A Collaborative Autoethnography of Literacy Professional Development Work in a High-Needs Environment

This article presents the findings of a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) of three teacher educators' work as literacy professional development (PD) leaders in a high-needs, culturally diverse, urban, US school district. The research questions focused on what the facilitators learned about le...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studying teacher education 2015-09, Vol.11 (3), p.228-245
Main Authors: Sanders, Jennifer Y., Parsons, Sue Christian, Mwavita, Mwarumba, Thomas, Katherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude Change
Autobiographies
autoetnografía colaborativa
Change Strategies
Collaboration
collaborative autoethnography
Collaborative Writing
Cooperation
Credibility
Data collection
desarrollo profesional
Disadvantaged Schools
educación en alfabetización
Ethnography
Interpersonal Relationship
Literacy
literacy education
Needs Assessment
Politics of Education
Principals
Professional Development
Resistance (Psychology)
Resistance to Change
School Districts
Self Evaluation (Individuals)
Social exclusion
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Collaboration
Teacher Educators
Teacher Leadership
Teacher Role
Teachers
Trust (Psychology)
Urban Schools
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Summary:This article presents the findings of a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) of three teacher educators' work as literacy professional development (PD) leaders in a high-needs, culturally diverse, urban, US school district. The research questions focused on what the facilitators learned about leading literacy PD in a high-needs/high-stakes environment and how the teacher educators changed from navigating the complex contexts of PD work over an 18-month period. Data collection included written accounts of the researchers' experiences, collaborative dialogue and probing discussions, and expanded autoethnographic writings. Methods of CAE analysis were employed, resulting in several thematic assertions that offer intimate insight into the processes of facilitating literacy PD with marginalized populations of students and educators. The findings address the socio-political nature of building relationships in such settings, the challenges of changing a deficit-based discourse, and the tensions that influenced the PD facilitators' actions and learning. Through the self-study methodology of CAE, this work provides teacher leaders and teacher educators with tangible ideas about how to facilitate the vital PD processes of relationship building, collaborating with teachers, navigating multiple roles, designing learning engagements and leadership structures, and supporting resistant and struggling educators.
ISSN:1742-5964
1742-5972
DOI:10.1080/17425964.2015.1071251