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

largely recall, repetition or were simply factual questions. She rarely asked questions that
required some form ofexplanation or that were particularly demanding or challenging.
Although she was able to establish 'rapport', it was ofa superficial nature. Her
questioning and rapport could be categorised as inadequate. Debbie appeared to withdraw
from issues or concepts she was unsure about and preferred to focus on what she was sure
she could teach. Teaching resources comprised the materials she had assembled for her
pupils to engage in the activity ofproduction and the use ofthe chalkboard. Although
pupils were actively involved in making their boxes in groups, it was clear that Debbie
struggled to link the activity more closely with economic and management concepts.
Although she had earlier alluded to the issue ofdiscipline as a problem in her class, her
lesson had progressed with minimal interruptions or disciplinary problems.
It was clear that from a qualitative analysis ofthe lesson in terms ofthe 'teaching
resources' employed, the level of 'pupil involvement' and 'questioning and rapport',
while Debbie's practice could not be categorised as 'weak or poor', it could not however
be categorised as 'adequate'.
6.3.3.2 The second observation of Debbie's teaching
In this section, an analysis is provided ofhow Debbie's practice had changed since her
involvement in the EMS project. This is done in terms ofthe categories established in the
previous section, namely, 'content knowledge', 'pedagogic content knowledge',
'questioning and rapport', 'pupil involvement' and 'teaching resources'.
Extract from my journal (dated 2 October 2003):
Debbie had become a leading member of the group. She certainly was leading the
development of EMS at her school. Debbie appeared to be one of the more confident and
organised members of the group - led by example, keeping a meticulous file of all the
documents/materials that were generated over the year -appeared keen to extend her
knowledge of EMS and EMS teaching and always had several questions and issues to discuss
and share with me. Often mentioned that she had tried out some of the topics that we'd
discussed in the workshops and often shared her successes and difficulties with the group.
When one observed Debbie in the workshops, it became clear that she was very involved in
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