The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity

Organizational conditions and social aspects as requirements for learning, and faculty trust has been highlighted as the foundation for collaboration and school development. The professional development of teachers plays a crucial role in improving teachers teaching together with the pupils. But how...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: May Britt Postholm
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1524295/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841543699503251456
author May Britt Postholm
author_facet May Britt Postholm
author_sort May Britt Postholm
collection DOAJ
description Organizational conditions and social aspects as requirements for learning, and faculty trust has been highlighted as the foundation for collaboration and school development. The professional development of teachers plays a crucial role in improving teachers teaching together with the pupils. But how development work is organized and how faculty trust is aimed for are scarcely described in the literature. This article is based on a qualitative study conducted in the frame of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), focusing on school development in one primary school with nine teachers and two leaders: one principal and one middle leader. The problem formulation for the study presented in the article was the following: How do teachers experience participation in a developmental work research project designed by researchers within the frame of CHAT? The study describes how processes leading to a joint focus can be arranged, and how structured analyses of observed teaching can lead to professional dialogues and the development of trust. The study shows that the teachers wanted to continue with observation and joint analyses after the project ended but noted that the principal must facilitate such processes.
format Article
id doaj-art-77f4077d6f9e4867aa7f467da7a6e092
institution Kabale University
issn 2504-284X
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Education
spelling doaj-art-77f4077d6f9e4867aa7f467da7a6e0922025-01-13T06:11:10ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2025-01-01910.3389/feduc.2024.15242951524295The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activityMay Britt PostholmOrganizational conditions and social aspects as requirements for learning, and faculty trust has been highlighted as the foundation for collaboration and school development. The professional development of teachers plays a crucial role in improving teachers teaching together with the pupils. But how development work is organized and how faculty trust is aimed for are scarcely described in the literature. This article is based on a qualitative study conducted in the frame of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), focusing on school development in one primary school with nine teachers and two leaders: one principal and one middle leader. The problem formulation for the study presented in the article was the following: How do teachers experience participation in a developmental work research project designed by researchers within the frame of CHAT? The study describes how processes leading to a joint focus can be arranged, and how structured analyses of observed teaching can lead to professional dialogues and the development of trust. The study shows that the teachers wanted to continue with observation and joint analyses after the project ended but noted that the principal must facilitate such processes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1524295/fullteachers’ professional developmentcultural historical activity theoryschool-university collaborationobservation and joint analysesteachers’ experiences
spellingShingle May Britt Postholm
The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
Frontiers in Education
teachers’ professional development
cultural historical activity theory
school-university collaboration
observation and joint analyses
teachers’ experiences
title The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
title_full The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
title_fullStr The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
title_full_unstemmed The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
title_short The importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school: with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
title_sort importance of structure and trust in developmental work in school with observations and joint analyses as the key activity
topic teachers’ professional development
cultural historical activity theory
school-university collaboration
observation and joint analyses
teachers’ experiences
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1524295/full
work_keys_str_mv AT maybrittpostholm theimportanceofstructureandtrustindevelopmentalworkinschoolwithobservationsandjointanalysesasthekeyactivity
AT maybrittpostholm importanceofstructureandtrustindevelopmentalworkinschoolwithobservationsandjointanalysesasthekeyactivity