Opening up communicataive spaces for professional learning through middle leading practices

• Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are often established and organised through collaboration among teachers, with one teacher (often from within the ranks) having the role of facilitator. Such communities are widely recognised as important for teacher and student learning. However, less is known about the leadership practices and the nature of the communicative spaces for learning as part of a PLC. The case study presented focuses on a district in Sweden involving 14 early childhood teachers, leading their colleagues in implementing the revised curriculum for early childhood education (Lpfö-98). In this case the leadership practices resemble a shared form of activity, which recognises that leading peers in learning-focused activities requires what we describe as ‘middle leadership’. Data were collected in the form of field notes and recordings of participants’ dialogues in meetings between middle leaders as they discussed their work; these were analysed through the lens of the theory of practice architectures. The results show the nature of communicative spaces as mechanisms for enabling teachers to engage in learning-focused meaning making activities connected to curriculum development. It also reveals the practices and the practice architectures, which enabled the middle leader to be given the responsibility of leading colleagues.

Ämnesord

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

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

Nyckelord

communicative space

middle leadership practices

collaborative learning

practice architectures

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)