Project Abstract
FUNdamentals Preschool is an early childhood centre with a gym/Active Movement programme that is integrated into the wider centre programme. Between April 2005 and June 2006, the teachers, including myself, embarked on an in-house professional development to improve our practice in relation to the gym programme. As the centre’s gym co-ordinator, I took on the roles of a professional development co-ordinator and a researcher to facilitate the professional development and create a thesis for my master’s degree in teaching and learning. The juxtaposition of the professional development, research and thesis constitutes learning journeys for the teachers and myself. The learning journeys was action research involving research in action, research for action and research of action (Sagor, 2005).
The learning journeys identified professional development as change. It focused the research on tracking changes in teachers’ individual and collective knowledge and/or practice, and using the changes as bases for further changes.
The learning journeys has been characterised by explorations. For the teachers, including myself, it has involved individual and collective explorations in professional development in Active Movement. For myself, it was also an exploration of research.