1. Teacher Learning Ecologies:
A grounding premise of the ecological perspective utilized and investigated in our lab is that teachers’ ongoing learning occurs through a complex web of (formal and informal) learning experiences, institutions, resources, and broader sociopolitical contexts. Against this background, a central overarching research goal is to better understand how teachers navigate their ongoing learning across time, settings, and changing contexts.
An illustrative publication:
Ehrenfeld, N. (2022). Framing an ecological perspective on teacher professional development. Educational Researcher, 51(7), 489–495.
2. Teachers' Collaborative Sensemaking as Professional Development (CSPD):
Over the last two decades, researchers have portrayed quality professional development (PD) as being collaborative and situated in teachers’ instructional context. We refer to these designs as Collaborative Sensemaking as Professional Development (CSPD). Potential affordances of CSPD include providing teachers with opportunities to develop their adaptive expertise and pedagogical judgment; supporting teachers in making tacit knowledge explicit and reconciling different perspectives on teaching; as well as working towards shared goals and norms of participation in conversations about instruction. However, empirical findings also point out impediments to learning in teacher conversations. In this strand of research we work towards understanding further practices, resources, and frameworks that can promote the design, facilitation, and investigation of teacher collaborative learning.
An illustrative publication:
Ehrenfeld, N. (2023). The role of mathematics teachers' previous professional experiences in their collaborative sensemaking: An ecological perspective. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education.
3. Conceptual Frameworks and Representations for Teacher Learning:
Representations of teaching practices and conceptual frameworks for teaching and teacher learning are central to processes of professional development. In this strand of research we elaborate on these constructs and on their use to support teacher learning toward equitable, conceptual, and discussion-based instruction. Our main premises is that providing teachers with timely and adequate representations and conceptual frameworks could bridge theory with local practices; make knowledge for teaching public and communicable; and hone teachers’ pedagogical judgment. In our research we (1) articulate new representations and frameworks; and (2) study teacher learning as they use them.
Illustrative publications:
Ehrenfeld, N., & Weingarden, M. (accepted). Pedagogical mediators for mathematics teacher learning: comparing four representations of practice and conceptual frameworks. American Educational Research Association Conference (AERA 2024).
Buenrostro, P. & Ehrenfeld, N. (2023). Beyond mere persistence: A conceptual framework for bridging perseverance and mathematical sensemaking in teaching and teacher learning. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 114, 199–221.
Ehrenfeld, N., & Horn, I. S. (2020). Initiation-entry-focus-exit and participation: a framework for understanding teacher groupwork monitoring routines. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 103, 251–272.