Decisive aspects for starting and sustaining a positive spiral in this case included
(1) alignment between the teacher’s beliefs and the approaches taken in the CPD
program, e.g., in relation to inquiry-based science, (2) the experience of support to
try out new approaches in her own classroom and in collaboration with colleagues,
and (3) the responsibility handed over from the school leader, e.g., to develop the
local science PLC to also involve primary science teachers. The case exemplifies
the complex interplay between individual and collective agency among teachers
(Bandura 1997 ), and contextual factors like leadership, in starting a positive spiral
at a school participating in a CPD program. Teacher beliefs reveal understanding of
knowledge and learning and how thesemaybe enacted in classroom teaching, but
not what the teacher actuallydoes. Over time the case teacher expressed her beliefs
more explicitly, allowed her beliefs to be affected by her own teaching experiences,
and looked in detail at how her beliefs related to actual student learning, and
eventually her beliefs became aligned to what she actually did in her teaching.
Apparently she was empowered by the CPD, and she was able to use this newfound
power in her new role in the PLC, where shehad tobe more explicit about her
beliefs as she worked with her primary science colleagues to implement more active
meetings. The case also exemplifies the importance of acknowledgement by col-
leagues andvicarious reinforcement(Bandura 1997 ), e.g., the co-teaching with an
experienced colleague trying to develop his teaching.
21.5.1 Student Outcomes
The students in the case were followed from 4th to 6th grade, so they might be
expected to develop, e.g., a more independent approach to science inquiries with
fewer teacher-led interventions. Compared with other classes, the case teacher’s
class did seem to incorporate ideas introduced in the QUEST modules to a rather
high degree. At the time of thefirst observation the case class would shift between
whole-class teaching and group work. But parallel to the teacher following the CPD
program and becoming more explicit and precise in her reflections about her own
teaching, she also grew to be more explicit in her communication with the students.
The framing around their group inquiries grew to be more transparent, e.g., when
they were expected to generate and try out their own ideas in a group they knew that
in 10 min they should share and ask questions. Furthermore they used tools for
inquiry, like a rubric: What do we know? What do we want to know? What are
possible explanations? How will we investigate? What did we learn?
From the interviews with the students, it generally seemed that they foundan
open approachmotivating. But in thefirst round of interviews some students also
said that there were situations when they did not quite understand what they were
expected to do and why. Over time, the teacher was able to develop a more
structured and guided approach, although this was still experienced by the students
as moreopen. In the 6th grade, the class participated in, and actually won, a
“science inquiry and invention competition”in the municipality. They described
21 A QUEST for Sustainable Continuing Professional Development 325