Collaborative teacher learning across foci of collaboration: Perceived activities and outcomes J.J. Doppenberg a, b, * , P.J. den Brok b , A.W.E.A. Bakx a, b a Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Venlo, The Netherlands b Eindhoven School of Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands highlights < Collaborative teacher learning at primary schools was investigated. < Different foci of collaboration were compared in terms of learning activities and learning outcomes. < Focus of collaboration considerably explained the frequency of occurrence of learning activities. < Focus of collaboration considerably explained the learning outcomes perceived. < Focus of collaboration substantially explained differences between schools. article info Article history: Received 17 October 2011 Received in revised form 19 April 2012 Accepted 24 April 2012 Keywords: Collaborative teacher learning Foci of collaboration Primary education Collaborative learning activities Learning outcomes abstract This study compared teacher collaboration with differing foci, in terms of various learning activities and learning outcomes. A total of 411 teachers from 49 primary schools participated by completing a ques- tionnaire. Foci of collaboration explained significant differences in the frequency with which teachers perceived learning activities and learning outcomes to occur in their collaboration with colleagues. Moreover, the focus of collaboration explained a considerable amount of between-schools differences in teachers’ reported learning activities and learning outcomes. These results suggest that the school context and the focus of collaboration are related and that these both influence collaborative teacher learning. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction It is widely acknowledged that teacher collaboration supports teachers’ professional learning (Grossman, Wineburg, & Woolworth, 2001; McLaughin & Talbert, 2006; Richardson & Placier, 2001; Stoll & Louis, 2007; Westheimer, 2008). During their everyday work, teachers have the opportunity to collaborate with each other frequently, for example, when they are jointly teaching a class or when they are working together on a project or assigned task, such as finding a suitable book or material for a school subject. These kind of collaborations among teachers can be powerful contexts for teachers to exchange ideas or experiences, to develop and discuss new practices, and to give each other feedback (Little, 2002; Putnam & Borko, 2000). Teachers learn individually through the activities undertaken in collaboration with colleagues and, in addition or parallel, groups of teachers can also develop new and shared understandings (Crossan, Lane, & White, 1999; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). In the present study collaborative teacher learning is defined as the learning activities that teachers undertake in collab- oration with colleagues, which lead to changes in teachers’ cognition and/or behaviour (cf. Meirink, Meijer, & Verloop, 2007; Shuell, 1996). Unfortunately, relatively little is known about what collaborative teacher learning as part of their everyday work actually looks like (Borko, 2004; Hindin, Morocco, Mott, & Aguilar, 2007; Little, 2002). Processes of collaborative teacher learning are rather complex, as teachers who are involved in the same activities of collaboration can learn different things, even in opposite directions (e.g., Hindin et al., 2007). To understand collaborative learning processes, these processes cannot be separated from the context in which they take * Corresponding author. Eindhoven School of Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Tel.: þ31 (0) 402473095, þ31 (0) 628232648. E-mail addresses: j.doppenberg@gmail.com (J.J. Doppenberg), p.j.d.brok@tue.nl (P.J. den Brok), a.bakx@fontys.nl (A.W.E.A. Bakx). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2012.04.007 Teaching and Teacher Education 28 (2012) 899e910