Effective Professional Learning: An inquiry into the impact of 'collaborative' training interventions on the professional development of teachers in their second year of teaching

Retention of beginning teachers is an ongoing priority in education. In my Research and Development project, I investigated which learning resources beginning teachers most valued in their second year of teaching in order to learn more about how best to support and retain them. Significant empirical evidence suggested that teacher collaboration could have a positive impact on practice and I therefore decided to introduce a new, collaborative element to an existing programme for teachers in their second year at my school. My research questions were: 1. What is the impact of using 'collaborative' training interventions on professional learning in the second year of teaching? 2. What do second year teachers' view as the most effective learning resources in their second year of teaching? Five teachers peer-observed each other twice during the year; and offered feedback. Following observations, teachers took part in a semi-structured interview reflecting on their experiences of collaboration. Qualitative methods were chosen in order to collect rich and personalised data. Findings confirmed that teachers responded positively to collaborative training interventions but not to peer-observations in and of themselves. Findings also supported empirical evidence of the highly individualised nature of support needed for each individual practitioner. Further, a complex interaction of factors impacted significantly on what teachers perceived to be meaningful and useful training. Implications for future training were found to need to take into account diagnostic, collaborative, reflective and affective elements in order to satisfy the needs of a diverse teacher cohort.