Peer learning: an analysis of secondary school teachers’ reflection groups on teaching practice / El aprendizaje entre iguales: análisis de los grupos de reflexión sobre la práctica docente para profesores de educación secundaria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the discourse of beginning teachers and mentors in Secondary Education throughout their participation in reflection groups on teaching practice, as part of a program designed to palliate the reality shock and encourage reflection on the practice, thus promoting the construction of professional knowledge.

The data collected consist of speech recordings from five pairs (beginning-mentor) who participated in five reflection groups during a school year. This interpretative and longitudinal study draws on a qualitative analysis (Atlas.ti) of the discussion topics and types of sentences produced by the participants. The most frequent discussion topics were the thematic areas considered to be the most problematic for beginners (pair adjustment; attention to the diversity; student assessment; assessment by the program; fatigue and stress; classroom management; teacher identity; status and school culture). Mentors tended to produce more metacognitive statements while beginning teachers tended to use more conceptual statements. The results show that taking part in a discussion group on teaching practice was not enough to promote a really thoughtful (most sophisticated) elaborative pattern for beginner teachers.     

Reading in pairs Network: a training model based on peer learning (pairs of teachers and school networks) for the sustainability of educational innovation / Red Leemos en pareja: un modelo de formación basado en el aprendizaje entre iguales (parejas de profesores y redes de centros) para la sostenibilidad de la innovación educativa

Abstract

This article presents a study on a Primary and Secondary Education teacher training network from Catalonia for the implementation of the Reading in pairs program. The goal is to describe, analyse, and assess the training model’s characteristics in relation to the learning promoted among participants, as well as the possibilities of actually incorporating educational innovation in the schools. The results suggest that this formative ecosystem permits a degree of learning and understanding of the program and its conceptual foundations that is relevant to the ability to implement it creatively and to adapt it to each school so that its sustainability is guaranteed.