Exploring teacher professional development through the lens of Complexity Theory: the technology together story

Facilitating teacher professional development in complex and dynamic school environments continues to be a challenge for school leaders. This is particularly the case in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) integration, where a constant and rapid rate of change, expanding pedagogical possibilities, and the influence of individual teachers’ values, attitudes, beliefs and skills mean that simplistic approaches to teacher learning are unlikely to be successful. This chapter explores the potential of Complexity Theory, including notions of causality, self-organised adaptation, sensitivity to initial conditions, bifurcation and redundancy, for understanding teacher professional learning. Issues of collaboration, reflection, management and policy are considered through the lens of Complexity and these ideas are illustrated through discussion of Technology Together, a whole-school ICT professional development and culture change program for primary and secondary schools.