Teachers' Lived Experiences Within and Beyond the 2016 Oklahoma Writing Project Summer Institute

Abstract

Many classroom teachers often consider professional development to be ineffective and irrelevant, noting little to no benefits for themselves or their students. Research on traditional, top-down professional development approaches offers insight into teachers’ lackluster experiences with professional development. However, research also demonstrates how professional development might be effective, both for teachers and other stakeholders, including students. Noting that meaningful professional development might exist through the National Writing Project (NWP), this research attempted to capture the essence of one particular professional development opportunity: the 2016 Oklahoma Writing Project Summer Institute (OWP SI). Through a phenomenological research design, the lived experiences of the 13 participants who completed the 2016 OWP SI were portrayed. This research process involved informal and conversational interviews, observations, and the collection of relevant documents and artifacts. Data analysis revealed a connection to communities of practice and key roles which participants assumed during the SI. These interconnected roles included writer, teacher and learner, researcher, and leader. Participants’ individual and collective voices painted a picture of what it was like to experience meaningful professional development. The findings of this research add to the literature focusing on the NWP and SIs across the country, offering a richer, more complex look into what it means to experience this particular professional development phenomenon. Individual vignettes and a collective, thematic analysis offer insight into 2016 OWP SI and serve as a snapshot for future research regarding this and other professional development programs.