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

oundaries" (Wenger et al 2002:97). Once the community establishes a reputation of
being able to effectively share knowledge, it may experience a growth in membership.
The community's work shifts from being more than a vehicle to share experiences and
teaching tips to "developing a comprehensive body ofknowledge that expands its
demands on community members" especially the core group ofmembers (ibid.). This
phenomenon was beginning to manifest itselfin the TEMS community whose activities
were starting to become well known. As mentioned above, new teachers became a feature
ofalmost every session. The core group had begun to assume greater responsibility for
planning, organising and conducting the TEMS workshop sessions. They had started to
devote more time to community matters, such as organising the body ofknowledge that
was developing, into some coherent fonn, such as booklets, transparencies, worksheets,
notes etc. Wenger (1998) refers to this as 'reification'. ('Participation' and 'reification'
are discussed later in this chapter).
A community at this stage ofits development has to deal with what Wenger et al
(2002:98) refer to as the tension "between welcoming new members and focusing on
their own interest". In interactions with core members, they often raised the issue ofhow
to deal with 'new' teachers who had joined the group and who were basically 'starting
from scratch'. Growing numbers can be a mixed blessing. ''New members disrupt the
pattern ofinteraction the core community has developed. They ask different questions,
have different needs, and have not established the relationships oftrust that the core
group enjoys" (ibid.:98). Such disruptions can threaten the identity and intimacy ofthe
community. The core members ofthe TEMS community and its coordinator were still
grappling with this issue at the point when data collection for this research study had
ended. However, in the final interviews with the TEMS participants, in response to a
question about the future ofthe community, teachers made comments that ranged from
organising the knowledge developed into workbooks etc. for wider dissemination, to
forming whole new communities ofEMS teachers in areas that there was a need (see
Chapter Six).
276