This paper describes the role of an innovative professional development model in developing networks of practitioners among teacher-leaders to support schools’ curriculum innovation (SCI) efforts in Singapore as part of a nation-wide effort. With increasing diversity and flexibility in Singapore’s education landscape, schools need to make local decisions and be more responsive to student needs. Schools were urged to ‘teach less to our students so that they will learn more’. Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM), as it is commonly referred to by schools, is a current education movement, best expressed as ‘engaged learning in every classroom, by every teacher, for every child’ (Ho, 2006), to prepare students for the test of life, rather than for a life of tests. TLLM aims to move the education system towards improving the quality of learning by encouraging and supporting SCIs so that good practices could spread across the system. Building capacity among teachers to support education change for engaged learning requires professional development that allows for reflective practice with an emphasis on collaboration and dissemination of new knowledge within the teaching community (Senese, 1998; Noffke, 1997). Developing a community of teachers who are the participants of action research will break the isolation that divides teachers with good ideas. A community also allows for a synergy that is systemic and collaborative in the context of the classroom and school environment. The objective of such a professional development environment is to understand practice in order to improve that practice (Calhoun, 1993). As school ownership was integral to successful curriculum reform, the Ministry of Education (MOE) played a facilitative role and provided top-down support for ground-up initiatives. A key support structure was the establishment of a community of teacher-researchers, known as Research Activists (RAs), who would be attached to MOE over 20 weeks. Whilst on attachment, they were trained and supported in carrying out an action research study on the processes and outcomes of school-based curriculum design and implementation. Drawing inspiration from Hargreaves’ work to scale-up educational change (Hargreaves & Shirley, 2009) as well as Katzenmeyer’s work on teacher leadership (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001). this study explored the concept of a community of practitioners (COP) to support SCIs. The study examined the teachers’ perceptions of the use of a professional development model to build capacity among teachers, strengthen school curriculum coherence and articulates some of the challenges encountered. The research questions are (1) What were the teachers’ perspectives on the benefits of professional networks? and (2) What were the factors that contribute to the effective professional development of teacher-leaders as change agents?

The subjects were 42 RAs from five networks across 42 Singapore schools. These networks were chosen to capture a wide spectrum of diverse views of teachers teaching across the primary to secondary level thereby giving rise to different responses to the idea of building professional networks within the context of their teaching and learning environment. As the objectives of this inquiry were to determine the effectiveness of professional networks of practitioners among teacher-leaders, two kinds of data were collected. One-on-one interviews were conducted with project facilitators, curriculum partners and RAs. Quantitative data was collected using a 80-item network survey questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire was to gather RAs’ views and experience with the support MOE has provided through the subject-based and pedagogy-based networks. There were two scales, namely MOE-top down support and Group Dynamics. MOE-top-down support comprised four subscales: Project Facilitation, Curriculum Partnership, Resource Provision and Network Groupings.

Survey data from 42 RAs indicated that the most valued MOE top-down support provision, was Project Facilitation followed closely by Network Grouping. The networks and resource provision were useful communities for the RAs to grow knowledge, value-addedness, reciprocity and informal leadership. The qualitative data gathered from semi-structured interviews were used to complement the survey data. The responses were coded, two strong themes emerged: Benefits & Learning Communities. There was consensus that the formation of networks in the RA Attachment Scheme was a step in the right direction to encourage a community of practitioners with the purpose to learn together and share. The formation of networks leans encourages a culture of professional practitioners among teacher-leaders, and as such, builds a generation of high-quality teachers for a fraternity of professional practitioners. Responsibility before Accountability. RAs have observed that through the formation of networks, they are able to articulate their opinions with greater depth because of their deeper understanding of their pedagogies and subject curriculum. They reflected on their teaching in relation to the engagement and receptiveness of their students according to the deliverables of PETALS.