This thesis takes its departure from the on-going debate about teachers´(collective) ‘continuing professional development’ (CPD). Teachers’ CPD through an imposed nine-step model of peer group mentoring (PGM) is focused on. The study draws on data from a two and a half yearlong interactive project that took place in a teacher team in a Swedish school. The general aim of the thesis is to study a practice of professional development in a teacher team involving peer group mentoring and to find out how and what kind of teachers’ expertise that is constructed. Furthermore, the aim is to examine how the PGM-practice was constrained and enabled and what kind of CPD was made possible. The theoretical and methodological framework is mainly based on practice theory. Practices and practitioners are seen as mutually interrelated. Practice architectures (Kemmis &amp; Grootenboer, 2008) are used to uncover the relations between the PGM-practice and its historical, material-economic, social-political and cultural-discursive conditions. Furthermore, Foucault’s notion of power was adopted as an analytical tool to examine how power came into play during the mentoring sessions and how the teachers’ discursively constructed a ‘good teacher’ and teachers’ expertise. The methodological approach is action research. A main finding of the thesis is that professional and personnel development may be imposed through peer group mentoring. Furthermore, democratic processes increased during the PGMmeetings and seemed to have an impact on classroom practice and the practice of parent-teacher meetings. The results show how the PGM–practice and its outcomes are deeply interconnected to global and local historical, material-economic, social-political and cultural-discursive arrangements which constrained and enabled it. When economic cut downs (i.e. materialeconomic arrangements) began to take effect in the local school, along with a neo-liberal discourse (i.e. cultural-discursive arrangements), democratic processes were challenged and threatened. The focus in the PGM discussions shifted from the teachers’ perceived need for pedagogical knowledge development to talk about students as costs. The constrained nine-step model disciplined some individuals more than others. The teachers disciplined each other through e.g. confessions, corrections and differentiations. Inconsistent discourses about good teaching and teachers’ know-how were constructed and the teachers positioned themselves and each other as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ teachers. The interactive research approach partly enabled the PGM-practice but at the same time effected the teachers’ positioning of each other. The interactive research approach disciplined both the teachers and the researcher. Anyhow, power relations became fluent and mutual among the participants. A collegial approach and the ability to carry out reflexive cooperation were both fostered by the model and articulated in the PGM-practice as important teacher skills. / <p>Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av utbildningsvetenskapliga fakulteten vid</p><p>Göteborgs universitet för vinnande av doktorsexamen i Pedagogiskt arbete framläggs till offentlig granskning Fredagen den 14 mars, klockan 13.00, Sal C 203 vid Högskolan i Borås</p><p>Fakultetsopponent: Professor Emeritus Per Lauvås, Oslo</p><p>Langelotz, L., &amp; Rönnerman, K. (2014).The practice of peer Group mentoring - traces of global changes and regional traditions. In K. Rönnerman, P, Salo &amp; T. Lund (Eds.), Lost in Practice. Transforming Nordic Action Research. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. (forthcoming)</p><p>Langelotz, L. (2013). Teachers peer group mentoring - Nine steps to heaven? Education Inquiry, 4(2), 375-399. ISSN 2000-4508</p><p>Langelotz, L. (2013). Så görs en (o)skicklig lärare. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 18(3-4). ISSN 1401-6788</p><p></p>

Abstract This doctoral thesis discusses the creation of professional identity of education developers working in the crossroads of administration and school development work. The subjects of the study work as class or subject teachers, and as education developers in Support Services at the Department of Education. The study also examines the impacts of a peer mentoring group based on narrative and action based methods on the creation of professional identity. The theoretical and methodological basis of this study is narrative. The goal, challenge and learning narratives identified were then analysed using content analysis. The creation of developer identity is seen as a series of reflecting and processing events that challenge one’s identity. Professional identity is examined as being created through a narrative, and the research data has been created through narration. Challenges emerge at the crossroads of administration and school – in the arena of interaction. Managing these challenges is described as evolution in knowledge, skills and operating methods as well as beliefs, attitudes and feelings. The learning stories created in the reflection process describe change, which is required for managing challenging situations. The goal narratives emphasise expertise, the power to influence and being a peer. The education developers describe themselves as walking alongside teachers, as peers. Three developer identities were recognised in the education developers’ narratives: the critical developer, the flexible developer and the self-developer. The critical developer is motivated by being competent in an expert position. The flexible developer feels that being a teacher is an integral part of the identity of an education developer. The work is about expressing oneself. The self-developer’s identity includes the aspect of enhancing one’s own expertise. She or he has an optimistic attitude towards the changes of the job. Using the peer mentoring group to support the development of professional identity required trust amongst the group members to enable them to share critical events that challenge one’s identity in the group. This study is an important and topical address to the dialogue on the ways to support the professional growth and career development of teachers as well as the development of continuous education. / Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan opetustoimen kehittäjäopettajan identiteetin rakentumista opetustoimen hallinnon ja koulujen kehittämistyön tukemisen välimaastossa. Tutkimuksen kehittäjäopettajat toimivat kouluillaan luokan- tai aineenopettajina ja koko opetustoimessa kehittäjäopettajina. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään myös, mikä merkitys kerrontaan ja toiminnallisiin menetelmiin perustuvalla vertaismentorointiryhmällä on identiteetin rakentumisessa. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena ja metodologisena lähtökohtana on kerronta. Luennassa tunnistettua tavoite-, haaste- ja oppimiskerrontaa on analysoitu sisällöllisesti. Kehittäjäidentiteetin rakentumisessa on tärkeällä sijalla identiteettiä haastavien tapahtumien reflektointi. Ammatillinen identiteetti nähdään kerronnan kautta rakentuvana, ja tutkimusaineisto on syntynyt kerronnassa. Haasteita syntyy hallinnon ja koulun välimaastossa, vuorovaikutusareenalla. Haasteista selviäminen kerrotaan muutoksena tiedoissa, taidoissa ja toimintatavoissa sekä uskomuksissa, asenteissa ja tunteissa. Reflektoinnissa syntyvät oppimiskertomukset kuvaavat muutosta, jota haastavista tilanteista selviäminen edellyttää. Tavoitekerronnassa korostuvat asiantuntijuus, vaikuttaminen ja vertaisuus. Kehittäjäopettajat kuvaavat itseään opettajan rinnalla kulkijoina ja vertaisina. Kerronnasta tunnistetaan kolme kehittäjäidentiteettiä: kriittinen, joustava ja itsensä kehittäjä. Joustavalle kehittäjälle opettajuus on kiinteä osa kehittäjäopettajan identiteettiä ja kehittäjän työ itsensä toteuttamista. Kriittistä kehittäjää motivoi päteminen asiantuntijatehtävissä. Itsensä kehittäjän identiteettiin liittyy oman asiantuntijuuden vahvistaminen, optimistinen suhtautuminen muutoksiin ja oman urapolun suunnittelu. Vertaismentorointiryhmän toimiminen ammatillisen identiteetin rakentumisen tukena edellyttää luottamuksen syntymistä, jotta kriittisiä, identiteettiä haastavia tapahtumia pystytään jakamaan ryhmässä. Tutkimus on tärkeä ja ajankohtainen puheenvuoro keskusteltaessa opettajien ammatillisen kasvun ja urakehityksen tukemisen keinoista sekä täydennyskoulutuksen kehittämisestä.