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

were engaged in a common negotiated activity. Practice would thus be the result of
teachers engaged in activities which they had negotiated with each other.
An essential component ofany practice is essentially what it takes to cohere to make
mutual engagement possible. The kind ofcoherence that transforms mutual engagement
into a community ofpractice requires concerted effort and without mutual engagement, a
community is more likely to resemble a network ofindividuals instead ofa single
community ofpractice (Wenger 1998). For mutual engagement to occur, the conditions
for such engagement must be conducive for such engagement. As stated above, the
models ofteacher development adopted in the TEMS programme was such that teachers
could contribute to, and shape the activities ofthe TEMS programme. Teachers were also
encouraged to contribute to discussions that arose in the TEMS workshops. The
following example is typical ofmany ofthe interactions and exchanges that occurred
during the course ofthe TEMS programme. A teacher would recognise another teacher's
question or comment and then attempt to advance more information on the issue.
Extract from workshop observation report (April 2003):
Kim's idea about linking geography or HSS with EMS is important. For me I try to do this
with my kids by using what I know. For example, I grew up in Newcastle, a coal-mining town.
It used to be called a 'boom town'. When the coal reserves were exhausted, the town
started to lose skilled labour and many people moved out of Newcastle to find jobs. Now,
there's a lot of geography and EMS that we can bring in here. It depends on how you want
to look at it.
In the above extract, John had recognised the issue ofintegration raised by Kim. He
acknowledged it, and identified it as important and proceeded to provide additional
information on the issue. This kind ofmutual engagement and participation became a
common feature ofthe TEMS workshops. The focus on participation implies that for
individuals, 'learning' is an issue ofengaging in and contributing to the practices oftheir
communities. Although individuals may appear to work individually, and though their
jobs are primarily defined and organised individually, they are in fact important to each
other. All participants in the TEMS project reflected on the importance ofthe 'people' in
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