ERIC EJ1101024: A Case Study of Teacher Reflection: Examining Teacher Participation in a Video-Based Professional Learning Community

2016·0.46 MB·English

by  ERIC

Steeg, S. (2016). / A Case Study of Teacher Reflection

A Case Study of Teacher Reflection: Examining Teacher
Participation in a Video-based Professional Learning
Community

Susanna M. Steeg

ABSTRACT: Professional learning communities (PLCs) constitute worthwhile spaces in which to study

teacher participation in the reflective practices that have potential to shift their teaching. This qualitative

case study details the interactions between dual-language and ELL teachers in a grade-level PLC as they
met together to confer over video-clips of their literacy instruction. The group aimed to extend their
learning about balanced literacy practices as part of a larger, whole-school professional development effort.

Sociocultural learning theory constitutes the theoretical perspective informing this study, allowing for an

examination of teachers’ diverse ways of meaning making. Qualitative methods of data collection,

including interviews, videos of teachers’ instruction, and transcripts of PLC conversations comprised the
data set. Constructed narrative vignettes of teachers’ talk and meaning-making demonstrate how the
group asked questions emerging out of their practice, discussed specific ways to meet students’ needs, and

shared advice on how to navigate the technical aspects of teaching. This study revealed that video-based

reflection offered significant opportunities for teachers to reflect on and revise their teaching practices.

Keywords: video-based reflection, professional development, teacher learning

Susanna Steeg joined the education faculty at George Fox University in 2011 after earning her PhD from
Arizona State University. She recently became associate professor at the university. She has taught reading
methods, literacy assessment, curriculum, and research courses. Susanna co-directs the Oregon Writing
Project Collaborative and especially enjoys working alongside teacher writers in Summer Institutes. Her
research and teaching interests involve teacher learning, professional development, writing-to-learn, and
inquiry-oriented literacy work.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 12 Issue 1—Spring 2016
http://jolle.coe.uga.edu
Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 12 Issue 1—Spring 2016
Three fifth-grade teachers, one student teacher, and two leaders still wonder how best to effectively support
university researchers gather around a laptop perched on
teacher growth (Clark & Florio-Ruane, 2001),
a pod of student desks. We sit in a fifth-grade classroom.
particularly with regards to community
The first teacher elaborates on a video clip of her literacy
instruction. It is a mini-lesson on inferring that she development (Hairon, Goh, Chua, & Wang, 2015)
conducted with her English-language learners the and video-based reflection (Sherin & Han, 2004).
previous week.
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to

examine what happened within a 5th-grade team
“I used the mini-lesson model they gave us during our last
professional development meeting, and the kids really got who participated in a video-based PLC focused on
it. First, I modeled my own inferences through a think- balanced literacy. This investigation illuminates
aloud. I was able to move to just giving them a clue, and
how diverse teacher needs were supported in this
then my students made inferences from those clues. At
particular learning community, how teachers
one point in the story, when I read aloud about a boy
dipping a girl’s braids in an inkwell, we stopped and learned together, and how they built community.
discussed it and most of the students inferred that he was The study also inquires into how video-based
a bully, but another student said,
reflection can support teachers in enacting new
‘Well, I think maybe he had a crush on her, because when
instructional practices and effectively promote
I was in third grade, we boys would be mean to girls we
liked.’” student learning. These fifth-grade teachers
volunteered to participate in this PLC to support
She laughs at the memory of this student’s comment and
their own learning in a whole-school professional
continues, “But that led us into a really wonderful
conversation, and it reminded me to say that even though development effort focused on balanced literacy.
different readers make different inferences, good readers This group of teachers exemplified active inquiry
still pay close attention to the text to confirm or modify
for the purpose of collaborative growth. The key
those inferences as they continue to read.”
research question informing this study was, “What

kind of participation and teacher reflection are
In this vignette, it is evident how this teacher
evident in a video-based Professional Learning
reflected on the social construction of bullying and
Community?” The literature review that follows
scaffolded students’ efforts to make inferences from
outlines what is known about PLCs and teacher
text. Her reflective words on the video clip of her
reflection, particularly video-based reflection.
teaching indicates how she was participating in the
challenging work of collaborative reflection. These
Literature Review
teachers were taking time out of their extensive
responsibilities to slow down the moments of their Johnston-Parsons (2010) discusses the complexities
day, examine the details of their work, and support involved in collaborative endeavors, synthesizing
one another’s development as educators and living with tensions and dialogue as two elements
learners (Dewey, 1933; Rodgers, 2002a). Close of effective collaboration and learning. The study
examinations of the teachers’ reflective work such under examination in this paper inquired into the
as the example in this case study contribute tensions, or the networked aspects of a situation,
nuanced understandings as to how teacher that do not allow for either/or decisions. It also
reflection takes place (Jay & Johnson, 2002) and examined the dialogue that emerged in a PLC when
what is required of successful professional learning a grade-level team met together around issues and
communities that make their practice public questions emerging from their literacy instruction
(Lieberman & Pointer Mace, 2010). practices. This literature review discusses the
research informing this study, which constitute an
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have
intersection between PLCs and teacher reflection,
proliferated in the past decade, yet educational

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Steeg, S. (2016). / A Case Study of Teacher Reflection
with a particular emphasis on video-based of incorporating new learning into existing
professional development. teaching practices. In short, PLCs can support
teachers in building a community framework that
Professional Learning Communities
enhances their commitment to a shared vision for
inquiry, instruction, and learning (Nelson, Slavit,
Well-designed professional development can have
Perkins, & Hathorn, 2008).
an impact on teacher practice and learning,
especially in the context of professional learning
Hairon et al. (2015) call for a view of PLCs as a
communities (Cochran-Smith, 2001; Cochran-Smith
multi-dimensional idea comprised of
& Lytle, 1993, 2009; Morrissey, 2000). In their
“professional,” “learning,” and “community,”
review of the research, Darling-Hammond and
whereby the construct of PLC can be both
Richardson (2009) describe effective professional
challenged and further defined. Shared vision and
development as “intensive, ongoing, and connected
values, responsibility, reflective inquiry,
to practice; focused on the teaching and learning of
collaboration, learning, trust and respect are
specific academic content…connected to other
characteristics of effective PLCs that contribute to
school initiatives; and [focused on] building strong
the community aspects of learning together. These
working relationships among teachers” (p. 43).
qualities take time to develop; Lord (1994) speaks of
These collaborative qualities of professional
“critical colleagueship” (p. 184) whereby teachers
development are valued within PLCs but often
support one another in changing their practice. All
unpracticed (Johnston-Parsons, 2010).
of these aspects contribute to PLC success, but
hinge on the quality and depth of teachers’ capacity
Effective professional development (PD) models
for reflection.
synchronize with teachers’ questions and the
contexts of their classrooms (Darling-Hammond &
Teacher Reflection
Richardson, 2009; Steeg & Lambson, 2015). PLCs
formed around teachers’ chosen goals provide Teacher reflection is a theoretical notion that is
quality opportunities for them to discuss questions readily accepted in the literature as one of the most
emerging from their practice with others who are significant ways teachers examine and change their
intimately familiar with their contexts and teaching professional selves and their practice (Colton &
situations (Egawa, 2009; Reitano & Sim, 2010). Sparks-Langer, 1993; Dewey, 1933; Jay & Johnson,
Research on PLCs suggests that many other 2002; Rodgers, 2002a; Schön, 1983, 1991; Urzúa &
benefits are possible for teachers who participate in Vásquez, 2008). Reflection is a descriptive, rather
these communities, including an enhanced than a prescriptive notion (Clara, 2014), providing
understanding of professional development content clarity to situations that initially appear unclear.
(Hord, 1997), increased learning about what Schön’s (1983, 1991) concepts of reflection in action
constitutes good teaching (Darling-Hammond, and reflection on action contextualize teachers’ talk
1996), and reduced feelings of isolation (Egawa, and learning in the action of their classrooms,
2009; Hord, 1997). PLCs constitute a collaborative constituting the sociocultural contexts of their
learning space, making it possible for teachers to learning. Urzúa & Vásquez (2008) further discuss
access new information, clarify their beliefs and reflection for action, where teachers’ reflection on
ideas, and reflect on their practice (Blumenfeld, future practice, as evidenced in their planning-talk,
Marx, Kracjik, & Soloway, 1996). Additionally, these informs their future ways of being. Zeichner (1994a,
spaces enable teachers to gain emotional support 1994b) has contributed significantly to the field of
for the risks and struggle embedded in the process teacher reflection, in his advocacy for teacher

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 12 Issue 1—Spring 2016
reflection that considers the social, moral, and van Es et al. (2014) offer a framework for facilitation
political aspects of teaching. From Zeichner’s around video-based teaching episodes, highlighting
perspective, teachers should not just reflect in the importance of facilitators contextualizing a clip
general, but should have specific content or ideas to orient teachers to the work of analysis. Similarly
upon which to reflect. Jay and Johnson (2002) important was the idea of maintaining an inquiry
phrase it this way: "reflective teaching entails a stance and fostering collaboration among group
recognition, examination, and rumination over the members (p. 348). When facilitated well, video
implications of one's beliefs, experiences, attitudes, clubs, such as those used in a PLC setting, can be
knowledge, and values, as well as the opportunities an avenue for teachers to develop an interpretive
and constraints provided by the social conditions in stance toward their instruction and more carefully
which the teacher works" (p. 20). PLCs that attend to student learning (van Es & Sherin, 2010;
effectively support teacher reflection make room Reitano & Sim, 2010).
for the particular experiences emerging from
Guiding Theory: Sociocultural Learning Theory
teachers’ classrooms, and demand an exploration of
the social and cultural contexts which afford
Sociocultural learning theory values talk as a
opportunities in the learning process.
significant tool in mediating new understandings
(Vygotsky, 1978). It
Video-based Reflection
Video enables teachers to watch recognizes and values that
Reflection is an interchange teachers’ growth emerges
complex classroom interactions
between observation and out of the social contexts
from multiple perspectives.
interpretation (Clara, 2014), which surround and inform
yet it is difficult for teachers When groups of teachers engage their thinking, even when
to observe themselves and they are alone. It makes
together around video, they can
reflect within the action of space to examine where the
share different interpretations.
teaching (van Manen, 1995). institutional, interpersonal,
Herein lies the benefits of and individual planes of
video-based reflections on teaching and learning. influence affect teachers’ learning and practice
Video enables teachers to watch complex classroom (Rogoff, 2003). From this perspective, scaffolding is
interactions from multiple perspectives. When a practice whereby more knowledgeable individuals
groups of teachers engage together around video, support the learning of others in ways that open
they can share different interpretations (van Es & the learner up, rather than close the learner down.
Sherin, 2010; van Es, Tunney, Goldsmith, & Seago, Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development
2014). supports the idea that learners operate in zones of
capacity that are individual to them; at a certain
Reitano and Sim (2010) discuss the value of video to
point, a person scaffolds a learning experience to
promote reflective practices among teachers who
enable a learner to reach new levels of
are increasingly pressured to meet standards in an
understanding and ability. Sociocultural
era of accountability. It is infeasible to interview
perspectives on learning emphasize the social
teachers in order to reconstruct the events of a
nature of this learning process. In this study,
lesson or the qualities of a teaching context,
collaborative learning encompassed the shared
whereas video enables a teacher to relive the
experience of reflecting and rehearsing one’s
elements of a teaching scenario and verbalize
teaching aloud and inviting other perspectives into
previously unarticulated ideas about teaching.

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Steeg, S. (2016). / A Case Study of Teacher Reflection
what is often the individual and isolated work of analysis (Goodman, 1995) as a means to
teaching. understanding students’ constructions of literacy,
student-study, literature study, and strategic use of
Sociocultural theory as a mental model was
literacy curriculum to provide holistic and
appropriate for this study because it provided for
authentic encounters with authors and literary
an examination of the complex factors influencing
elements (Spiegel, 1998; Weaver, 1998). These
the issues teachers self-identified in their own
topics constituted the professional development
literacy instruction. It recognizes not only the
offered to all teachers at this school. Each of these
broader context of a district and school, but the
elements was also evident in the fifth-grade
personal and professional experiences a teacher
teachers’ classrooms who participated in the PLC
brings to bear on his or her instruction. An
that is at the heart of this study.
explanation of the term “tension” as it is used in
this study is relevant here. Johnston-Parson (2010) Methods
explained that, “living in tension is a process. It
This qualitative case study (Stake, 1995) examined
does not result in permanent solutions but requires
the kinds of participation and teacher reflection
constant attention and readjustment . . . a sense of
evident in a video-based Professional Learning
continuity and a willingness to change” (p. 289).
Community. Case study was an appropriate
From a sociocultural perspective, tensions are the
methodology for uncovering and explicating the
points at which a teacher recognizes the potential
meaning and action of social learning (Erickson,
for change compared to the socially constructed
1986) that took place for this grade level team.
ideals of new learning. It is at these points of
Teachers’ participation in this particular PLC
tension that a teacher must attend and adjust in
constituted an intrinsic case (Creswell, 2013; Stake,
order to change their original thinking, assimilate
1995) compelling a close look at the characteristics
new ways of being, and move forward successfully.
of these teachers’ participation. The research
Balanced Literacy question informing this study was, “What kind of
participation and teacher reflection are evident in a
One additional construct relevant to this study was
video-based Professional Learning Community?” In
that of balanced literacy. There are myriad
the following section, I offer a description of the
definitions and understandings of balanced literacy.
school in which this research took place,
In this particular school context, balanced literacy
contextualize the study with a brief explanation of
encompassed an emphasis on literature-rich,
the larger research work out of which this study
meaning-centered literacy events. Reading and
emerged, explain the PLC meeting format, and
writing workshop were key elements of the
share the methodological details of this study.
balanced literacy framework practiced by the
teachers in this research, which meant they studied Setting
and practiced structures such as guided reading,
The environment for this study highlights the
shared reading, individual reading conferences,
school’s position as a rare schooling environment in
read-aloud, mini-lessons, and independent reading
the midst of an educational system influenced by
(Taberski, 2011; Routman, 2003). These literacy
restrictive language policies and a traditional
structures constituted the shared sociocultural
emphasis on schooling. Hidalgo School for the Arts
environment in which teachers instructed students.
(pseudonyms are used for all locations and
The whole-school professional development taking
participants) was located in a major school district
place at the time of this study emphasized miscue

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 12 Issue 1—Spring 2016
in the southwestern U.S. It ran a Fine Arts and Dual Hidalgo constituted a purposeful site selection
Language program with the goal of helping (Creswell, 2013) for examining teacher reflection in
students achieve high performance in core content a video-based PLC, because school administration
areas, language acquisition and the arts. The and local university faculty were working together
school’s administration, teachers, and parent in a significant collaboration to create a whole-
communities worked to maintain their dual school professional development focused on
language program and justify a balanced literacy balanced literacy.
approach in their district. This district, along with
Participants
others in this particular metropolitan area, was
operating under language policy restrictions that
In an effort to both document and describe the
prohibited first language support with mandated
professional development in place at this school,
Structured English Immersion (SEI) and Reading
researchers collected data over five months,
First programs. The fact that this school continued
conducting observations of whole-school
its dual language program and balanced literacy
professional development sessions and small group
efforts within the restrictive educational and
sessions (Steeg & Lambson, 2015). Interviews about
political climate was evidence of the teachers’ and
the professional development with administrators,
administrators’ commitment to an exceptional
teachers, and faculty members were conducted at
school context. Most of the school’s neighborhood
various points in the research process. To get a
students were Latino and many were English
fine-grained idea of how balanced literacy was
language learners. Table 1 provides an overview of
being implemented, researchers recruited the fifth-
Hidalgo’s demographics.
grade team to participate in further examining their
own learning and development. This team,
Table 1. Hidalgo Demographics
consisting of three teachers and one student
Hidalgo demographics during the 2008-2009 school
teacher, allowed researchers to conduct bi-weekly
year
observations and video-recordings of their balanced
Total number of students 756
literacy instruction and participate in an informal
Percentage of Latino students 94%
PLC around questions emerging from their literacy
Percentage of African American students 3%
instruction practices. That PLC is the one under
Percentage of Caucasian students 3%
study for this article. There were a total of six
Total percentage of students on 92.4%
participants in this PLC including the two
free/reduced lunch
researchers.

The emphasis on balanced literacy in this particular Clarissa was a second-year teacher working with
school made it an anomaly in its district. The fifth-grade students for the second year in a row.
district was, at the time of this study, exerting She was Caucasian and spoke Spanish fluently.
pressure on the school to shift to more Classroom observations revealed her to be
standardized curriculum practices, but the school competent beyond her years, in terms of her high
was actively resisting this pressure. It did so by expectations for students, her ability to create and
providing teachers with PD opportunities designed sustain a strong classroom community, and her
to professionalize teachers in instructional evident thoughtfulness in her work with students.
decision-making around balanced literacy. During the course of the PLC meetings, Clarissa
focused on questions about her practice related to

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Steeg, S. (2016). / A Case Study of Teacher Reflection
maximizing student learning and assessing student Dawn worked as a co-researcher with the author.
progress. Dawn’s 30 years of teaching experience
encompassed many grades and levels. Specifically,
Cassie was in her twelfth year of teaching, although
her work with reading and writing workshop,
it was her first year of teaching fifth-grade after
supporting bilingual students, and fostering teacher
eleven years of teaching kindergarten. She was of
growth made her a significant addition to this PLC.
Hispanic origin and fluent in both Spanish and
Finally, the author participated in the PLC as a
English. As one of the dual-language classrooms in
participant-observer and brought six years’
the school, she alternated her language of
experience of teaching various elementary grades
instruction every two weeks, according to the
and three years’ experience of teaching graduate-
school’s dual-language policy. Cassie’s strengths as
level courses.
a teacher lay in her constant reflection and ability
to “follow” students’ needs. Cassie focused on This team was particularly effective in its
questions related to conferencing with students commitment to learning and growth as educators.
and record keeping that would enable her to track They came together for the explicit purpose of
student progress. bettering their literacy instruction and holding one
another accountable their learning in the whole-
Bob was in his first year of teaching fifth grade
school professional development model.
during the duration of the study. He was Caucasian
and spoke a minimal amount of Spanish, in Procedure
addition to fluent English. Although classroom
The focus of this article is on the PLC meetings
observations evidenced that he dealt with many of
conducted by the fifth-grade team, to explain the
the struggles that new teachers encounter with
participation and reflection about balanced literacy
management, planning and overall vision, Bob
instruction that was evident in this particular PLC.
demonstrated a teachable attitude and desire to
Researchers and teachers met for one hour a total
learn. Bob was the quietest member of the group,
of six times over a spring semester to review video
choosing to listen much of the time rather than
vignettes of three teachers’ and one student
share. He asked questions of the other teachers,
teacher’s balanced literacy instruction and to reflect
consistently commenting on how he “didn’t know”
together on how they were implementing the
the best thing because he was a new teacher. His
balanced literacy professional development. The
personal focus in the PLC related to guided reading
purpose of these PLC meetings was to support the
and what happened with students who practiced
grade level team in enacting the balanced literacy
their reading strategies in guided reading groups.
practices being taught in the whole-school
Ashley was a student teacher working in Cassie’s professional development.
dual-language classroom during this study. Ashley
The two researchers operated as participant-
participated in the PLC meetings, asking questions
observers alongside teachers, collecting
of herself and group members with enthusiasm. Of
instructional video-data and providing
Hispanic origin, Ashley was proficient in Spanish
accountability to meet together with teachers. The
and English, and taught in both languages as her
researchers’ goal for these meetings was simply to
teaching responsibilities gradually increased. She
bring the team together around the video clips and
focused her questions on inquiring into what
ascertain what emerged in terms of teachers’
happens when she held students accountable for
participation and reflection. This goal was
their work.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 12 Issue 1—Spring 2016
congruent with the larger goal held by the school Data Collection
and administration, who were supportive of a PLC
The bounded system (Merriam, 1998) or case for
designed to support the whole-school’s emphasis
this study was the teacher talk emerging from a
on balanced literacy. Teachers asked their own
grade-level PLC. It constituted an intrinsic and
inquiry questions within the group, recognizing
descriptive case because it focused on a unique
that these questions would constitute a helpful
learning environment in which to study teachers’
focus to the work they were doing together.
constructed understandings of balanced literacy.
Video-based reflection constituted a significant Classroom observations and recordings of teachers’
portion of the PLC time. PLC meeting format teaching, teacher interviews, and recordings of
typically began with a brief time of small talk, with teachers’ video-based reflection constituted the
the researchers cueing the first teacher’s video on a data collected for this study (Creswell, 2013,
laptop computer for everyone to watch. The Merriam, 1998).
teacher-selected clip played before that teacher
Interviews were conducted with each participating
contextualized it, answered questions, and reflected
member of the PLC. Researchers queried teachers
aloud about his/her teaching. Discussion proceeded
regarding the experience of being involved in the
from there, ranging from dialogue around
PLC and the learning that had taken place as a
particular learners, classroom management issues,
result of the school-wide professional development.
and/or shared ideas about ways to improve
Researchers conducted classroom observations and
balanced literacy instruction. This process of
field noted these observations at the same time as
observation and conversation supported a rich
they collected video data of balanced literacy
description of the teachers’ learning and reflection
instruction. This provided a secondary source of
on their professional development. PLC meetings
data to the video, which supported a nuanced look
happened during a shared prep, so the time was
at any given video clip. The two researchers
bounded and used wisely.
collected videos of teachers’ literacy instruction on
Researchers partnered with teachers to collaborate a bi-weekly basis from the three teachers
around questions emerging from teachers’ participating in the PLC. With teachers’
experience, although this was not a co-participatory permission, the camera was situated in an
research. The researchers sought to maintain a unobtrusive spot in the classroom and focused on
position of camaraderie, asking questions alongside the teacher, in order to capture teacher talk and
teachers. Researchers did not enter the PLC with a instruction. Once the recording was completed,
mindset of giving answers or advice, but rather teachers took a minute or two to tell researchers
sought to learn about these teachers’ experiences which part of the video they wanted to watch and
and questions, operating as participant-observers analyze at the following PLC meeting.
(Merriam, 1998). Most often, the two researchers
Video-based reflection embodies professional
involved in this PLC allowed the conversation to
development ideals of a) community-building, b)
take its own course, rather than inserting
inquiry-based thinking about one’s teaching, and c)
questions. Researchers shared their own
“critical colleagueship,” a space in which teachers
observations and insights in ways that felt natural
trust one another enough to constructively critique
to the moments of conversation, but the agenda
themselves and one another (Sherin & Han, 2004).
was one of documentation and support for
This is significant because video-based
teachers’ process.
conversations enable teachers to collaborate

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Steeg, S. (2016). / A Case Study of Teacher Reflection
instead of working in isolation. It also engages video transcripts repeatedly, I took notes and
teachers in a type of reflection that is not possible worked to apprehend the data as a whole. This
in the moment-to-moment activity of a classroom. process led me to make various assertions based on
Finally, it promotes inquiry because the content of the data and my own implicit knowledge based on
the conversations become new fodder for thinking. my long-term, first-hand knowledge of these
These ideals of community, inquiry, and critique teachers and the PLC.
constituted methodological ways of viewing
I established warrant for my assertions by looking
teachers’ participation. While video-based
for both confirming and disconfirming evidence,
reflection is well-established in the literature as a
further adjusting the assertions and writing
helpful tool to support teachers in considering their
vignettes based on exchanges that took place
practice (Rosaen, Lundeberg, Cooper, Fritzen, &
during the PLC. Vignettes provided “focused
Terpstra 2008; Sherin & Han, 2004), this study
descriptions of a series of events taken to be
contributes additional voices to the conversations
representative, typical, or emblematic” (Miles,
about why video-based reflection is worth the time
Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014, p. 182) of the data. The
it takes and offers examples of how teachers
narrative structure of vignettes preserved the
collaborated to support one another’s learning.
richness of field note data, synthesizing the
Data Analysis conversational turns within a PLC meeting into a
story of the action. I drew from teachers’ dialogue
Erickson’s (1986) analytic induction guided the data
to construct these conversations, and took little
analysis process. Analytic induction is an analysis
literary license with the narratives in order to
process by which assertions, vignettes, quotes,
highlight the learning events or reorganize them to
interpretive commentary, and theory are woven
connect ideas or themes. Vignette construction
together to explicate findings. An interpretivist
became a process of analysis, enabling me to
orientation informed this work, supporting an
convey the meaning of participants’ everyday lives
examination of the meaning of teachers’
and provide evidence of my analysis. The vignettes
participation. Analysis began with rough
also gave me a way to make sense of and give voice
transcriptions of the PLC conversations, which I
to my findings. By choosing highlights or excerpts
searched for particularly meaningful exchanges
from particularly representative conversations, and
between participants that seemed to constitute
weaving them into one constructed conversation, I
points of learning or tension. I transcribed those
was able to capture critical reflections for my
exchanges exactly. For example, places where
readers to preserve both flow and content.
teachers offered one another advice, whether
solicited or unsolicited, constituted one of the One final step of analytic induction is to further
themes or categories that became a self-evident substantiate narrative vignettes with supporting
point of tension and participation. Questions evidence, wherein key elements of each assertion,
teachers posed to themselves or the group which are unrepresented in the vignette, are
constituted another. These examples indicate the brought to light. Thus, this article follows a format
kinds of participation evident in the PLC. I also of providing a brief explanation of a theme,
attended to places where teachers’ reflective talk provides an illustrative vignette, and supporting
indicated something they were learning or going to evidence.
try differently next time. Transcription was its own

form of analysis; I familiarized myself with the data
as I listened to it. Reading interview transcripts and

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 12 Issue 1—Spring 2016
Findings silently while I worked with a guided reading
group. I have had students read silently
Two key themes were evident across the data and
before, while I monitored them from a
are explicated below in the subheadings. First,
distance. I thought it would go better with
teachers scaffolded their colleagues in collegial and
another person watching over them, but they
affirming ways, offering support regarding
don’t have any respect for her, so it didn’t
whatever aspects of literacy instruction emerged
work. But, yeah, I really would appreciate
from watching a given teacher’s video footage. The
advice on how to do independent reading.”
PLC provided a place where the collegiality and
trust these teachers had already built as a grade “What didn’t work about it?” inquired Cassie.
level team could manifest itself. Second, the
“Well, our day was really hectic to begin
teachers came to new understandings about their
with. We did our balanced literacy time later
students’ needs during this PLC and they adjusted
than normal that day because we had two
their practice accordingly, using PLC time to
separate visits from the principal and vice-
construct their emerging notions of balanced
principal, and then (the researcher) came in
literacy with one another.
to video-tape, and then on top of all that, we
Teachers Scaffolding Teachers had a fire-drill.”
It was evident across the discussions that video- We all grimaced in sympathy at the
based reflection became an evocative stimulus for disruptive nature of that day as Cassie
teachers to scaffold one another’s learning. Teacher interjected, “Bob, I’ve been in your classroom
participation and conversation emerging from before and your students seem to do a good
these conversations demonstrated that they job with independent reading.”
appreciated opportunities to both solicit and offer
“Yeah, well, I think it was different because of
advice about teaching. Teachers shared book
all the distractions and because I put the aide
suggestions and discussed the details of their
in charge of something I normally handle.
teaching in ways that answered questions emerging
She did things differently with letting kids
from their practice, as evidenced in the following
move to more comfortable reading places.”
vignette. To illustrate this finding, the following
vignette centers on Bob’s learning related to
Clarissa followed up, “And you let them move
managing his students’ work habits during his
even if they’ve been disruptive?”
balanced literacy block.
“Well, yeah, kinda. I just…” Bob’s voice
The group re-settled itself for a clear view of
trailed off.
the laptop screen for the video excerpt from
Bob’s guided reading lesson. He was working She went on gently, “I just mean, in my
with a small group of students to read Tiger classroom, if students don’t make wise
Rising by Kate DiCamillo (2002). As the choices about where they’ll read and they get
footage finished, Bob sighed, “Yeah, my distracted, they lose the privilege to choose
lesson didn’t go very well that day.” their place for the rest of the week.”
At our questioning glances, Bob went on. “I “The rest of the week?” Bob’s tone indicated
put one of the teachers’ aides in charge of he had never before considered this
students who were supposed to be reading consequence.

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