Collaborative Unit Design Professional Development: Harnessing the Potential of Partnership

ABSTRACT This study addresses the need to support elementary teachers in preparing integrated science and literacy instruction to navigate the limited time they have in the day to teach science. We designed and implemented a Collaborative Unit Design Professional Development (CUD‐PD) model, bringing together two in‐service teachers (ISTs), two preservice teachers (PSTs), and two science teacher educators (STEs) to collaboratively design an 8‐day integrated science and English language arts (ELA) unit for second grade. We qualitatively analyzed interviews, reflections, and planning artifacts to investigate the affordances of this model. Results identified three primary themes: dedicated space for collaboration, expanded ideas for science integration, and increased enthusiasm for integrated science instruction. The affordances of space for collaboration and expanded ideas of integrated science instruction were tied to designed aspects of the CUD‐PD structure and effective components of teacher professional development: active learning tasks, collaboration, and alignment with school context. These features and how we structured them within the CUD‐PD model enabled the participants to create an integrated unit that addressed key challenges in their practice.