Abstract

This thesis narrates the lived experiences of a practitioner-led participatory action research study that explores the implementation of Joint Practice Development (JPD) (Gregson et al., 2013) to collaborate with further education (FE) college teachers in professional learning. Inspired by the work of Fielding et al. (2005) and Hargreaves (2012) and recommended by Coffield (2017), the JPD model provides teacher-centred, collaborative professional learning at the heart of this thesis. Little is known about how JPD is integrated in practice in the FE context. Consequently, this research contributes to a small body of collaborative professional learning studies in FE and offers particular insights arising from the rich accounts of the experience of six FE teachers’ engagement and my own as a JPD facilitator and member of the learning community.
The study takes an interpretivist approach and represents the holistic view that human beings are able to construct and reconstruct meaning through social interactions (Dewey, 1938/1997). Through narrative inquiry-based research methods (Connelly and Clandinin, 1990; Kim, 2015), interviews, JPD workshops, artefacts, field notes and a research diary are used to record and interpret the experiences of both myself and participants working, learning and reflecting together to develop and enhance aspects of teaching, learning and assessment. A three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework is used to interpret and narrate the messy trajectories of building this learning community together as we move and meld participants’ and researcher’s perspectives into one coherent research account.
The finding of this study suggests that top down and one off continuing professional development (CPD) rarely meets teachers’ professional learning needs. JPD provides an alternative democratic approach to cultivate, nurture and sustain professional learning communities that care and value teachers’ professionalism and support them to take ownership of their learning in situated contexts. Additionally, the social and emotional dimensions of collaborative professional learning vital to JPD lays the foundation for trusting relationships that encourage reflective dialogues and reflexivity. A reconceptualised model of JPD is developed building on the initial framework designed by Gregson et al. (2015b). There is much scope for FE sector organisations to integrate policy that supports and encourages teacher-led, collaborative approaches to professional learning. Further research is welcomed which explores experiences of collaborative professional learning such as JPD both in the FE context and other education contexts including Higher Education and schools.