The Interaction Between Group Processes and Personal Professional Trajectories in a Professional Development Community for Teacher Educators

Abstract

This study explores the interaction between transformative processes in which a group of teacher educators became a professional development community (PDC) and the individual progress of these instructors through the professional development course on the topic of thinking education. Twelve teacher educators who participated in one of three yearlong programs were each interviewed three times. Other data sources include reflective writing of the participants, field notes, and recordings of the PDC meetings. Findings show that both breaking of isolation in the group and talk about student learning were essential in promoting individual progression toward change that entailed developing awareness of the possibility of infusing thinking into college-level teaching and the development of dispositions to do so in their courses. Factors that enhanced and hindered dispositional change are explicated in the findings and discussion.