Extending the interconnected model of teacher professional growth to analyse professional development facilitators' learning

A group of facilitators of science teacher professional development engaged in collaborative reflection on their practice through video observation. The impact of this was analysed using a framework based on an interconnected model of teacher professional growth (Clarke and Hollingsworth 2002). Reported impacts were located within the model and compared to participants’ anticipated learning before the programme. Pathways were drawn using the framework which described processes of learning. The interconnected model supported understanding of the impacts, both planned and unexpected, of the professional development programme, and the processes of learning which led to these impacts. In applying the model to facilitators rather than teachers, the nature of the domains of learning and the learning environment needed to be adapted. This provides insight into the role and practices of the professional development facilitators, an under-researched area, as well as the strengths and limitations of the model.