrative of Anh’s professional developmentand learning prompts questions as to how his experience may have taken anotherpath, such as: Would different mentors throughout his career have provided differentrole models? How could he have been encouraged to share teaching practice withothers? Would greater interaction with colleagues, including novice teachers, haveenriched his approach to learning? How could the sharing of a multitude of personaldevelopment experiences avoid such a disenfranchised approach to teaching andlearning?TheEPPL study proposes at least four alternatives toAnh’s experience. Thechampioning of the lifeworld experiences of Jaxon, Chloé, Mia and Lilli requires thepromotion of PLCs that encourage the linking of theory and practice, the resonanceof individuality and collegiality, and the mutuality of being and becoming.

Conclusions

EPPLallows teachers to respond to the necessary disruptive dissonance of negotiatinguncertain challenges as developmental opportunities. Additionally, the articulation ofbeing an expert with the seemingly impossible possibility of becoming an expert mayrepresent an ultimate disruptive dissonance for each of the teachers in theEPPL study.There is an ongoing problematic in viewing expertise as only gaining knowledgethrough experience and promotional role achievements at the exclusion of a formativelearning perspective that continually supports the growth of expertise. Anh couldnot perceive of himself as an expert teacher after reviewing his professional learningnarrative.He identified a disjuncture of his experiencewith his description of teachingexpertise. Anh maintained an approach that reinforces a notion of expertise basedon his content and practice knowledge gained through years of teaching experience.However,

Acquisition of knowledge and skills is insufficient for embodying and enacting skilful pro-fessional practice, including for the process of becoming that learning such practice entails.(Dall’Alba 2009)

Being and becoming through third space thinking is a means of understanding theways in which the teachers create meaning through ongoing problematics in theirlifeworlds. For Anh, the inaccessibility of a “both/and also” philosophy of thirdspace prevented an exploration of expertise in several ways—through the avenue ofa teacher leader, in the sharing of practice with novice teachers, and through being


open to alternative approaches from colleagues. Promoting an ontological focusthroughout his professional learning may have enabled the border-crossing requiredto create the hybrid spaces for reconstruction of meaning in becoming an expertteacher. Anh was the one teacher who restricted his empathetic understanding tostudents, at the exclusion of colleagues and self. He also maintained an unengagedstance with respect to non-competitive collegiality. Anh presented a stifled and neg-ative response to the disruptive dissonances within his relational and communicativespaces. Isolation within practice for Anh was at the expense of a communicative, col-laborative pedagogy. This in fact presented an ongoing problematic for each of theteachers within the context of increased pressure due to accountability and competi-tionwith colleagues. Although thismay not have represented a continual problematicas it did for Anh, there was the danger that isolated practice would not be traversedas a disruptive dissonance to afford the insights of a communicative, collaborativepedagogy.

This book explores the implications of contested notions of experience versusexpertise and the dichotomy that distinguishes between expert and experienced non-expert. EPPL is based on a “lifeworld perspective” in which “Our learning extendsbeyond what we know and can do to who we are” (Dall’Alba and Sandberg 2010).EPPL explores the requirements of teachers’ personal professional learning arisingin response to their unique disruptive dissonances. This then necessitates the ongo-ing formation of unique responsive spaces for the continued personal professionaldevelopment of teachers. Significantly, an ontological perspective is necessary forunderstanding the lifeworld constituents within the personal professional develop-ment and learning of teachers.

My experience as a teacher researcher continues to motivate my investigationinto the lived experience of teaching and learning. My desire to understand the con-struction of meaning from expert teachers’ personal professional development andtheir approach to learning led to the EPPL study. Harnessing narrative inquiry andphenomenological inquiry as dual methodologies allowed me to reveal hermeneuticunderstandings of the lived experience of the five teachers. The primary conclusionsof the research conceptualise a third space necessary for teachers in traversing theconstituent disruptive dissonances. EPPL highlights the pivotal position of disruptivedissonances within the lifeworld of teachers and their being and becoming through-out the development of expertise. The narrative interpretation of the professionallearning narrative for each of the five teachers emphasises the contextual factorsthey recognise as shaping their personal professional development, their belief inrisk-taking for developing expertise, their formative attitude towards learning andtheir dynamic approach to change within their personal professional development.The phenomenological analysis distinguishes teacher insight from experience andidentifies three problematics representative of the disruptive dissonances necessaryfor the development of expertise. Figure 10.1 illustrates the emerging nature of theseconcepts by visualising the budding nature of lifeworld influences and the blossom-ing of third space thinking. The intertwined nature of these concepts is also dependentupon a type of professional learning that attends to and inspires the unique needs ofeach teacher. Therefore, this book recommends the EPPL principles as necessary forthe development of teaching expertise.

Conclusions 165

In conclusion, I appreciate the experience and associated insights that this researchhas affordedmewithinmy own lifeworld. I have learnt to deal with unforeseen issuesand the changing nature of a planned project as the process has unfolded in prac-tice. My new understanding of the interactive nature of research in which lifeworldperspectives are open to change provides impetus for my continuing research.

Suggestions for Future Research

Two avenues for future research are suggested by the EPPL study. The central themesand proposed professional learning principles explored in this book provide the basisfor investigations to develop ideas on expertise and use research methods for sharingof findings between participants, alongwith the use of an interactive research process.

I posit that learning is central to being and becoming within the personal profes-sional development of teaching expertise, inwhich disruptive dissonance is necessaryto learn. Future research could further explore living in disjuncture through the earlyto mid-career of participating teachers. A longitudinal time frame would enable theongoing revelation of living with uncertainties and rejecting the dichotomy of expertand non-expert through the unfolding experiences within the lifeworld of teachers.

The development of self-understanding is central to EPPL. The constant rewrit-ing and reinterpretation of the “text” of the “self to be constructed” is contextuallysituated and enables continual challenging of meanings proposed by the self and oth-ers (Tennant 2009). A longitudinal study could allow participants to actively shapetheir ongoing personal professional development by sharing different approaches topersonal professional learning. The publication of the findings throughout the timeframe would also contribute to dialogue on the professional ownership and inscrip-tion of a language of teaching and learning. A phenomenological and hermeneuticalapproach to the qualitative interview process allows for interpreting meaning ratherthanpresupposing the researchphenomenon.Researching theuniqueness of phenom-ena beyond the socially accepted meaning requires “critical consciousness-raising”and “communicating the critical insight obtained about the life-world of the intervie-wees back to the groups concerned” (Kvale 1983). Participating and co-publishingresearch would enable teachers to promote the role of professional learning commu-nities in guiding and recreating professional learning principles pertinent to insightson their lifeworld experiences.

Additionally, the EPPL study methods may be expanded to include the sharingof expert teachers’ narratives among participants to focus on the personal nature oftheir professional development and learning. This should include the phenomeno-logical interpretations of both participants and researcher, as well as publicationof professional learning narratives for teachers. This approach could build on myrecommended professional learning principle of sharing the language of teachingand learning through storytelling. Using narrative and phenomenological inquiryin an interactive research process draws on individual and collective learning toenable epistemological and ontological revelations of “shared understanding and


new affordances for acting and learning” (Ohlsson and Johansson 2010). An inter-active research process could benefit the personal professional development of par-ticipating teachers by allowing them to be part of a professional learning community(PLC)actively involved in researching their own practice. This would also supportmy recommended professional learning principle of promoting professional learn-ing communities that resonate with individuality and collegiality, and link theory topractice. Furthermore, publication within the professional literature would allow awider sharing of the narrative and phenomenological meaning-making afforded bythis research approach and enable professional dialogue on the mutuality of beingand becoming in the development of expertise.

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Appendix A

Teaching Expertise Criteria

The criteria below represent the variety of expertise relevant to a teacher’s field ofpractice or teaching discipline. This is not an all-inclusive or an exhaustive list inrepresenting people’s ideas of a good teacher.

Current Teaching Role

Value Attributes and Diverse Abilities

Learning orientation: to challenge their expertise for their own learning; to mentorother teachers, demonstrate learning leadership and encourage learning in othersCreative: to develop original approaches without prompting; to leverage theirstrengths to forge their area of expertise; to utilise diverse improvisational abilityCritically perceptive: to show multidimensional awareness and sensitivity to thelearning context; to appraise and analyse information and argumentsInitiative: to embark on new ideas or approaches without prompting; to sustain andcomplete a self-initiated projectReflective: to reflect on their goals and achievements through continual reappraisalPerseverance: to work in difficult circumstances; to monitor and modify for success;to frame their experience against mistakes and failures.

Teaching Knowledge and Practice

Demonstrate knowledge of their subject content and how to teach that contentDemonstrate knowledge of their students and how they learnPlan, assess and report for effective learning

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Communicate effectively with their students, parents and colleaguesCreate and maintain safe and challenging learning environments through the use ofclassroom management skillsContinually improve their professional knowledge and practiceActively engage members of their profession and the wider community.

Professional Achievements

Professional Knowledge Application

Using knowledge in original ways to problems of acknowledged importance or newexpressions of knowledge or creative insightSharing knowledge to a professional or academic communityContributing to collaborative or educational research projects or involvement incommercialisation of educational knowledgeDrawing on knowledge from a range of sources and applying it to professionalpractice, and acknowledged by appropriate peer recognitionServing on committees or panels, in relation to research/professional activity.

Professional Knowledge Exposition

Contributions of a scholarly kind to a professional organisation, learned society orcommunity group, or to scholarly journals and other professional publicationsAuthorship, direction or execution of performances, productions, exhibitions ordesigns appropriate to the discipline or medium concernedOriginal publication of a book, audio-visual recording, or computer software, ortechnical drawing/architectural and industrial design/ working modelIndividual exhibition of original work or representation of original art

Openly Competitive Awards

University or school awards, competitions or teaching prizes; international ornational competitive awards.

170 Appendix A

Appendix B

Semi-structured Interview Questions for Narrative OralHistory Experiences

• Could you describe your current teaching role?• Could you describe the changes experienced in your teaching roles?• Remembering your novice years of teaching through the intervening years,

could you describe your developmental experience of teaching expertise?• Could you relate one or more defining experiences in your teaching? Could you

describe how these aspects influenced your practice?• With your current expertise, under what circumstances do you feel the most

challenged or extended in your teaching? … The most rewarded in yourteaching?

• How do you view failures/placing unsuccessful experiences?• How do you go about improving aspects of your practice? Describe any

examples.• Reflecting on a typical day/week in your teaching, how would you describe your

learning experience?• Under what circumstances do you undergo the most change in your teaching?• What aspects of the professional learning you have experienced assisted in your

growth in expertise? Could you describe other elements or aspects that couldimprove your learning experience?

• Thinking back over recent years, could you describe your experience of sharingyour own teaching expertise?

• Is there anything else you’d like to comment on in terms of your developmentand learning?


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Semi-structured Interview Questionsfor Phenomenological Lifeworld

• After the previous interview, do you have any thoughts you would like to add?From that interview, could you please elaborate on …

Please feel free to think out loud as you consider your ideas and reflect on yourexperience.

• Thinking across your teaching career, could you describe your expertise as itrelates to the people around you? colleagues? students? parents? family?friends?

• Imagine you are writing your own reference in support of your teachingexpertise, what attributes would you include and how would you describe theseattributes?

• If you were writing an article about expertise in teaching for a non-teachingaudience, how would you explain the value of teaching expertise to them?

• Are there any other aspects in relation to development of expertise and learningthat you’d like to comment on?

I’m interested in four areas that are influential in personal professional develop-mental experiences and learning. Reflecting on your teaching experience, I wasinterested in understanding your thoughts or what your own learning means to youfor each of these four areas:

– The spaces that you need and inhabit?– The person you are; the reshaping of physical, psychological and intellectual

being?– The influence of interpersonal and communal relations?– The relationship of past, present and future across experiences?

• Thinking of where you are now, could you describe future learning experiencesor challenges you would like to undertake?

• Thinking ahead, how would you describe your plans for your teaching future?

Participant Reflection on Professional LearningNarrative

Please consider the questions below and feel free to provide your feedback on myinterpretation of your professional learning narrative.

• Are there any aspects of your experience that require further clarification or doany words need to be amended in the text?

• Are there any aspects of your experience that you would like added to this text?

172 Appendix B

I’d like you to reflect on the original invitation you received from a colleagueencouraging you to contact me to participant in my research study.

• Why do you think your colleague encouraged you to participate in my researchstudy?

• Given that this is a study about expert teachers, what do you think the criteriashould be for being an expert?

• Which of these criteria do you feel that you meet?

Please take your time to review the text and formulate your thoughts. I will contactyou in a few weeks to arrange a suitable time to contact you for your feedback.

Appendix B 173

Index

AAccreditation of teachers

Australian, 21, 54, 83registration, certification, licensing, 2–5, 9,

11, 19, 20Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 21, 22Australian curriculum, 39Australian Curriculum, Assessment and

Reporting Authority (ACARA), 39Australian Institute for Teaching and School

Leadership (AITSL), 4

BBeing and becoming, 4–6, 9, 10, 17, 46, 47, 49,

129, 130, 138, 151, 153–155, 157,160–166

lifeworld, 4–7, 9, 36, 43, 49, 153–157, 161,163–165

lived experience, 4, 5, 32, 38, 92, 154, 164ontological, 6, 7, 9, 14, 18, 19, 24, 32, 43,

45, 47–49, 156, 162, 164, 165

CContinuing Professional Development (CPD),

2, 7, 8, 11, 16, 17, 19, 20Coordinator or head teacher, 70, 83

boarding master, 54coordinator, 40, 53, 60, 70, 87, 90, 97, 98,

100, 120head of department, 114head teacher, 72house dean, 41, 113, 114, 119, 137

Curriculum learning area, 39Biology, 39, 98Chemistry, 39, 98

English, 39–41, 54, 85–88Geography, 39History, 39Mathematics, 39, 41, 54, 98, 111, 116, 127,

151Personal Development, Health and Physical

Education (PDHPE), 39Religion, 39Science, 39, 54, 98–100

DDual methodological approach, 1, 6, 31, 49, 50

constructivist perspective, 31, 48, 154narrative inquiry, 6, 9, 31, 32, 36, 48, 49,

153, 154, 158, 164phenomenological inquiry, 6, 9, 31–33, 36,

49, 50, 153, 154, 164, 165Department of Education and Training (DET),

22

EEnacted Personal Professional Learning

(EPPL), 1–3, 6, 9, 11, 31, 53, 69, 83, 97,111, 129, 153, 154

EPPL principles, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 153, 154, 157,165

A conversation with colleagues, 8, 11, 31,53, 69, 83, 97, 111

empathetic understanding, 135, 141, 156,160, 164

language of teaching and learning, 158,160, 165

living with uncertainties, 160, 165non-competitive collegiality, 138, 141, 156,

160, 164


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promoting professional learningcommunities, 161, 166

EPPL theoretical toolsinsights on experience, 7, 42, 160problematics, 3, 6, 9, 10, 31, 42, 43, 48, 49,

129, 130, 141, 151, 153, 155–157, 160,163, 164

third space thinking, 6, 9, 10, 31, 42–45,47–49, 129, 130, 142, 145, 151, 153,154, 156, 157, 160, 163, 164

IIndependent Schools Teacher Accreditation

Authority (ISTAA), 83

MMiddle school, 54

NNational Assessment Program for Literacy and

Numeracy (NAPLAN), 101, 103NSW curriculum and syllabuses, 39NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA),

21, 22, 39, 70, 83

OOffice for Standards in Education, Children's

Services and Skills (OFSTED), 84

PProblematics

disruptive dissonances, 46–49, 129, 130,141, 142, 145, 150, 153–157, 160, 161,164

Professional Learning Community (PLC), 18,19, 23, 122, 166

Professional learning narrative, 8, 16, 33, 38,42, 48, 50, 64, 66, 69, 74, 80, 83, 92, 94,97, 111, 124–127, 129, 130, 131, 134,150, 151, 154, 156, 158–160, 163–165,172

teacher narratives, 6, 8, 63, 64, 159Professional teaching standards, 4, 11–13, 20

Australian Professional Standard forPrincipals and the professional teachingstandards, 21

Australian Professional Standards forTeachers, 4, 21, 70

RResearch method

analysis of meaning representations, 37encouraging expert teacher participation, 34gathering of meaning representations, 35narrative analysis, 38phenomenological analysis, 38purposive sampling, 35, 36saturation of findings, 36three-interview process, 31, 36

SSelf-understanding, 5, 6, 14, 16–18, 21, 24, 43,

46, 62, 64–66, 77–80, 107, 111,114–116, 118, 130, 133–135, 138, 141,148, 150, 156, 157, 162, 165

TTeacher expertise

developing expertise, 1, 3–5, 9, 12, 15, 22,129, 131, 153, 155

expert teachers, 1–3, 6, 9, 11, 15Teacher Professional Learning (TPL), 1, 2, 5,

8, 11, 13–16, 20, 32, 33, 42, 44, 103,129, 154

Australia, 21Canada, 22Finland, 23Singapore and Shanghai, 23

Teaching expertise criteria, 1, 3, 6, 12, 13, 24,31, 35, 155

Transformative learning, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24, 49,107, 138, 139, 157, 163

176 Index

Documents

Enacted Personal Professional Learning: Re-thinking Teacher Expertise with Story-telling and Problematics