Bildung (folkbildning) in new settings - Peer group supervision as self-buildung

• Various kinds of teachers’ professional development include teachers meetings in group for reflection. A variety of models such as facilitating within action research, peer supervision and lesson studies are growing within the field of school development. A lot of the models refer to Anglo-Saxon literature or a specific model developed by Handal & Lauvås used in teacher education in Norway. Such models or the literature around are rarely related to the Nordic concept of bildning and folk enlightenment. In this paper, we will discuss peer supervision and teachers’ professional development in the light of the Nordic tradition rooted in the Continental concepts of Bildning and folk enlightenment based on an example from a teacher team practicing peer group supervision. A formal teacher team in a secondary school with a core of six teachers has during two years met once a month discussing pedagogical and educational issues. They have followed a fixed model and one teacher at a time has moderated the meetings. A researcher has followed these meetings by tape-recorded and summarized the sessions. The summaries have later on been a basic to evaluate the peer group supervision and further discussions and reflections with the team as well as the principal. Analyses show similarities between how the peer supervision is conducted within the teacher team and the Nordic tradition of study circles and research circles used within the folk enlightenment. The discussions develop and move further and deeper by beginning in the personal and already known to continue in the unknown, which Gustavsson (1996) maintains to be understood as a hermeneutic achievement. The meeting with the unknown brings us closer to reflecting about ourselves and gives us an opportunity to examine our everyday practices and problems. Within the Nordic tradition as well as in peer supervision the collective development is specific interest. Peer supervision as developed by Handal & Lauvås can fit under the Action Research umbrella. Noffke (1997, 2009) describes three dimensions of action research the personal, the professional and the political. In our study we find these three dimensions; the personal growth, the develop as professionals and the normative expectations on teachers willingness to contribute to school development.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Peer group supervision

bildning

school development

professional development

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)