Taxonomy of supportive versus developmental practices in teacher professional communities¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article proposes that professional community activities fall into two types: "Supportive practices are interactions through which teachers exchange information, advice, and approaches for addressing specific tasks, problems, or concerns," while developmental practices are interactions and activities through which teacher communities attempt to improve the collective instructional capacity of their members and change classroom practices. The two types differ in purpose, scope, and potential impact on a school's overall instructional program. Fieldwork in CHSRI small schools identified these two primary activity types.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Distinguishing the two types requires examining how teachers collaborate, what they collaborate on, and when they do so, since these determine the resources teachers derive from collaboration

Constraints¶

• The study focuses only on interactions that take place within schools and does not generalize about the quality of professional communities in CHSRI schools

Target Learners¶

• High school teachers in small schools

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Collective instructional improvement and teacher professional growth

Claims¶

• Chrsi Teachers Oriented Toward Supportive Practices [+M]
• Developmental Practices Require Clear Priorities And Leadership [+M]
• Daily teaching demands competed with and distracted from a sustained developmental focus on instructional improvement [+W]
• Small school contexts may both enable and constrain professional communities: collegiality rises but heavy workloads make collective instructional focus difficult [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Professional Learning Communities defined by five dimensions with a four-stage development scale

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Stevens, W. D., with Kahne, J. (2006). Professional Communities and Instructional Improvement Practices: A study of small high schools in Chicago. Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/professional-communities-and-instructional-improvement-practices-study-small-high