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

collaborate in an activity, each can assist the others and each can learn from the
contribution ofothers" (Wells 1999:333).
Long (2004) identifies three barriers to teacher learning as teachers strive to grow
professionally. She cites the lack ofconsistent high-quality support for new teachers,
limited long-term, research-based professional development for experienced teachers, and
the"... 'testing frenzy' that too often pushes teachers to abandon beliefs in the drive to
teach for test success" as significant barriers to teacher learning (ibid.: 145). "From the
teacher's perspective, one ofthe peculiarities ofthe workplace is that learning aimed at
deepening knowledge ofthe subject matters ofinstruction must be done outside ofthe
school, during so-called free time..." (Grossman, Wineburg and Woolworth 2001:947).
In South Africa, a similar phenomenon occurs where principals are content to allow
teachers to attend workshops 'after school hours'. This has given rise to a situation where
communities for teacher learning are formed 'outside' ofthe school. Lortie (1975)
maintains that collaborative work among teachers is hindered by the job related norms of
teacher privacy that are maintained to a large extent by the organisation ofthe school day.
Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1995) however, note, that a powerful form of
teacher learning comes from membership ofprofessional communities that extend
beyond the classrooms and school campuses.
Engaging an analytical approach for situating teachers' practices within schools and
districts by working with a group ofteachers in an urban school district, Cobb, McClain,
de Silva Lamberg and Dean (2003) assert that such an approach is useful in that it allows
for valuable feedback that could guide and inform ongoing collaborations with teachers
and administrators. Their approach focuses on the functions ofteaching and delineates
the communities ofpractice whose members contribute to the accomplishment ofthese
functions. They argue that teaching is an activity that is distributed across a configuration
of communities ofpractice within a school or district.
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