"Jag har lärt mig att skilja ut vad som är viktigt" : Lärares lärande i learning study

Sammanfattning: This study focuses on teachers' experiences of participating in collaborative professional development. Learning study is a systematic model where teachers collaborate around specific content areas (an object of learning) trying to find out what the students need to discern, and how that can be taught, using variation theory as a framework for lesson design and analysis.  The aim of the study is to find out what the perceived consequences are for teachers and their teaching when participating in a learning study. It also examines how the teachers perceive the collaborative work in a learning study. The study draws on data collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews with ten teachers with experience of participating in learning studies. The interviews were coded and categorized using a qualitative content analysis approach. The results indicate that the collaborative work in a learning study is perceived as both collaborative and collective learning. Learning study is also seen as a systematic model which enables collective and individual reflection on teaching.  Furthermore, the consequences of participation in learning study are perceived in terms of instructional changes, where teachers take greater use of students understanding as they plan and implement teaching and focus on the content. Variation theory emerges as an important tool in this change. The theory also seems to contribute to reflection and knowledge about teaching and students learning.