Topic/Objective

With schools across England, Wales and Northern Ireland required to implement a new National Curriculum, it is timely explore how other systems have approached such a large-scale undertaking. In the United States, schools have been implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for the past 5 years. The introduction of the CCSS has led schools, districts and systems to intensify their focus on teacher professional learning to ensure the standards are implemented with fidelity.  The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of teachers who participated in a district-wide Educational Design Research (EDR) project, as a form of professional learning, during the 2014-2015 school year.

EDR is the systematic study of designing, developing and evaluating educational programs, processes and products (Plomp, 2007). Presently, there is a push for classroom teachers to undertake forms of teacher inquiry, such as practitioner research.  The justification is that high performing, or top tier, systems in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) “support research undertaken by teachers to drive innovation and school system improvement” (DEECD, 2012, p. 15).  Similarly, in Shanghai teachers are “encouraged to identify a particular aspect of learning and examine the theory and evidence base, then trial different teaching practices drawing on their findings” (Jensen, 2012, p. 23).  However, further exploration into teacher inquiry (and the key determinants that influence teacher learning), is required if this is to be successfully implemented in other systems.  

Data for this quantitative study was collected from 345 teachers in an urban school district in California via an online self-report survey. The teachers’ participated in a mathematics professional learning project that required participants’ to attend four full-day learning workshops complimented by in-classroom support throughout the 2014-2015 academic year.

Research Questions

1. How do the teachers perceive their own change as a consequence of the Educational Design Research project?

2. How does teacher practice change as a consequence of their participation in the Educational Design Research project?

3. How do the teachers perceive changes in student behaviours as a consequence of the Educational Design Research project?

Theoretical Framework

Timperley, Wilson, Barrar and Fung (2007) developed a theoretical framework comprising 84 different characteristics of the professional learning environment likely to impact on student outcomes. These characteristics were distilled into 7 elements considered to be effective for promoting professional learning opportunities that impacted on student outcomes. How the 7 elements relate to EDR are briefly explained below:

1. Extended time for opportunities to learn; EDR is an iterative process that utilizes a cycle of analysis, design and development, evaluation and refinement
2. External expertise was typically necessary; EDR advocates external expertise to work in collaboration with practitioners to analyze practical teaching and learning problems, develop solutions using research design principles, then testing and refining the solutions
3. Teachers’ engagement in learning at some point was more important than initial volunteering; EDR encourages active participation of practitioners in the various cycles of the research
4. Prevailing discourses challenged; EDR is process oriented, where the focus is on understanding and improving interventions.  Iterative cycles of exploration and alternative solutions are inherent
5. Opportunities to participate in a professional community of practice were more important than place; EDR is collaborative and participative
6. Consistency with wider trends in policy and research; EDR is theory oriented where the design is based on a theoretical framework, so interventions are consistent, and draw from, current research and/or policy 
7. Active school leadership; EDR requires school leaders to actively organize a supportive environment to promote professional learning opportunities and the implementation of new practices in the classroom. 

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