Integrating inquiry, peer observation, and professional learning communities: Teachers’ experiences with a job-embedded professional learning design

Author

• Tiffany Outman, University of North FloridaFollow

Year

2026

Season

Summer

Paper Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Silverfield College of Education and Human Services

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)

Department

Education

Committee Chairperson

Dr. Diane Yendol-Hoppey

Second Advisor

Dr. Rachelle Curcio

Third Advisor

Dr. Jamey Burns

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Jennifer Shepard

Department Chair

Dr. Kristi Sweeney

College Dean

Dr. Daniel Dinsmore

Abstract

Professional learning is often experienced through disconnected initiatives that limit opportunities for sustained collaboration, reflection, and instructional growth. This qualitative action research study explored teachers’ experiences with the integration of teacher inquiry, peer observation, and professional learning communities (PLCs) as a design for job-embedded professional learning within an elementary school setting. The study emerged from an existing culture of collaboration and peer observation at Timber Oaks Elementary, a suburban elementary school in Northeast Florida, and examined what happened when inquiry was intentionally integrated into those structures as the next stage of the school’s professional learning journey. While the professional learning plan unfolded across the school year, this study focused specifically on teachers’ experiences during the second semester of implementation.

Grounded in Vygotsky's (1978) social constructivist theory and Wenger’s (1998) communities of practice framework, this study examined how teachers engaged in collaborative inquiry, reflective dialogue, and shared instructional learning within an integrated professional learning design. Participants included 11 teachers representing varying levels of teaching experience and instructional roles. Data sources included weekly reflection journals, focus groups, PLC observation debriefs, analytic memos, field notes, and professional learning artifacts. Data were analyzed using Saldana’s (2021) three-cycle coding process and thematic analysis.

Findings indicated that teachers experienced the integrated professional learning design as a connected learning experience shaped by collaboration, inquiry, leadership, and organizational supports. Teachers described stronger professional trust, deeper reflection, expanded understandings of data, and instructional shifts that supported greater student ownership of learning. Structured protocols, vertical collaboration, and weekly reflection journals strengthened professional dialogue and reflective thinking, while teacher leaders emerged as important facilitators of collaborative learning. Teachers also described tensions related to time, uneven participation, vulnerability, and learning inquiry while simultaneously putting it into practice. The findings suggest that integrating inquiry, peer observation, and PLCs can create meaningful opportunities for teacher learning when supported by intentional structures, collaborative relationships, and responsive leadership within authentic school contexts.

Suggested Citation

Outman, Tiffany, "Integrating inquiry, peer observation, and professional learning communities: Teachers’ experiences with a job-embedded professional learning design" (2026). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1444.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/1444