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

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historical overview <strong>of</strong>research <strong>in</strong>to classrooms and attempts to locate this particular<br />

aspect <strong>of</strong>the present research study. It attempts to reflect the broad trends <strong>in</strong> research on<br />

teachers over the last four decades. The <strong>in</strong>tention is to describe the dom<strong>in</strong>ant trends as<br />

they emerged historically dur<strong>in</strong>g each era.<br />

A prom<strong>in</strong>ent feature <strong>in</strong> the 1960s was a preoccupation with implementation strategies.<br />

Researchers did not go <strong>in</strong>to classrooms to conduct open-ended research. The research<br />

focus was on develop<strong>in</strong>g 'teacher-pro<strong>of</strong> materials that were <strong>in</strong>tended to improve the<br />

effectiveness <strong>of</strong>schools. The school was seen as an <strong>in</strong>stitution where, if the right quality<br />

and mix <strong>of</strong><strong>in</strong>puts were selected, then this would translate <strong>in</strong>to the desired outputs. This<br />

implementation approach was commonly referred to as the <strong>in</strong>put-output analyses <strong>of</strong><br />

schools that evolved from the Tyler rationale for curriculum development (Schubert<br />

1986). Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Goodson (1992:23) "...teachers were shadowy figures on the<br />

educational landscape ma<strong>in</strong>ly known ... through large scale surveys ... <strong>of</strong>their position<br />

<strong>in</strong> society. <strong>Teacher</strong>s ... were present <strong>in</strong> aggregate through imprecise statistics..." This era<br />

portrayed teachers as 'villa<strong>in</strong>s' who were responsible for the underachievement <strong>of</strong> school<br />

pupils. The dom<strong>in</strong>ant research paradigm dur<strong>in</strong>g this period was the product-process<br />

research paradigm (Freeman 1996).<br />

The work <strong>of</strong>Lortie (1975) strongly <strong>in</strong>fluenced research <strong>in</strong> the 1970s. His renowned book<br />

Schoolteacher: A Sociological <strong>Study</strong> highlighted the dearth <strong>of</strong>empirical research on<br />

actual classroom teach<strong>in</strong>g (Lortie 1975:vii). The late 1970s saw a shift <strong>in</strong> focus to a<br />

concentration on the constra<strong>in</strong>ts with<strong>in</strong> which teachers worked. "<strong>Teacher</strong>s were<br />

transformed from villa<strong>in</strong>s to victims ... <strong>of</strong>the system with<strong>in</strong> which they were required to<br />

operate" (Ball and Goodson 1985:87). This orientation is evident <strong>in</strong> the work <strong>of</strong><br />

researchers like Delamont (1976), Woods (1979), Hargreaves (1978), and Shulman and<br />

Elste<strong>in</strong> (1975) who were prom<strong>in</strong>ent dur<strong>in</strong>g this period.<br />

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the scene set for the commencement <strong>of</strong> contextually<br />

sensitive research focuss<strong>in</strong>g on the study <strong>of</strong>teachers' lives and careers. The early 1980s<br />

was, however, a somewhat turbulent period <strong>in</strong> educational research <strong>in</strong> both Brita<strong>in</strong> and<br />

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