From Collaboration to Transformation: Exploring Collaborative Planning and Reflection Process among PYP Educators in Türkiye
Abstract
This study explores how teachers in a school implementing the Primary Years Programme (PYP) - first as a candidate school and subsequently as an authorized school - developed their understanding of transformative learning characteristics through sustained participation in collaborative planning and reflective dialogue facilitated through online discussions. A concurrent transformative mixed-methods design was employed, with qualitative and quantitative data collected simultaneously between 2017 and 2024 in a PYP school in Istanbul. Quantitative data were gathered from 68 teachers using the Professional Learning Community Collaborative Team Survey (CTS) (Colvin, 2013), while qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with eight grade-level coordinators. The study examined participation in inquiry-based collaborative processes and to examine how teachers’ pedagogical thinking evolved in alignment with transformative learning theory. Repeated-measures analyses revealed that statistically significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores across transformative learning subscales. Qualitative results indicated that as teachers’ participation in structured collaborative planning and online dialogue deepened, they engaged more critically in reflective practice, demonstrated more sophisticated professional reasoning, and made more informed pedagogical decisions. The findings further suggest that the school’s systematic structuring of participatory collaborative practices contributed to the school’s IB authorization process. Overall, the study highlights the potential of sustained and structured teacher participation in collaborative inquiry, supported by online platforms, to foster transformative professional growth within PYP contexts.
Keywords
Primary years programme, collaborative planning and reflection, professional learning communities, transformative learning theory characteristics, inquiry, accreditation
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