Abstract

This paper explores teachers’ metacognition, on the assumption that it plays a critical role for both teaching practice and the sustainability of teachers’ professional learning (PL). We developed an instrument to measure levels of teachers’ metacognitive behaviour in relation to both the complexities of differentiated teaching practice and their own professional learning. The data collected with the instrument has been analysed using Item Response Modelling. The purpose was to uncover the extent to which teachers’ metacognition is influenced by their implementation of a specific approach of evidence-informed instructional practice within a developmental model of learning. The professional development (PD) program that provides the basis for this research is based in a project called the “Assessment and Learning Partnerships” (ALP), designed and implemented by the Assessment Research Centre of the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development of Victoria and the Catholic Education Office (Melbourne). The purpose of the ALP project is to help teachers make data driven decisions about targeted intervention and differentiated instruction. The data discussed in this paper have been collected as a baseline measure of the broader research project, which is a longitudinal study of teachers’ participation in the project. The analysis of teachers’ metacognition investigated the relationship between teachers’ metacognition about the complexities of differentiated teaching and the way teachers think of themselves as learners, especially when they face the challenges of differentiating their teaching practices.