TEACHER LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

A new CoP model of induction of newly qualified teachers: the beginning phase of in-service professional development

While some knowledge can be acquired through pre-service university practice, much of what teachers need to know can only be learned on-the-job through practice. In Lave and Wenger’s (1991) terms, newly qualified teachers are legitimate peripheral participants and will work best in a collaborative culture, promoting a gradual acculturation into the profession of teaching. Each CoP comprises of at least one novice teacher.
In line with the above, the most successful teacher induction programmes are structured within learning communities (Wong 2004:50). These afford the experts and neophytes in the subject and grade communities of practice many opportunities to learn together in a collaborative, supportive environment promoting reflection and learning (Gilbert 2005:36; Howe 2006:288; Wong 2004:50).
When new and veteran teachers interact in learning communities, they treat each other with respect and are valued for their respective contributions (Gilbert 2005:36; Wong 2004:50). There is an acknowledgement that giving information, advice or answers are not substitutes for helping the mentee to discover his/her own answers and to strategically build up a personal map of the learning landscape of the organisation (Alfred & Garvey 2000:268). Above all the mentor should help the mentee come to see their learning in true situated fashion, as resulting from learning at work and from being at work. Lantolf (2000:17) asserts that in cases where experts and novices do come together, novices do not merely copy experts’ capabilities; rather they transform what the experts offer to them as they appropriate it. Such interactions offer both emotional and instructional support, potentially developing the skills of new teachers and veteran teachers alike (Beutel &Spooner-Lane 2009:351; David 2000:134; Gilbert 2005:36).
An alternate to the traditional top-down mentor-protégé relationship is a dispersed form of mentorship where the mentor could be not one but a variety of different individuals who can help the protégé (Caruso in Alfred & Garvey 2000:270). In this case one can talk about a ‘mentoring organisation’ which is characterised by, among other things, a focus on collaboration, team development and a complex web of practices and relationships that is supportive and developmental, both of the individual and of the organisation. It is also important for mentoring to be viewed as a natural process and part of the normal behavior at work rather than a ‘new initiative’.

A new model of in-service learning and development

In the new model of teacher learning, also called the professional development perspective, teachers themselves are key actors in directing and arranging their own learning processes. This perspective favours professional communities as a significant source for learning in addition to the everyday learning that takes place at the workplace (Kwakman 2003:151; Putnam & Borko 2000:6). Each CoP comprises of at least one experienced teacher.
For experienced teachers to be successful in constructing new roles they need opportunities to participate in grade and or subject professional communities. Many experienced teachers, as in the case of this study, are part of grade teams but also have leadership roles as subject heads. The leadership roles exercised within a CoP afford opportunities for the sharing of practice as well as the discussion of new teacher materials and strategies. Furthermore, the risk-taking and struggles entailed in transforming practice are supported (McLaughlin & Talbert in Putnam & Borko 2000:8).
The notion of distributed cognition suggests that when diverse groups of teachers with different types of knowledge and expertise come together in discourse communities, community members can draw upon and incorporate each other’s’ expertise to create rich conversations and new insights into teaching and learning. The main challenge of this study is the acknowledgement that the existing cultures and discourse communities in many schools do not value or support critical and reflective examination of teaching practice advocated by Putnam and Borko (2000:8-9).
Successful communities of teachers engage in what is called ‘reform types’ or alternate forms of professional development activities. Examples of reform activities engaged in are coaching, mentoring, study groups, teacher networks, common planning, lesson study, peer review of lessons, and joint evaluation of student work. The main reform activity engaged in by the subject and grade communities of practice is planning for classroom implementation. This activity takes place for the most part within the school day during regularly scheduled planning time (Garet et al 2001:921; Johnson 2006:243).
Designed to create more equitable social roles (Johnson 2006:243), reform activities are more likely than traditional forms to focus on student learning and make connections with classroom teaching (Ball in Garet et al 2001: 921). These approaches offer obvious strengths when viewed from a situated perspective. The learning of teaching is intertwined with their ongoing practice, making it likely that what they learn will indeed influence and support their teaching practice in meaningful ways (Putnam & Borko 2000:7).

READ THE IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEM: CHANGING TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM PRACTICES

CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.3 AIM OF THE RESEARCH
1.4 PARADIGMATIC PERSPECTIVE
1.5 RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN .
1.6 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
1.7 DIVISION OF CHAPTERS
1.8 SUMMARY
CHAPTER TWO: TEACHER LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 TEACHER LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AS A CONTINUUM
2.3 THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEARNING
2.4 TRACING A PATH OF TEACHER LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TWO LENSES
2.5 SUMMARY
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH ON THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 GOALS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3.3 PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3.4 EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3.5 TEACHERS’ COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
3.6 MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3.7 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
3.8 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 ETHICAL MEASURES
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 DATA COLLECTION
4.5 DATA ANALYSIS
4.6 VALIDITY IN ACTION RESEARCH
4.7 SUMMARY
CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND LIMITATIONS
LIST OF REFERENCES