ABSTRACT
This chapter examines both the commonalities and the unique features of the efforts that might contribute to deepening our thinking and questioning about supportive contexts for science teacher learning. An important difference across the three (TE, professional development school, and professional development-ELL) efforts is the nature of the evidence to support their claims for effectiveness in creating supportive learning contexts. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report lists the multiple fronts that research suggests are important to address in constructing supportive learning contexts for science teachers. The most commonly cited definition of the word supportive takes a different slant that might also be relevant to thinking about teacher learning contexts: providing encouragement, approval, comfort, reassurance. This definition focuses more on emotional supports. The professional development school most explicitly includes school administrators and involves the development of teachers as leaders in preparing new teachers and in conducting and sharing inquiry projects.
