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

The above arguments about the lack of understanding ofthe relationship between
collaborative cultures and teacher learning and the need for more empirical research into
the nature of teacher learning communities have a good deal ofvalidity. Empirical
research on teacher learning communities will allow researchers to move beyond
anecdotal evidence when theorizing teacher learning communities. The present study
hopes to contribute, through empirical research, towards the growing body ofknowledge
on teacher learning communities.
In her analysis ofcase study data from a school reform initiative in a middle school in a
major city in the south-western United States, Phillips (2003) concludes that by creating
'powerful learning' that is, high quality learning for teachers, student achievement across
all socio-economic, ethnic and academic groups improved dramatically. Teachers at the
school were able to create a set ofinnovative curriculum programmes. These
programmes were focussed on previously low achieving students. Phillips notes that
"...learning communities create spaces for teachers to form professional relationships, to
share information and to provide collegial support" (ibid.:244). Such collegial
communities ofpractice represent a marked shift from traditional approaches to staff
development. Research by Lieberman (1988), Westheimer (1998) and McLaughlin and
Talbert (2001) also suggest that such learning communities have enormous potential for
teacher learning. The above research has particular significance for teacher development
in South Africa. Issues such as socio-economic, ethnic and academic diversity are deeply
entrenched phenomena in South African education. Ofdirect significance to the present
study are the issues of 'powerful learning' and the shaping ofan innovative teacher
development programme within a teacher learning community.
In evaluating the usefulness ofa socio-cultural approach for analysing teachers'
responses to the professional learning ofstandards-based reform policies in the United
States through a case study ofsix elementary teachers, Gallucci (2003) asserts that
communities ofpractice were sites for teacher learning and were mediators ofteachers'
responses to institutional reform. Characteristics ofsuch communities ofpractice
influenced the degree to which teachers worked out negotiated and thoughtful responses
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