The influence of collective and individual sensemaking on how facilitators and teachers implement a professional development program

ABSTRACT This study takes a sociocultural approach in examining how mathematics professional development facilitators and teachers enacted a professional development program in a statewide network of trainings. Facilitators (N = 11) and teachers (N = 62) were surveyed before and after implementation to capture how facilitators understood and then implemented the program with teachers, and how teachers interpreted and then enacted the program with students. Differences in uptake (intended use) and implementation (actual use) were investigated in two separate analyses that looked for differences (1) across levels of iteration (i.e., from original program to facilitators to teachers) and (2) between groups of teachers who participated in the trainings. Results showed substantial variation across levels and between groups such that, although less true of some groups than others, intention to use the program was higher than actual use. Insights are offered into how collective and individual sensemaking processes influence program implementation.