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

Constant reflection on and understanding ofthe situative conception on teacher learning
has influenced and shaped key decisions concerning the nature ofthe present study. The
literature on teacher learning is largely gleaned from studies conducted in the United
States. While it is often difficult to extrapolate from research findings conducted in
developed countries compared to developing countries like South Africa, the literature
does provide important insights into the potential usefulness ofa situative perspective on
teacher learning.
2.2.2 Do learning communities/communities of practice have potential to facilitate
teacher learning? What does the literature say?
Among the many reasons why teachers often find formal professional development
disappointing include the fact that teachers are positioned as clients needing 'fixing'
rather than as owners and managers ofprogrammes that supposedly aim to support their
learning (Clark 2001; Sayed 2004). Clark notes that many teacher professional
development initiatives are often superficial, short-term and insufficiently sensitive to
complex local conditions. He accordingly maintains that teachers must become agents of
their own and each other's learning, and that teachers' perspectives on their work should
be carefully considered (Clark 2001). "A conversation group, in the best of
circumstances, becomes a social context for doing the work ofreflective practice"
(ibid.: 180).
One notes that while the idea ofteachers becoming agents oftheir own and their
colleagues' learning has merit, this phenomenon is more likely to occur in stable,
developed countries with stable and established education systems in place. South
African education however, is currently undergoing radical curriculum change. Teachers
often appear to be too preoccupied with day-to-day survival to consider taking
responsibility for peer development.
"In education, the emphasis has shifted from describing various communities ofpractice
to creating various communities for the purpose ofimproving practice, particularly as it
relates to professional development" (Wesley and Buysse 2001: 118). Communities of
38