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The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP): Scaling Up Professional Development Using Collaborative Technology

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Scaling Educational Innovations

Part of the book series: Education Innovation Series ((EDIN))

Abstract

Classroom-based knowledge building requires advanced pedagogies and collaborative technologies. It qualifies as disruptive innovation: progressively more impressive accounts of what students and teachers can accomplish alter beliefs regarding developmental, demographic, and cultural barriers. To establish knowledge-building communities requires effort from within as well as from outside the classroom. The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP) has been rooted in school-university-government (SUNG) partnerships, along with their locally based networks of innovation. The chapter starts with a conceptualization of professional development in the digital era, and the main constituents of the Remote Networked School (RNS) initiative are presented. Next, a description of the SUNG partnerships follows. Emphasis is on agency, as it was observed in the RNS and in the SUNG dynamics of partnerships for classroom-based knowledge building: knowledge building as a shared vision, symmetric knowledge advancement, and multilevel, research-based innovation. Following is a descriptive analysis of the Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP 2007–2014) using Engeström’s (1987) third-generation activity theory framework (Engeström and Sannino 2010). Referring to Engeström’s expansive learning cycle (1987), further analysis is provided regarding the overcoming of double binds for KBIP expansion as an activity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the teachers and the members of the research-intervention team for their intentional proactive participation in KBIP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Laval University, Quebec, Canada

    Thérèse Laferrière & Christine Hamel

  2. Department of Educational Sciences, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, QC, Canada

    Stéphane Allaire

  3. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Alain Breuleux

  4. Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Nancy Law

  5. Centre de Programes Educatius Internacionals, Col·legi de Doctors i Llicenciats en Filosofia i Lletres i Ciències de Catalunya, Catalunya, Spain

    Mireia Montané

  6. Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Iberoamericana, Puebla, Mexico

    Oscar Hernandez

  7. Department of Educational Sciences, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Hull, QC, Canada

    Sandrine Turcotte

  8. Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology, OISE/UToronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Marlene Scardamalia

Authors
  1. Thérèse Laferrière
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  2. Stéphane Allaire
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  3. Alain Breuleux
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  4. Christine Hamel
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  5. Nancy Law
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  6. Mireia Montané
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  7. Oscar Hernandez
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  8. Sandrine Turcotte
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  9. Marlene Scardamalia
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Correspondence to Thérèse Laferrière .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Chee-Kit Looi

  2. Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Laik Woon Teh

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Laferrière, T. et al. (2015). The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP): Scaling Up Professional Development Using Collaborative Technology. In: Looi, CK., Teh, L. (eds) Scaling Educational Innovations. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-537-2_12

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