the QUEST rhythm. So, it can be argued that the project achieved its goal of
sustainability. A closer look at some of the qualitative data will further inform the
discussion of factors supporting sustainable development, and illustrate the back-
ground for the descriptions in Table21.1.
21.4.3 Changing Collaboration—Teacher Reflections
Teachers’self-reports about collaboration on average revealed a positive trend over
time: the 26% of the teachers experiencing a small or very small degree of change
in collaboration with science colleagues after thefirst half year, decreased to 12%
experiencing a small or very small effect on collaboration with science colleagues
after 2 years (Fig.21.2). The samefive categories could be used to condense the
open-ended reflections about collaboration in the four questionnaires from thefirst
2 ½years: (1) QUEST-rhythm, (2) Developing a shared focus on student learning,
(3) Continuous external support, (4) The role as a resource-teacher among col-
leagues, and (5) School contextual factors/school leadership. An additional theme,
(6)“Political reforms”was added for analysis of the last questionnaire. So, the
teachers experienced some of the samekindsof supportive factors, positive out-
comes and hurdles in relation to developing a local science PLC, but with a great
variation inweight.
The QUEST rhythm was perceived as supportive of local changes both in
schools where there was a high degree of change in the collaborative culture and at
schools with slower or less significant changes. The teachers reported that the
QUEST rhythm“forced them in a positive sense”to collaboratively try out and
discuss new tools and approaches. To participate in QUEST the schools were urged
to arrange two PLC meetings each semester, but it is one thing to meet up, quite
another to take collective responsibility and agree on shared values. Some teachers
had more or less regular meetings with science colleagues also before QUEST
(level 2), but most of them reported a change in focus from purchases of materials
and equipment for the science labs to how best to support student learning of
concrete science content mediated by the“assignments”from QUEST, and by data
and artifacts from trials in local classrooms. This teacher perspective is mirrored in
the categories in Table21.1. The teachers donotreflect on being presented to the
idea of—and research documenting the value of—learning communities, or on
discussing shared responsibility and vision (Stoll et al. 2006 ) per se. It is more the
other way around;finding inspiration for your own teaching through collaborative
CPD activities, sharing“student data”, etc., can lead to the gradual development of
a shared responsibility (level 3), and a shared vision (level 4): A potential positive
spiral driven by teachers’experiencing positive outcomes.
The variation in change pace at the participating schools was evident in the
quantitative data, but many teachers also explicitly reflected about changes taking
time and the need for continuous support, e.g., explaining in their reports that it takes
time to change the local collaborative culture, but that they“are heading in the right
322 B.L. Nielsen