Zones of enactment in teacher collaboration

Abstract

This paper reports on zones of enactment (see Spillane, 1999) as a theoretical framework used to study teacher collaboration in a continuing professional development (CPD) programme. Learning to teach mathematics through inquiry (LTMI) is a 14-month CPD programme designed to support secondary school teachers of mathematics in Malta towards inquiry teaching. LTMI, which offers participation in summer workshops followed by ongoing on-the-job meetings, is based upon research-informed principles of effective CPD, including long-term engagement in a community of practice. Due to their personal resources (prior knowledge, beliefs and practices) and contextual conditions, teachers work within different zones of enactment. This paper shows that the interplay between teachers’ personal resources in enacting inquiry and external factors (pupils, policy, public, private and professional sectors) can be investigated through zones of enactment. When teachers’ zones of enactment become social, and involve ongoing negotiation, feedback and support from external factors, teachers become better informed to make changes to their practices.