Transforming professional development for an American high school: A lesson study inspired, technology powered system for teacher learning

Despite an endless stream of reforms and increased accountability pressures, American schools still lack a system for bringing change to the classroom. Policymakers, researchers, and the educational community continue to address the complex cultural activity of teaching with a constant barrage of solutions that are short-term, one-dimensional, and prescriptive. The classroom remains a stable fortress, resistant to change, and teachers are seldom engaged in a deliberate process of improvement where progress is measured against specific instructional objectives. To address this central problem, a substantial professional development (PD) literature has identified new models of systematic inquiry (such as Japanese lesson study) as promising solutions for generating knowledge and improving teaching. Systematic inquiry empowers teachers as change agents in the classroom through a intentional process of examining practice, identifying problems, and testing new strategies over time. This research project investigated the implementation of a new inquiry-based framework for PD called the PIER System (P&barbelow;lan, I&barbelow;mplement, E&barbelow;xamine, and R&barbelow;evise). Using a hybrid methodology, this model combined systematic inquiry with web-based digital video and multi-media software to slow down teaching, extend analysis, and engage teachers in deliberate instructional improvement. The principal purpose of this study was to trace the connections between analysis, planning, and teaching, while following a group of four high school science teachers through each iteration of the inquiry process. Using action research and participant observation, the researcher documented a series of explicit connections that culminated in widespread implementation of transformative strategies and incremental changes in planning and practice. The investigation of these connections revealed several key mechanisms that proved to have substantial influence on the teachers' change process. Framework-guided inquiry and deliberate instructional planning emerged as primary sources of influence in the first iteration of inquiry. These combined with the collaborative analysis of lessons, the vivid examples from video, the meaningful reflection on student learning, and the power of pedagogical content knowledge, as catalysts for change during the second iteration. In addition, each teacher voiced a profound sense of satisfaction with the professional learning experience.