What role can professional learning frameworks play in developing teacher agency in subject leadership in primary science?

ABSTRACT

Frameworks for professional learning offer models of progression that analyse and describe changes in learner behaviours and practices. This paper argues that frameworks for teacher professional learning offer theoretical models that can enhance teachers’ agency in their own development. Teachers’ use of two primary science frameworks are considered: the Trajectory of Professional Development (TOPD) for subject leadership, and the Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) for assessment leadership. Analysis of teacher survey data on use of the frameworks identified teacher agency and the impact of shared professional language as key themes. The paper’s conclusions build on the work of Kennedy, in suggesting frameworks offer malleable tools for reflective dialogue between teachers. The authors discuss how the explicit identification of progression in behaviours and practices within the two frameworks supported teachers to develop a shared language and understanding of subject leadership, identifying next steps for their own professional learning. They make the case that the frameworks are not sufficient on their own, they can only offer non-situated explanations of development, and that for them to be of greatest benefit they need to stimulate professional dialogue and exemplification in relation to the learner’s own context.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional learning
• primary science
• teacher agency
• models of professional learning

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Primary Science Teaching Trust for their funding to support the development of the frameworks under discussion.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).