Page 134 - Getting of the fence

Chapter 6
used only for research purposes. All teachers signed a consent form in which they were informed about the nature and duration of the study. None of the teachers were granted extra time from their respective schools to participate in this research project.
Due to the high level of curricular freedom regarding the design of the EFL literature component (see Chapter 2), the way this component was organized at the six schools varied to a high extent. Table 6.1 shows that the average percentage of EFL literature lessons per year as part of the EFL curriculum varied between 6% for Liz and 42% for Fred. This high level of variety was also visible in the literary texts that were part of the literature curriculum of each school (see Table 6.2).
6.3.2 Intervention
The focus of the intervention was enriching existing EFL literature curricula through the Comprehensive Approach. Part of the intervention consisted of a professional development programme that took place between May 2016 and September 2017 (between year 1 and year 2) and consisted of approximately 12 hours divided over four sessions per school (see Table 6.3). In addition, individual planned and spontaneous coaching sessions took place throughout year 2 whenever there was time or demand. The design of the professional development programme was based on several key studies based on which we selected the following set of core features:
(1) PCK focus within teachers’ own context (Borko, 2004; Little, 2012; van Veen, Zwart, Meirink, & Verloop, 2010)
(2) Active participation (Borko, 2004; Desimone, 2009; van Veen et al., 2010),
(3) Ownership and co-construction (Hawley & Valli, 1999)
(4) Sustained duration (Desimone & Stukey, 2014; Knapp, 2003; Verloop,
2003), and
(5) Collective participation (Desimone, 2009; Little, 2012; van Veen et al.,
2010; Verloop, 2003)
In terms of the first aspect of Kennedy’s (2016) Theory of Action, the Comprehensive Approach constituted the main idea that teachers should learn in terms of content as well as how to implement it in existing curricula. In terms of the second aspect, i.e. the strategy that helps teachers translate this main idea into their own teaching context, we took several additional decisions in designing the professional development programme.
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