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

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8.3.7 An arena for engaging and contesting policy reform initiatives The goal ofcreating communities ofpractice in teacher development would obviously not be easy to attain. It is important to acknowledge that on-going professional development is not a shared value amongst teachers, many of who operate in a day-to day survival mode. Day (1999) reminds us that the lives ofteachers are immensely complex and teachers often work under stressful conditions and difficult contexts. Teachers often do not have the time or the will to pursue development needs. Under conditions ofinstitutionally imposed complex curriculum change that undermines the professional self-confidence ofteachers, it is likely that teachers will to resort to minimising risk and adopt survival strategies. The challenge is to create a supportive environment for teachers that may even extend beyond the school. Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1995) support this notion and assert that a powerful form ofteacher learning comes from membership of such wider teacher learning communities. In a context characterised by multiple reform initiatives, strong collaboration that may emerge in teacher learning communities empowers teachers with political assertiveness that allows them to appropriately decide on adopting, resisting or delaying such reforms (Hargreaves 1995). 8.3.8 A framework for problematising the role of teacher developers in CPD Ifteacher educators believe that learning is social in nature, and that socially based learning is a requisite for transformation and ongoing teacher professional development, the challenge then is to create contexts in which teachers and other stakeholders interact in ways that help them to overcome barriers to ongoing professional development. Grundy and Robison (2004) suggest several themes for successful professional development, including its relevance to teachers' needs; control by participants; access to expertise offacilitation by others; collegiality; active learning and the need for long term programmes. It must be recognised though that the lack ofhigh quality support for teacher learning and limited long-term continuing professional development programmes 319
are critical barriers to effective teacher learning (Long 2004). The question then is to detennine the kind ofcontinuing professional development that is most likely to be successful in different contexts. A challenge facing teacher development is to consider a community ofpractice framework as an underpinning model for professional development programmes. Although partnerships between university academics and teachers have been in existence for some time, there is still the perception that academics and their pursuit oftheory is distinct from the world ofteachers whose main enterprise is in fact practice. There is also the criticism that the work ofresearchers has had little or no benefit for teachers. Of particular significance is that teacher professional development has failed to acknowledge and develop the knowledge creation capacities ofteachers and teacher learning communities (Day 1999). Teacher educators and teachers ought to assume joint responsibility for knowledge creation, development and dissemination. There is therefore a need to evaluate existing school-university partnerships. Welch (2002: 32) argues that "Fonnal teacher education institutions need to broaden the scope oftheir activity to embrace less fonnal teacher development". In planning for teacher development there is a need for teacher education providers to work with schools to envision and implement structures that support ongoing professional development for teachers. Ifa community of practice framework is to be adopted, then this approach requires a concerted effort from the entire field ofteacher development, that is, a fundamental shift in how we conceptualise teacher education and research into teacher development. Teacher educators who embrace the principles ofsocial practice theory as envisaged in the workings oflearning communities need to become 'full' members ofthe learning community. This implies a departure from their traditional roles. Day's suggestion for the reconceptualisation ofthe roles ofteacher educators is useful: The role ofthe interventionist (teacher educator) should not be confined to that of a facilitator and course organizer ... it is too limiting... To be effective in the long term the interventionist needs to be seen to be a part ofrather than apart from ... educational communities (,)... must engage in different kinds of critical dialogue over time in order to ... promote and sustain a series of reflective conversations about individual and institutional needs within schools ... contribute to 320
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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
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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
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
Page 326 and 327: for the purposes ofprofessional dev
Page 328 and 329: teacher growth. CPD in Africa subsc
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Page 332 and 333: South Africa, due cognisance must b
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Page 338 and 339: level conceptual thinking". They wa
Page 340 and 341: Collaboration within teacher learni
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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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