ICI Daxia Forum: Prof. Andy Hargreaves from Boston College Shares on "Collaborative Professionalism and Innovation: The Next Generation of Ideas, Research and Practice"

On the afternoon of November 26, the 243rd Daxia Forum invited Prof. Andy Hargreaves from Boston College in the United States to deliver a report on "Collaborative Professionalism and Innovation: The Next Generation of Ideas, Research and Practice", offering valuable experience and insights for current education reform.

The forum was hosted by Assoc. Prof. Zhang Xiaolei from the ICI, ECNU. The following guests participated in the discussions:

- Researcher Xiong Jianhui from the Education Management Information Center of the Ministry of Education

- Assoc. Prof. Wang Lijia from the Department of Education at ECNU

- Assoc. Prof. Zhu Gang from the Institute of International and Comparative Education at ECNU

- Assoc. Researcher Xiong Wanxi from the National Training Center for Secondary School Principals at ECNU

- Prof. Wang Wenzhi from the School of Education at Shanghai Normal University

- Prof. Wang Yanling and Assoc. Prof. Zheng Xin from the Institute of Curriculum and Instruction at ECNU.

Introduction to Prof. Andy Hargreaves

Prof. Andy Hargreaves is currently a professor at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College in the United States. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada. He is a member of the National Academy of Education in the United States and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the United Kingdom.

His research focuses on teacher professional development, education curriculum reform, and school leadership. He has proposed a series of creative and explanatory concepts such as professional capital, contrived collegiality, sustainable leadership, and collaborative professionalism, making outstanding contributions to the field of education theory and research.

He has collaborated closely with many international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, and the International Baccalaureate Organization, actively engaging in the improvement of global education practices. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of two international SSCI journals, the Journal of Educational Change and the Journal of Professional Capital and Community, with his academic influence spanning the global education academia.

Review of the Report Content

In his early research, Prof. Hargreaves observed professional collaboration in education systems of different countries and found that some teachers failed to adhere to the child - centered teaching concept, and their teaching methods were out of touch with students' development needs, leading to students' dependence problems. This phenomenon prompted him to explore the influencing factors of teachers' teaching methods. By relating teaching methods, teacher identities, and cultural contexts, he finally found that teachers' self - perception and teaching behaviors are dynamically adjusted according to the school environment and peer groups, and their identity is essentially shaped by personal experiences and the culture they belong to.

When talking about the problems of traditional teacher cooperation, Prof. Hargreaves cited Dun Laury's research in the late 1960s, pointing out that it has three major problems: "presentism, individualism, and conservatism". "Presentism" focuses on short - term goals such as classroom effects, ignoring students' long - term development, and giving rise to a series of conservative and highly dependent teacher professional cultures, which have a certain negative impact on teachers' professional practices. These practical problems constitute the main obstacles to traditional teacher cooperation.

After moving to Canada in 1987, Prof. Hargreaves took advantage of the new policy of "providing more extra preparation time for teachers" to conduct research. He found that time was not the only key factor in promoting teacher cooperation, and most of the cooperation at that time was in an informal form. Based on this, he proposed the concept of "contrived collegiality", pointing out its characteristics of "low trust and high precision", which belongs to superficial collaboration. He emphasized that trust is the core of cooperation, and only "high trust" can give rise to a "true collaborative culture", that is, in - depth cooperation initiated by teachers autonomously and based on open dialogue, which is fundamentally different from contrived collegiality.

After 2012, based on the concept of "collaborative professionalism", Prof. Hargreaves explored teacher cooperation from a more strategic perspective, focusing on in - depth research on "embedding cooperation into local culture and educational contexts". He proposed the theory of "professional capital", emphasizing that the core value of teacher cooperation lies in the accumulation of "social capital", that is, by building trust networks, sharing professional development resources, and providing mutual support, the "human capital" of individuals can be increased, correcting the one - sided tendency of previous research that only focused on individual ability improvement.

Subsequently, Prof. Hargreaves further collaborated with Prof. Michael O'Connor to conduct a global cross - national study on teacher professional cooperation. Through comparing the ways of teacher cooperation in different cultural contexts around the world, this study explored the best practice paths and positive outcomes of teacher cooperation. This research further highlighted the influence and shaping of different global cultural contexts on the ways, means, effects, and cultures of teacher cooperation.

Finally, Prof. Hargreaves pointed out that the development of teachers' collaborative professionalism in Western education systems follows an evolutionary path of "informal cooperation, formal structures (curriculum research, peer review), and in - depth collaborative problem - solving"; while China is characterized by a "top - down" model, relying on system support and hierarchical systems to promote cooperation. The two can be transformed into each other in different cultural contexts and institutional practices. The key lies in how to maintain a balance between structure and agency and how to develop a vibrant cooperative cultural ecosystem in different cultural contexts.

In the interactive session, Prof. Hargreaves had in - depth and lively discussions with teachers and studentson topics such as the development of teacher cooperation in Eastern and Western education and teacher identities. He patiently answered every question. With his unique insights into teacher cooperation, he provided rich inspiration and profound insights for the education colleagues.

Assoc.Prof. Zhang Xiaolei summarized this session, pointing out that Prof. Hargreaves' rich cross - national research experience and unique academic insights provided valuable inspiration for analyzing teachers' cooperative innovation in different cultural contexts. Finally, she expressed sincere gratitude to Prof. Hargreaves and all the teachers and students present for their participation and support.