| Teacher learning is fundamental to instructional reforms that many schools are implementing in response to No Child Left Behind. Drawing on theories of organizational sensemaking, teacher knowledge and knowledge creation, and the subject matter context of teaching, this study sheds new light on the teacher learning process and how it is situated in school subjects. Using a longitudinal, comparative case study design, I observed and interviewed the second grade teachers at one school over three years, focusing on their participation in initiatives to improve mathematics and literacy instruction. I present my findings in three separate cases: the case of learning about teaching mathematics, the case of learning about teaching literacy, and a comparative case of teacher learning in both subjects.; In the math case, I deconstruct the teacher sensemaking process and its outcomes, the role of reifications and brokers in that process, and its relationship to teacher learning. I find that teacher sensemaking is rooted in different kinds of knowledge, takes on different forms, leads to a variety of outcomes, and is only one of several mechanisms through which teachers learn.; In the literacy case, the teachers learned not just through sensemaking but through a process of creating knowledge. I examine the components of that knowledge creation process---including recognizing and defining a problem, developing a macro-level solution, and developing a micro-level solution---and the mechanisms underlying it, dialogue and practice. Of the three dialogic mechanisms I identify, I argue that using dialogue to combine participants' explicit knowledge is a unique and fundamental part of teacher knowledge creation.; In the comparative case, I compare and contrast teacher learning across subjects by examining the teachers' participation in the respective communities in which their learning about math and literacy teaching was situated. I find subject matter differences in teachers' roles, the locus of expertise, the nature of the learning process, and the use of tools, and argue that subject matter permeates not just teaching but educational processes at all levels.; Finally, I conclude the dissertation with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the design of teacher learning opportunities. |
