This study explores the outcome of a teacher workshop as part of a larger longitudinal study on a school designed as an innovative learning environment. All teachers were invited to participate in a workshop aimed to equip them with vocabulary for planning lessons grounded in the notion of student-centred learning (SCL) practices (Bremner, 2020). The purpose was to 1) explore teachers’ understanding of how to plan for and deliver SCL practices and 2) measure the impact of the workshop pertaining to expansive learning of SCL practices.
Several theories were employed throughout the study to support various phases. The CHAT theoretical framework provided a scaffold for the workshop’s structure as a formative intervention, including double stimulation and addressing how the concept of SCL evolves within the school, thus facilitating expansive learning (Engeström & Sannino, 2010). During the workshop, Bremner’s (2020) synthesis of SCL research into six categories was used as conceptualization for the second stimuli (Engeström & Sannino, 2010) to mirror the teachers’ understanding of student-centred learning practices. The six categories are: student autonomy, formative assessment, adapting to learner needs, relevant skills, power sharing, and active participation (Bremner, 2020). Bernstein’s (2000) theory of classification and framing pertaining to distribution of power and control in the classroom formed a basis for coding the classroom practices. This theory has been further developed to categorize practices into the TTPC framework (Bergström & Wiklund-Engblom, 2022; Bergström et al., under review).
A mixed methods research approach of exploratory sequential design was employed (Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2018), in which multiple types of qualitative data (observational data and audio recorded group discussions) and quantitative data (questionnaires and evaluations) were collected at several phases (during workshop and during and after the planned lecture). Hence, the data collection was carried out in two phases: 1) during the workshop on student-centred learning (SCL) practices and 2) during and after the delivery of the planned SCL lecture.
The planned lessons will be observed during November 2024. The analysis will be carried out thereafter, and results will be finalized for the conference presentation.
2025.
innovative learning environment, student-centred learning, CHAT, teaching practice
2025 RCEN Conference, Sixth Annual Conference of the Relation-Centered Education Network (RCEN), at Maynooth University, Ireland, June 16-18, 2025.