The Teacher Education Conversation - A Network of Cooperating Teachers

Oct 15, 2026

A study investigates a professional learning community linking cooperating teachers with university-based teacher educators to strengthen teacher education practice. Over monthly group meetings across two school years in a British Columbia suburban district, researchers examine how participants’ prior and current experiences shaped dialogue. Using frameworks from teacher learning and complexity science, the analysis shows how complexity thinking enables cooperating teachers’ professional development through productive tensions, flexible contingency-based structures, reduced hierarchy to build networks, and improvisation as a key learning ingredient.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time1 h 21 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Method and learning community

Complexity science perspective

Key findings and tensions

Conversation and teacher learning

Genuine conversation vs. contrived conversation

Field-academy dialogue and complexity

The Teacher Education Conversation: A Network of Cooperating Teachers Wendy S. Nielsen University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia Valerie Triggs, Anthony Clarke, & John Collins University of British Columbia With Dianne Coulter, Tina Grigoriadis, Stephanie Hardman, Lee Hunter, Jane Ki‐ negal, Bianca Li, Jeff Mah, Karen Mastin, David Partridge, Kathleen Salbuvik, Mitch Ward, Frederick Weil, Janet White (Richmond School District) and Kang Changyun, Gaalen Erickson (University of British Columbia) This study investigated a professional learning community of cooperating teachers and university‐based teacher educators. To examine our roles and perspectives as colleagues in teacher education, we drew on frameworks in teacher learning and complexity science. Monthly group meetings of this inquiry community were held over two school years in a suburban school district in British Columbia. Participants’current and prior experiences in the role of cooperating teacher provided rich topics for conversation. Our analysis illustrates how aspects of complexity thinking both enable and promote teacher learning, in this instance, the professional development of cooperating teachers. The study highlights (a) key tensions that allow for deeper exploration of issues, (b) the need for flexibility that is open to contingency, (c) the importance of reducing hierarchical structures to enable networks to develop, and (d) improvisation as a key ingredient for teacher learning. Key words: cooperating teachers, teacher inquiry, professional learning, complex system, practicum CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 33, 4 (2010): 837‐868 ©2010 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation Cette étude a porté sur une communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle réunissantdes enseignants associés et des professeurs de pédagogie en poste dans une universi‐ té . Pour analyser les rôles et les points de vue des uns et des autres en tant que collè‐ gues dans la formation à l’enseignement, le groupe a utilisé des cadres de référence dans les domaines de l’apprentissage chez les enseignants et de la théorie de la com‐ plexité . Les réunions mensuelles de cette communauté de chercheurs ont eu lieu du‐ rant deux ans dans une commission scolaire d’une banlieue en Colombie‐Britannique. Les expériences actuelles et antérieures des participants dans leur rôle d’enseignant associé ont fourni un riche terreau pour leurs échanges. Cette analyse illustre com‐ ment des aspects de la théorie de la complexité ont favorisé l’apprentissage des ensei‐ gnants – dans ce cas, le perfectionnement professionnel des enseignants associés. L’étude met en lumière (a) des tensions importantes qui méritent d’être explorées plus à fond, (b) la nécessité d’une certaine souplesse vis‐à‐vis des imprévus, (c) l’importance de réduire les structures hiérarchiques afin de permettre aux réseaux dese développer et (d) la place clé de l’improvisation dans l’apprentissage chez les en‐ seignants. Mots clés : enseignants associés, recherche sur les enseignants, perfectionnement pro‐ fessionnel, système complexe, stage Based on results from previous research with cooperating teachers in British Columbia, teachers called for a more substantive and sustained dialogue for their work with student teachers1 (Clarke, 2001, 2006, 2007) . In response to this call, we gathered school and university teacher educa‐ tors into a dialogue group which we named The Teacher Education Con‐ versation. As we entered into Conversation with one another, as we called our method, we were mindful of Gadamer’s (1989) caution about the difference between a genuine conversation versus a contrived con‐ versation: We say that we ‘conduct’ a conversation, but the more genuine a conversation is, the less its conduct lies within the will of either partner. Thus a genuine conver‐ 1 The term teacher candidate is used synonymously with student teachers throughout this ar

FAQs

What professional learning community does the study examine?

It examines a community of cooperating teachers and university-based teacher educators that meets regularly to support professional learning in teacher education.

How is the study frameworked to understand teacher learning?

The study draws on frameworks in teacher learning and complexity science to interpret roles, perspectives, and learning processes across the meetings.

What factors does the study identify as important for cooperating teachers’ professional development?

It highlights key tensions for deeper exploration, flexibility open to contingency, reducing hierarchical structures to enable networks, and improvisation as a key ingredient for teacher learning.

Oct 15, 2026

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