Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

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1.2.3 Relationship between the TEMS study and the PLESME study As noted above, in the area ofteacher learning and teacher learning communities, Graven (2002) conducted a significant study entitled: An investigation ofmathematics teachers learning in relation to preparationfor curriculum change. The work ofGraven (2002) is important to the present study as it embraced the usefulness ofsocial practice theory (in particular the work ofWenger 1998) in understanding teacher learning through participation in a learning community, an approach common with the present study. While there are similarities between the present study and the Graven study, the present study was not a replication ofthe Graven study as both studies have distinct theoretical and methodological differences that arise mainly out oftheir initial conceptions. In the present study, the research process was informed by the tenets ofsymbolic interactionist theory. The theoretical framework for analysing the stages ofdevelopment ofa community ofpractice as presented by Wenger, McDermott and Snyder (2002) was adopted, an area of analysis that the Graven study did not pursue. This is an important difference as the present study tracked and analysed the development of a community of EMS teachers as the community progressed through its various stages. It analysed different levels of membership as theorised by Wenger et al (2002) and drew on the work ofBourdieu (1986) in order to analyse the development of individuals within the community. Ofsignificance is the fact that the EMS community ofteacher learners was a naturally occurring phenomenon that presented itself as an 'opportunity' sample. The TEMS programme, which became the empirical field for this study was designed with the intention ofcreating conditions for eventual learning community autonomy. The PLESME 'sample' was a sample that could be viewed as a 'contrived' grouping of Mathematics teacher volunteers whose schools had been identified by local education department officials as schools that could participate in the project. These Mathematics teachers had enrolled formally for an accredited and funded in-service programme. Four teachers in the sample had no formal mathematics teacher education. Ofthese teachers, three had been teaching Mathematics for 20 years, 12 years and 9 years respectively while the fourth had no Mathematics teaching experience. The remaining teachers held 7
some formal Mathematics teacher education qualification and were practising Mathematics teachers, with Mathematics teaching experience ranging from 3 years to 13 years. The PLESME programme focussed on enabling teacher engagement with mathematics curriculum changes. This represented working within an existing, established, researched and well documented discipline that was undergoing curriculum change. This was in stark contrast to the TEMS programme that worked with novice EMS teachers working in a 'brand new' new field of study that was essentially a construction on the part ofthe Department ofEducation rather than a formal 'discipline'. As such, prior research into this new learning area was non-existent. The history, nature and scope ofthis learning area are discussed in Chapter Two. The sample in the present study comprised novice EMS teachers, that is, teachers who were teaching the learning area for the very first time. Furthermore, no teacher in the sample possessed any formal qualification in the field ofcommerce education. Subject content knowledge amongst the participating teachers was non-existent, an issue that gave rise to the formation ofthe teacher learning community. Teachers who had formed the TEMS grouping were basically operating in 'survival mode'. This has significant implications for the conceptualisation ofthe research study and the nature ofthe professional development initiative. PLESME had as its vision and primary aim, the need to develop 'lead teachers' in Mathematics, who would assume a range ofleadership roles in the contexts in which they worked. The programme entailed a formal two-year INSET programme based at a university. It was a funded, accredited and registered programme with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Participating teachers who had completed the programme would have received certificates and credits that they could transfer to other SAQA registered courses. Being a registered programme based at a university, the PLESME programme would have had to comply with the formalities ofany formal credit bearing university programme in terms of a developing a formal curriculum, course 8
Page 1 and 2: Teacher Learning in a Community of
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT Conceptualising teacher le
Page 5 and 6: DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated
Page 7 and 8: DECLARATION I, Suriamurthee Moonsam
Page 9 and 10: ASSOCIATED CONCEPTS UNDER STUDY WIT
Page 11 and 12: Observation ofJohn's teaching after
Page 13 and 14: A SYNTHESIS OF THE STUDy...........
Page 15 and 16: TEMS RNCS EMS GET DoE INSET ELRC SA
Page 17 and 18: In describing the subject-pedagogy
Page 19 and 20: teachers lacked content knowledge r
Page 21: acknowledges the importance and pec
Page 25 and 26: study, the coordination functions w
Page 27 and 28: It foregrounds the fact that the co
Page 29 and 30: school. Higher education opportunit
Page 31 and 32: frame models for projecting future
Page 33 and 34: teacher education by the state, (as
Page 35 and 36: schools, classrooms, management and
Page 37 and 38: Although the Teacher Audit indicate
Page 39 and 40: One ofthe first curriculum reform i
Page 41 and 42: entrenched design feature of C2005,
Page 43 and 44: In Chapter Five, I set up a narrati
Page 45 and 46: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION
Page 47 and 48: As indicated in the previous chapte
Page 49 and 50: This view is supported by Putman an
Page 51 and 52: Learning is social in nature (Putma
Page 53 and 54: Constant reflection on and understa
Page 55 and 56: Teachers drew on their membership i
Page 57 and 58: The above arguments about the lack
Page 59 and 60: change. She highlights the importan
Page 61 and 62: Differences in the cultures oflearn
Page 63 and 64: persons and is not considered solel
Page 65 and 66: and offers insights into how learni
Page 67 and 68: America. Goodson (1992) and Calderh
Page 69 and 70: learned meaning and value for them
Page 71 and 72: 'accommodation' and intimates that
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staffroom and a 'pragmatic' teacher
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Davisson (1984), Lumsden and Scott
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directive in that it guides choices
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economic discourse, the economics p
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• Understand and promote the impo
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2.7 CONCLUSION This chapter began b
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(Walford 2001; Anderson 1999). With
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• It places value on the research
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The main research question in this
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Lave and Wenger emphasise the centr
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3.3.2 The Work ofWenger (1998): Com
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agree with the way it takes place o
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Figure 3.3: Refined intersection of
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eflecting. The ability of a communi
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object to something that in reality
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practice is not just an aggregate o
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system or institution and the influ
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3.3.2.4 Learning Practice has to be
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new possibilities for meaning. Brok
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These characteristics indicate that
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engage with one another and acknowl
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A structural model ofa community of
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who were regarded as peripheral. A
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Ideally I would have wanted teacher
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they represent key ingredients in s
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that the Wenger framework presents
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more useful and effective than part
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3.6 CONCLUSION This chapter provide
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• While my professional input int
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• Cycle ofhypothesis and theory b
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observer played themselves out. A c
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organised events and linked communi
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In keeping with ethnographic princi
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In this qualitative study, my inter
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collection. He questions whether co
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physical context, the complex body
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completed, final text: rather, they
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the teacher over classroom events (
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'connoisseurship'. I realised that
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In this study, the criteria for the
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In Chapter One I described the sequ
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tactic by indicating to research pa
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On the occasions that I delivered b
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"Confidentiality involves a clear u
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were cordial and professional. The
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CHAPTER FIVE HOW HAD TEACHER LEARNI
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individual participants changed dif
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He received his schooling under the
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school regularly updated the books
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gone on to become really wealthy. I
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John noted that in planning the cur
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Significant changes had thus occurr
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just transfer it. For example, bank
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Extract from the lesson: John: Pupi
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schoolwork as 'economic work'. This
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John: Now we are not looking at thi
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cardboard and drawing or sticking i
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John: Now I want you to remember wh
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John succeeded in drawing on the sp
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at her maths books to which the tea
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issues that his pupils were raising
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5.5 JOHN'S CHANGING PROFESSIONAL ID
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to achieve their joint enterprise o
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5.6 JOHN'S INCREASED PARTICIPATION
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John regarded the close interaction
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As stated earlier, because the 'con
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CHAPTER SIX USING WENGER'S CONSTRUC
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6.2 SECTION ONE AN ANALYSIS OF TEAC
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understanding it at all. I just don
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In the final interview that took pl
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MM: Shirley: learning outcomes and
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the little things like we started i
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understandings and conceptions ofth
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Extract from Mary's final interview
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Teachers were able to describe the
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The essential differences between D
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Debbie's school, Eden Primary was l
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what he's saying. And in that lesso
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they were excellent, really good. I
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Extract from first lesson observati
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out of the material that they had.
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largely recall, repetition or were
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Third extract from Debbie's second
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From the above extracts and discuss
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with a new set ofsubjects. Without
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was three kilometres away from the
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In the next extract, Ben referred t
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for making bread. The difficulty an
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T: P: T: P: T: P: T: Look again. Is
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stemmed from a discussion at the TE
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Key to the table A = Good/substanti
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was doing the budget and where they
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ofher school and the TEMS community
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Extract from Beth's final interview
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fox the invitations and arrange for
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Table 6.6: Teachers' learning in te
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CHAPTER SEVEN AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHE
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As we saw in Chapter Six, the core
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who did or did not want to become f
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The following extract offers a narr
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difficulties (ibid.). In the above
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A community moves from the potentia
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Cindy began the workshop with a tho
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oundaries" (Wenger et al 2002:97).
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7.4 AN ANALYSIS OF THE TEMS GROUP A
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necessary to learn what they needed
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Figure 7.2: Brokering relationships
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the group. Wenger (1998) notes that
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knowledge ofothers. It is therefore
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MM Shirley MM: Mary: MM: Mary Have
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The following extract from a worksh
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MM: Shirley: How many EMS workshops
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Table 7.2: Criteria for the emergen
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Soudien, a leading South African ac
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hand, adopts a 'narrow' perspective
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As mentioned earlier, Wenger's work
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literature review revealed that the
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Another important feature ofWenger'
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'Identity' namely, 'learning as bec
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(Hargreaves 1995). Teacher professi
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for the purposes ofprofessional dev
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teacher growth. CPD in Africa subsc
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knowledge of subject content is ser
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South Africa, due cognisance must b
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8.3.7 An arena for engaging and con
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the provision of appropriate profes
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level conceptual thinking". They wa
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Collaboration within teacher learni
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has for teacher learning in a South
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Bourdieu, P. (1986) The Forms ofCap
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Department ofEducation (2002) Revis
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Homan, R. (2002) The principle of i
Page 350 and 351:
Mattson, L. (2000) Teacher identiti
Page 352 and 353:
Smylie, M.A., Bay, M. & Tozer, S.E.
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Westheimer,1. (1998) Among schoolte
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APPENDIX 2 INTERVIEW SCHEDULES (INI
Page 358 and 359:
2. What information have you been g
Page 360 and 361:
APPENDIX 3 EXAMPLE OF JOURNAL ENTRI
Page 362:
APPENDIX 5 EXAMPLE OF INDEPENDENT O
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