Professional development that underlies education reform efforts carries the implicit assumption of teacher change (Fullan, 1992). Butler, Lauscher, Jarvis-Selinger and Bekingham (2004) suggest that regardless of the demand for professional development, “questions remain concerning how to conceptualize teacher learning and, correspondingly, about how to construct professional development so as to foster meaningful change” (p. 436). Questions also remain about how to achieve meaningful change beyond the level of the teacher. Richardson and Placier (2001) suggest that although both organizational, individual and small group change have been studied separately, change at all levels is necessary if systemic change is to be successful. This study is significant in that it is uniquely positioned to study changes in teachers and their practices while at the same time studying recursive relationships between teacher change and district level change.
The purpose of this study was to understand the long-term influences that resulted from teachers' involvement in a community of practice underlying a 15 month professional development program. Specifically, the study sought to examine how participation influenced six teachers' professional identities, created opportunities for contributions to physical education at the district level and the larger professional community, and influenced teachers' capacities to create learning opportunities for their students.
Twenty-seven semi-structured interviews were conducted, audiotaped and transcribed. These included two interviews with each teacher, at the beginning and end of the data collection period, in addition to an interview regarding classroom observations; interviews with three district representatives and each participant's principal; and a focus interview with all six teachers. Data were also collected from 18 classroom observations, three questionnaires and documents related to the professional development intervention. Data were inductively analyzed from an interpretive practice perspective that considers both what and how reality is constructed (Gubrium & Holstein, 2000). The analysis was conducted with the assistance of the qualitative software Nud*ist.
Findings revealed that teachers shed their positional identities as an isolated and marginalized sector of the teaching force and assumed roles as collaborators, innovators, leaders, advocates and content experts. The teachers' contribution to physical education in the district changed following the professional development intervention and, as a consequence of having a cadre of teachers willing and able to contribute their new expertise, the district provided more opportunities for participation as teacher leaders. Findings also revealed new learning opportunities for students resulted from specific aspects of the professional development program.