Sparking pedagogic change in Southern Africa: Generating middle range theory on how, why and under what conditions teachers start enacting pedagogic change

Abstract

This research investigates processes of teacher learning and initial pedagogic change in Southern Africa. Many pedagogic innovations and teacher professional development programmes fail to translate into change in actual classroom practice, leading to significant waste and lost opportunities to support more equitable student learning. Prior research has identified common constraints in educational change efforts. But we know far less – both empirically and theoretically – about how and why teachers overcome such constraints to take the first ‘leap of faith’ and start enacting new pedagogic approaches. This gap is especially notable in Southern Africa where pedagogic change efforts have proliferated for decades with little effect on classroom teaching and learning. This research therefore examines primary and secondary school teachers’ participation in 15 professional learning programmes (PLPs) and pedagogic change initiatives in Southern Africa, and asks how, why and under what conditions do teachers start enacting new pedagogic approaches? The research leverages qualitative data from existing and ongoing PLPs in two conceptually connected studies to generate original explanatory theory. Study 1 develops and employs an innovative approach to synthesising existing qualitative peer-reviewed literature. This new methodological approach uses theory-based sampling, re-analysis, comparison and synthesis to generate a working theory on the processes and contexts that support teachers’ initial pedagogic change efforts. Study 2 tests and refines this working theory through a ‘live’ case study of a popular pedagogic change initiative being scaled nationally in Botswana - Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL). Fourteen teachers in four primary schools in the Northwest of Botswana were interviewed about their professional learning and change experiences during their first several months participating in TaRL. Analyses in studies 1 and 2 are guided by novel, theory-informed operationalisations of initial pedagogic change outcomes and processes. Operationalisations help identify meaningful similarities among different PLPs across times and spaces, making it possible to bring PLPs in both studies together analytically as a cumulative evidence base. Cumulative findings reveal different patterns of professional learning processes, mechanisms and contexts support different initial pedagogic change outcomes over time. The research generates explanations about these patterns, thereby advancing theories of teacher learning and change and offering practical recommendations for pedagogic change efforts in Southern Africa and beyond.