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

to policy demands. These findings confirm the value ofteacher learning communities as
sites for teacher learning. The present study is a response to the challenges of South
African institutional reform in the form ofnew education policy, as it seeks to explore
how teachers use a teacher learning community as a vehicle to come to terms with new
education policy.
A study ofhigh school teachers by McLaughlin and Talbert (2001) indicates that local
contexts (schools, departments and communities) significantly influence teacher
performance and professional satisfaction. Differences in qualities (teacher qualifications
and experience) and characteristics among high school departments, that is, professional
communities that were either innovative or traditional, accounted for differences in the
ways that teachers conceived ofteaching diverse student populations. The researchers
identified a layer ofcontext between the classroom and the school organization as
"teacher community and culture" (ibid.: 144). The quality ofteaching is not only
influenced by the attributes, energy and expertise ofan individual teacher, but is shaped
in professional communities, through norms for teaching, curriculum structures and
collegial support (ibid.: 140). The argument is that instead oflooking to institute reform
at the state or district level (top-down), reforms aimed at teacher learning and adaptation
are likely to be more effective at the local, school level. The relevance and value ofthe
above study for South Africa is indeed noteworthy in that it draws attention to what the
researchers refer to as a layer ofcontext between classroom and school organization
which they refer to as teacher community and culture. South African schools are
characterised by extremes in terms ofthe existence ofprofessional teacher communities
within schools. While some schools have thriving teacher learning communities, in many
schools they are non-existent. The present study drew on teachers from schools where
such extremities existed and explored the extent to which they influenced teacher
learning.
In a three-year study of experienced teachers involved in a long-term professional
development experience, Long (2004) identified several barriers that teachers confront in
their attempts at sustaining development. She suggests that teacher educators take an
honest look at how they might work with teachers and administrators to effect significant
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