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

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for the purposes ofprofessional development has been around for a long time (Day . 1999). Professional development through networking via teacher learning communities suggests that teachers understand that learning only from experience will limit development. Teacher learning communities allow teachers to come together and learn from one another and to engage with curricular issues. It is the response to an important issue and that is that responsibility for continuing professional development simply cannot be left to 'others' (namely bureaucrats in the department ofeducation). Christie et al (2004) remind us about the power and potential ofhuman agency and initiative in engaging with CPD but warn that this must be complemented by state involvement. They suggest that the Department ofEducation take ownership and responsibility for CPD programmes and lend supportto voluntary formations such as teacher learning communities so as to enhance their sustainability. A powerful feature of teacher learning communities is that they lend themselves to teacher professional autonomy, where teachers oftheir own accord elect to participate in professional development initiatives oftheir own choice. It is not difficult to understand why contrived networks legislated by Department ofEducation officials are likely to encounter resistance from teachers. Such networks often have as the agenda, the uncritical implementation ofnew education policy (Day 1999). 'Contrived collegiality' entrenches power relationships between participants and undermines teachers coerced into such networks (Hargreaves 1994). In their endeavours to improve student learning, teachers often embrace contrived "system-initiated professional development partnerships and collaborations" but later encounter much "emotional turmoil and ripples of change... (that can) ... threaten self-image and self-esteem" (Day 1999: 188). Day argues that"... the building ofjoint, authentic purpose, trust and mutual understandings, and the provision of support and continuity ..." are crucial to the development of successful collaborative initiatives (ibid.). 311
8.3.3 A need for a conceptual reorientation of CPD Grounding continuing the professional development ofteachers on the principles of social practice theory necessitates a 'paradigmatic' shift in the way in which we conceive ofCPD. It implies a radical reconceptualisation ofCPD, one that would mark a departure from the traditional 'training model'. The 'training model' for CPD advances a "skills-based, technocratic view ofteaching... (i)t is generally 'delivered' to the teacher by an 'expert', with the agenda determined by the deliverer, and the participant placed in a passive role" (Kennedy 2005:237). The weakness ofthis model is that it creates an artificial separation from the classroom context, as much ofthe 'training' takes place off site. How new knowledge is used in practice is an issue that this model does not address. The model is characterised by a high degree ofcentral control with the programme agenda determined by dominant stakeholders (usually the state). It also adopts a narrow perspective on teaching and learning. The teacher is marginalized in this model and is relegated to the role of recipient ofknowledge (ibid.). This model has limited effectiveness, especially in a country like South Africa where the legacy ofthe apartheid education has left the country with many teachers who have had inferior schooling and basic teacher training. This problem is compounded by the fact that many South African teachers are not predisposed to reading and do not see themselves as curriculum developers (Christie et a12004). Instrumentalist CPD initiatives aimed at transforming teachers and the curriculum may therefore prove to be counterproductive. This is a significant issue and must be given due consideration when developing CPD programmes. Christie et al (2004) identified two typologies of CPD that occurs in southern Africa. Firstly, one in which the teacher is viewed as a technician, with CPD directed at institutions and systems and based on the assumption ofteacher deficit. This notion is supported by Sayed (2004) who notes that the weakness in many continuing professional development programmes is that they position teachers as clients that need 'fixing'. The second more progressive notion is framed along the lines ofthe teacher as a reflective practitioner, where CPD is aimed at the personal domain and based on the principle of 312
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Teacher Learning in a Community of
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ABSTRACT Conceptualising teacher le
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DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated
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DECLARATION I, Suriamurthee Moonsam
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ASSOCIATED CONCEPTS UNDER STUDY WIT
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Observation ofJohn's teaching after
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A SYNTHESIS OF THE STUDy...........
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TEMS RNCS EMS GET DoE INSET ELRC SA
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In describing the subject-pedagogy
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teachers lacked content knowledge r
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acknowledges the importance and pec
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some formal Mathematics teacher edu
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study, the coordination functions w
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It foregrounds the fact that the co
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school. Higher education opportunit
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frame models for projecting future
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teacher education by the state, (as
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schools, classrooms, management and
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Although the Teacher Audit indicate
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One ofthe first curriculum reform i
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entrenched design feature of C2005,
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In Chapter Five, I set up a narrati
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LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION
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As indicated in the previous chapte
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This view is supported by Putman an
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Learning is social in nature (Putma
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Constant reflection on and understa
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Teachers drew on their membership i
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The above arguments about the lack
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change. She highlights the importan
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Differences in the cultures oflearn
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persons and is not considered solel
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and offers insights into how learni
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America. Goodson (1992) and Calderh
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learned meaning and value for them
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'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
Page 276 and 277: CHAPTER SEVEN AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHE
Page 278 and 279: As we saw in Chapter Six, the core
Page 280 and 281: who did or did not want to become f
Page 283 and 284: The following extract offers a narr
Page 285 and 286: difficulties (ibid.). In the above
Page 287 and 288: A community moves from the potentia
Page 289 and 290: Cindy began the workshop with a tho
Page 291 and 292: oundaries" (Wenger et al 2002:97).
Page 293 and 294: 7.4 AN ANALYSIS OF THE TEMS GROUP A
Page 295 and 296: necessary to learn what they needed
Page 297 and 298: Figure 7.2: Brokering relationships
Page 299 and 300: the group. Wenger (1998) notes that
Page 301 and 302: knowledge ofothers. It is therefore
Page 303 and 304: MM Shirley MM: Mary: MM: Mary Have
Page 305 and 306: The following extract from a worksh
Page 307 and 308: MM: Shirley: How many EMS workshops
Page 309 and 310: Table 7.2: Criteria for the emergen
Page 311: Soudien, a leading South African ac
Page 314 and 315: hand, adopts a 'narrow' perspective
Page 316 and 317: As mentioned earlier, Wenger's work
Page 318 and 319: literature review revealed that the
Page 320 and 321: Another important feature ofWenger'
Page 322 and 323: 'Identity' namely, 'learning as bec
Page 324 and 325: (Hargreaves 1995). Teacher professi
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Page 332 and 333: South Africa, due cognisance must b
Page 334 and 335: 8.3.7 An arena for engaging and con
Page 336 and 337: the provision of appropriate profes
Page 338 and 339: level conceptual thinking". They wa
Page 340 and 341: Collaboration within teacher learni
Page 342 and 343: has for teacher learning in a South
Page 344 and 345: Bourdieu, P. (1986) The Forms ofCap
Page 346 and 347: Department ofEducation (2002) Revis
Page 348 and 349: 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.
Page 354 and 355: Westheimer,1. (1998) Among schoolte
Page 356 and 357: 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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