Staff development : facilitating change within classrooms using a constructivist approach

Staff developers are facing new challenges in the 1990's in British Columbia as secondary education is criticized not only for what it teaches, but also, for how it is being taught. This project addresses the very complex nature of improving the learning situation of students by focusing on staff development. This study documents the inservice, implementation and teacher responses to a model for staff development at a secondary school which included: 1. the introduction of new teaching strategies which supported learner-focused classroom practice 2. teacher collaboration and peer support 3. the theory of constructivism and its incorporation into classroom practice. To gain some insight into teachers' perceptions of new teaching strategies and skills, collaboration, and a constructivist approach to classroom practice was one major research strand. Another strand of the research investigated the process of change as facilitated through staff development. Specifically, the intent of the study was to identify and elaborate on those factors which are liberating and prone to influence in a process known as staff development and to recognize those factors which are resistant and tend to act as barriers to change. Data for this study was gained by following a study group of six secondary teachers from three curricular disciplines over a time period of three months. Group interviews during the study and individual interviews at the end of the study were collected and transcribed. The responses of the participants to the research questions are reported in detail in an effort to preserve the contextual influences. Through these responses the reader can enter into the individuals' thought processes as participants reflect upon their personal experiences with the challenge of change. The findings of this study support and extend the literature on important components and influences to staff development. In particular, this study gained further insight into: 1. how a constructivist approach can be translated into a model of staff development 2. how influences, such as peer collaboration and peer support enhanced a change in classroom practice. 3. how a change incorporating a constructivist approach to teaching is more likely to be assimilated by an individual who has a transactional or transformational orientation to curriculum. A transmissive orientation to teaching acts as somewhat of a barrier to the conceptual change of a constructivist approach. 4. how the motivation and teacher satisfaction for participating in change is determined to a degree by perceived improvements in learning by students. 5. how all participants experienced change but the nature of that change was very individual, gradual, and incremental in nature along the continuum from teacher to learner-focused education. The study concludes with recommendations for individuals planning staff development which incorporates the research findings.Science, Faculty ofMathematics, Department ofGraduat