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

heard of the group at all. Debbie explained that they were one of the most successful
groups of all time. Asked the class to listen to the piece of music she was going to play and
to make notes of anything they thought was interesting. Then played the old Beatles song
'Can't buy me love". Allowed the song to play for about two minutes and then turned it off.
Handed out transcripts of the song and allowed pupils to read through - (pairs). Some
children began singing off the copy. Debbie smiled and encouraged them to read qUietly and
to try to understand the meaning of the song.
She then conducted an oral discussion of the song around questions that she posed. (Do you
agree with the song that money can't buy love?) - Some discussion on this with some boys
indicating that girls would only date boys who had cars and who were rich. A few very vocal
girls did not agree and suggested that sometimes men marry 'into' money. Debbie allowed
the discussion to continue and then went on to question whether material goods were
essential or not. Urged pupils to reflect on the nature of wants and the example they had
previously discussed which compared an American household to an African household. Went
on to explain that people's needs differed according to their standard of liVing, and their
place that they lived in (compared needs of rich urban dwellers and Bushmen).
- drew pupils attention to the concepts of scarcity and choice - made pupils realise that
even wealthy people had to make choices and that even wealthy people had limited
(financial) resources.
Debbie was able to create much interest in this EMS lesson. She used the music to good
effect to reinforce the concepts she wanted her pupils to learn. In the deliberation that
ensued, Debbie entertained a discussion ofwhether material goods made people happy.
Pupils readily quoted pop stars and sports stars that were extremely wealthy, but indulged
in alcohol and drugs to keep them happy. She then proceeded to question whether money
was needed at all. Pupils were quite clear that money was essential in order to exchange it
for goods and services. Debbie explained that people had to work to earn money. She
extended the notion ofwork by comparing people with different abilities and skills and
suggested that highly skilled people generally earned higher salaries.
Second extract from Debbie's second lesson observation:
Debbie posed the question: Do you think that singers sing and produce CDs because they
love to sing or because they want to earn a liVing? Think about Britney Spears. She did not
take discussion on that issue but asked pupils to think about the answer - they would return
to it at a later stage. .
The second part ofDebbie's lesson involved listening to another song. In the extract that
follows, we see how Debbie was able to use the song to engage her pupils in a discussion
on the role of the government in addressing the needs ofits citizens.
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