| Abstract: | Within this article, the authors discuss a research project which entailed using teacher journals as a source of program development, assessment and change. Over the course of one year, teachers from the West Deptford school system voluntarily participated in a professional development program entitled the PENN Literacy Network. This training program was led by a member of the West Deptford school district, and its aim was to promote new ways of integrating reading, writing and talking into language arts classrooms and across the curriculum. During the course of this training year, teachers were asked to keep journals detailing their experiences and understanding of the critical experiences which they were presented with, and these journals were responded to by the facilitator of the course and were read by researchers associated with the PENN Literacy Network in order to answer questions and identify emergent themes. This paper addresses some findings, analysis and interpretation of the qualitative evaluation research project which grew out of a university/school district collaboration. It describes the Pennsylvania Framework and the critical learning experiences associated with this Framework and details, using journal citations, teachers’ reactions to the changes taking place within their classrooms and their teaching philosophies as they adapt such critical experiences to their own daily practice. The changes which occur in the program due to teacher feedback and concerns are discussed. Throughout this case study, the authors seek to answer the following questions:‘In what ways have teachers who participated in the professional development program utilized the concepts and practices of the new literacy effort in their classrooms?’ and ‘How do these teachers feel about these changes?’ They believe that using such questions to analyze the journals helps to provide validation data supporting the assumption that the PENN Literacy Network does facilitate change and this data helps the facilitator of the course, the organizers of the Network and the university researchers to integrate teacher voices into the program itself. In addition, teachers are able to use the journals to experiment and learn while sharing their thoughts and feelings with their colleagues as a form of teacher research. |
