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

Collaboration within teacher learning communities can lead to what Hargreaves (1995)
refers to as 'incestuous professionalism' if such learning communities exclude significant
other role players in education such as pupils and parents. Iflearning communities are
considering new innovations in assessment for example as a focus ofCPD, then it is
important to involve both parents and pupils in its development instead ofcreating
anxiety and suspicion by simply foisting completed plans on pupils and parents.
Similarly, ifteacher learning communities that comprise teachers from different schools
formulate plans that are not congruent with the ideas ofindividual schools from which
teachers originate, then affected teachers in the learning community are unlikely to
receive sympathy and support from their own schools.
The context ofeducation and teacher education in particular has become quite confusing
and chaotic. Plurality and diversity are likely to result in disjointed and dissonant
perspectives and aspirations. Miscommunication and misunderstanding, lack of
consensus or common ground about the purpose ofteacher professional development or
the intentions ofpolicy reform could result in voluntary formations like teacher learning
communities exercising almost complete discretion over their individual enterprises
resulting in 'inappropriate' or 'unacceptable' divergences and disparities. In other words,
individual learning communities may end up basically 'doing their own thing' that may
n()t articulate with that ofother learning communities or generally accepted policy
reform.
Sustaining communities ofpractice over time is perhaps the most serious challenge. In
teacher development, the task would be to motivate and obtain commitments from a wide
array ofparticipants. Balancing teachers' short-term needs with the community's long­
term goals is an issue that teacher education planners must consider, an issue which
Grossman et al (2001) cite as an important tension that must be negotiated by teacher
learning communities. Thought must be given to identifying methods for generating and
sharing knowledge with a wider audience and allocating time and resources to all ofthese
efforts. The organised sharing ofideas that emerge from communities ofpractice and
developing strategies for documenting and disseminating new ideas and 'products' (new
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