Dr Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak University of Białystok, Poland Dr James Underwood

1. Teachers' experiencesof collaboratinginternationally: from the "wow" effect to making a difference to students and Schools Dr Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak University of Białystok, Poland Dr James Underwood University of Northampton, UK

2. Presentation in brief

3. Studyfocus • the perceived impact of teachers’ experiences gained through international networking on their professional development, students, community and schools • the ways in which these experiences lead to teachers’ professional development

4. Background • International collaboration as a necessary practice for teachers in order to develop and/or extend their global and cultural perspectives on the teaching and learning process (Ben-Peretz & Flores, 2018; Biraimah & Lotia, 2013; Brindley, Quinn & Morton, 2009; Çiftçi & Karaman, 2019; Livingston & Shiach, 2010; Prenger, Poortman, & Handelzalts, 2018); • An increasing number of initiatives that link teachers from different countries over the past three decades including Polish teachers (FRSE, 2019; Śliwerski, 2009; Underwood & Joshevska, 2019); • The lack of research evidence on the long-term outcomes and ways (mechanisms) in which the projects or initiatives that bring teachers together in partnerships or communities across national boundaries contribute to teachers’ professional development.

5. Theoreticalunderpinnings • This study uses a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) lens to investigate the perceived impact of teachers’ international experiences on their professional development, students’ learning outcomes, community and schools. • This model describeshowcommunitymembersbegin in a peripheral role as gainers of the knowledgethat the communityholds and moveover a period of timetowards a more central role in whichtheydefine the knowledge of the community (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015). One role that a community of practicehas, according to this model, isthatitis a place of affirmation. Thosewhohold central rolesaffirm the newermembers by demonstratinganunderstanding and appreciation of the expertise of moreperipheralmembers, thusenablingthem to movedeeperinto the community.

6. AN overview of the study • A qualitative, small-scale interview-based study; • Teachers were selected via a combination of purposive and snowball sampling (Creswell, 2013; Robson and McCartan, 2016); • 13 Polish teacherswith wide and varied experiences in cooperating with teachers from other nations; • All the participants may be describe as “extended professionals” (Hoyle, 2008) in that they were proactive teachers, constantly seeking professional development opportunities within their schools, their country and beyond to make systematic and purposeful interventions in their teaching practice. Two of them were nominated for the Global Teacher Prize award in recognition of their achievements.

7. AN overview of the study • All interviews were conducted in Polish by the first author; • Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the interview transcripts with a combination of deductive and inductive coding schemes (Miles and Huberman, 1994); • The data analysis process progressed in three phases: • The firstauthoridentifiedinitialcodes and categories; • The initial codes and coding were checked and verified by a faculty colleague being fully qualified in research on teacher education in order to avoidresearchbias(Kvale, 1996); • The list of codes and categories followed by the extended examples of participants responses were translated into English by the first author and sent to the second author to ensure the consistency of the coding process and the reliability of interpretations from the data.

8. Findings

9. The impact on Teachers

10. The impact on community

11. The impact on students

12. The impact on Schools

13. the „wow” effectmechanism Figure 1. The “wow” effect

14. It was a carpentry room or something like this, where children made something from wood, they had various tools like planes etc. For me it was something extraordinary, with the wow effect. [#INT3] The trip to Sweden was for me like the wow effect… One day, the students had a task to do. It was a math exercise or something like that. Our students did the exercise and they were, well, sitting and doing nothing. But the Swedish ones got together in a group, they were talking, exchanging opinions etc., and ours were just looking. (…) And to be honest, then I understood how much we need to teach our students, because knowledge alone is not all. Actually, there is also something like team work or group work. [#INT9]

15. the Mechanism of Collaborative gradual professional growth over time Figure 2. Collaborative gradual professional growth over time

16. Actually, the thing is not only to be there, but simply to learn and imitate the good practices of other teachers and learn from them, share our experiences and (…) exchange some teaching methods. [#INT9] During the project, we are a team. We talk, contact each other, share our experiences, and ask others to help us. This has incredible effects. [#INT1] In my case, it was gradual. Not that I suddenly got to it like crazy. But I knew it was something attractive, something good for me. And I’m a bit of a rebel, so I didn’t care about my limitations, the limitations of the students or of the school. If I couldn’t control them, I approached them as a challenge. And I tried to push it step by step. [#INT2] I was learning how to change my working methods, that it can also be done step by step, that you don’t need a revolution right away but small changes in the classroom to make a difference in the work. [#INT11]

17. Concludingremarks The high regard these teachers put upon the experience of being able to network with fellow professionals suggests that there is value in government, local and national, supporting such processes. Teachers clearly described how being involved in internationally situated communities had improved their classroom practice and professional confidence, all aspects of teachers’ professionalism that any school or country would want to develop. However, if these are to be supported a nuanced understanding of the ways that knowledge built by such processes is realised needs to be present among those funding and supporting such initiatives.

18. References • Ben-Peretz, M., and M. A. Flores. (2018). Tensions and Paradoxes in Teaching: Implications for TeacherEducation. EuropeanJournal of TeacherEducation, 41 (2), 202–213. • Biraimah, K.L., A. L. Jotia. (2013) The Longitudinal Effects of Study Abroad Programs on Teachers’ Content Knowledge and Perspectives: Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in Botswana and Southeast Asia, Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(4), 433–454. • Çiftçi, E. Y., and A.C. Karaman. (2019). Short-Term IntenrtaionalExperiences in Language TeacherEducation: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis. AustralianJournal of TeacherEducation, 44 (1), 93–119. • Creswell, J. (2013). QualitativeInquiry & Research Design Choosingamong Five Approaches (3rd ed.). ThousandOaks, CA SAGE. • Cushner K. (2009). The Role of Study Abroad in Preparing Globally Responsible Teachers. In: R. Lewin (Ed.),The Handbook of Practice and Research in Study Abroad: Higher Education and the Quest for Global Citizenship, pp. 151–69.New York: Routledge. • FRSE. (2019). Statistics. https://etwinning.pl/statystyki-2/. • Kvale, S. (1996). Methods of Analysis. In Interviews—An introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, pp. 193–199. California: Sage Publications. • Livingston, K., and L. Shiach. (2010). A New Model of Teacher Education. In: A. Campbell and S. Groundwater-Smith (Eds.), Connecting Inquiry and Professional Learning, pp. 83–95. London: Routledge. • Prenger, R., Poortman, C. L., and A. Handelzalts. (2018). The Effects of Networked Professional Learning Communities. Jornal of TeacherEducation. Advanced online publication. • Robson, C. & McCartan, K. (2016). Real world research: a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings (4th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley. • Underwood, J., and M. Joschevska. (2019). A ProposedTypology of Knowledge SharingwithinCommunities of Teachers: A Comparative Case StudyFocusing on England and Macedonia. IAFOR 7 (1), 113–128. • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press. • Wenger-Trayner, E., and B. Wenger-Trayner. (2015). Learning in a landscape of practice: a framework. In E. Wenger-Trayner, & B. Wenger-Trayner. Learning in landscapes of practice: boundaries, identity, and knowledgeability in practice-based learning (pp. 13–31). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

19. Contactdetails: • Dr Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak: m.kowalczuk@uwb.edu.pl • Dr James Underwood: james.underwood@northampton.ac.uk