The impact of literacy-focused CPD on the self-perceptions of expertise in primary school teachers

This study examines the impact of extended professional development in early literacy acquisition on the self-perceptions and emotions of experienced teachers of 5 to 6 year old pupils. The story of the participants' learning journeys is told through a series of short thematic sections, reflections grounded in critical incident theory and an extended vignette. Teacher-participants expand their knowledge base and modify teaching practice consistent with the specific professional development, though this study is not principally concerned with measures of either of these. Of particular interest is the impact of CPD on the development of participants' self-perceptions in relation to expertise, on their emotional life, and the relationship between these in the drive to attain their learning goals. I hypothesise that positive affect is sufficient to sustain participants through the lowest emotional phases and that these low points can act as catalysts for further theoretical change. Each participating teacher was enrolled in year-long continuing professional development, either Local Authority led training in systematic, synthetic phonics or Reading Recovery Initial Professional Development (as part of the Every Child a Reader initiative) led by a teacher leader specialist. Adopting a social constructivist approach I used a range of qualitative research methods to garner data demonstrating the influence of the respective CPD throughout the focus period in 2008-9: a series of semi-structured interviews, lesson observations followed by jointly stimulated reflection and participants' reflective e-journals. I have taken a grounded theory type approach to data analysis