Teacher learning as a polyphonic endeavor: A context sensitive model of teacher professional development

ABSTRACT

Despite an increasing interest in the sociocultural aspects of teacher professional development and the recognition of context in teacher education, there is a lack of a conceptualisation of how professional learning occurs within and across various contexts. To this aim, we take up a view of professional learning that is dialogic and apply the concept of ‘polyphony’ to conceptualise teacher practice and teacher professional learning as the teacher’s orchestration of multiple voices within context. Inviting ‘polyphony’ to the realm of teacher education refers to the composition of multiple co-existing contextual affordances and constraints affecting teacher practice. It is the multitude of various and at times disagreeing voices surrounding teacher practice. Our proposed model offers a reflexive definition of ‘teacher agency’ that involves the recognition of the voices that the teacher draws upon so that they can be interrogated and deliberately invoked or suppressed in practice for particular contexts. We discuss two methodological implications including a polyphonic design methodology of professional learning opportunities, and a polyphonic education research method in addressing the problem of teachers’ implementation and adjustment to new practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Context
• polyphony
• polyphonic education
• teacher education
• teacher professional development

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the anonymous participants in the research. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [DP190101033].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Australian Research Council [DP190101033]

Notes on contributors

M Khosronejad

Maryam Khosronejad (ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9749-5000) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education and Arts, ACU, North Sydney. Her teaching and research focus on two areas: 1) professional learning and development, particularly teacher learning; and 2) student learning through interaction with humans and digital resources. Her recent research is in teaching of writing in primary schools and theories of reflexivity.

L Weber

Lauren Weber is a Senior Research Assistant in the Faculty of Education and Arts at Australian Catholic University. Her research straddles the disciplines of Arts and Education, with a focus on the relationship between the teaching and learning of English literature and empathy. Her other research areas include the teaching of writing in primary education and the teaching and learning of Shakespeare.

M Ryan

Mary Ryan (ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2237-9368) is Professor and Executive Dean of Education and Arts at Australian Catholic University. Her research is in the areas of writing pedagogy and assessment, teachers’ work in, and preparation for, diverse classrooms, reflexive learning and practice and reflective writing. Her Australian Research Council Discovery projects are in the areas of classroom writing and preparing reflexive teachers for diverse classrooms. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK.