ABSTRACT
Much research on teacher learning has focused on how teachers develop knowledge and skill within systems that are presumed to be relatively stable. In fact, the environments of teaching are both multiple and turbulent, and equity-oriented change requires attention not just to the technical aspects of teaching but also to the normative and sociopolitical dimensions of change. Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) within research-practice partnerships provides a context to support and investigate teacher learning in collaboration with education leaders and researchers, where the object is organizing new forms of activity toward more equitable school systems. Studying the dynamics of teacher learning in such partnerships requires studies that (1) document how teachers make sense of, adapt to, and challenge policies intended to influence their teaching practice; (2) create conditions for teachers to engage in co-inquiry with researchers at the edge of our collective understanding for how to promote equity within classrooms; and (3) analyze efforts to redesign infrastructures to promote more equitable learning. This chapter presents illustrations of how teams can produce teacher learning research within partnerships with educational equity aims and suggests ways to further develop collaborative teacher learning research beyond work within existing institutional structures.
