Facilitating Teacher Learning When Using Different Representations of Practice

Providing opportunities for learning through professional development requires the examination of facilitation of sessions with teachers. This study investigates facilitation of professional development to promote teacher learning when using animations and videos in a study group with five teachers. We ask: What practices (and moves within those practices) do the facilitators enact during high-quality conversations and specific to the professional development activities? We found that moves for sustaining an inquiry stance were more frequently performed than other moves, suggesting that the facilitator’s practices increase teachers’ learning opportunities when studying representations of teaching. In addition, the study suggests that there are no significant differences when facilitating discussions of animations and videos. The teacher learning goals seem to be more important than the type of representations of teaching used for the enactment of facilitation moves. Our findings are relevant for designing and implementing professional development that supports teacher learning through inquiry and collaboration.