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

MM
Shirley
MM:
Mary:
MM:
Mary
Have you established contacts with other people?
Yes, within our thirteen schools, most definitely, we're always networking,
and I find like networking has really made this whole situation so much
better, we're not working in isolation anymore, we're taking things from
everybody, new ideas and whether its sharing worksheets, or what ever,
resources, or just having a chat about you know, how we could approach
teaching a topic in the classroom. I think it has really helped.
Do you find that there is a sense of collegiality amongst people?
I think, eh, teachers are coming out of that eh you know of being just alone
and doing things alone. They realise now that everything is teamwork and if
you use a number of people your work actually becomes lighter. Because you
must look at it as something from which you are going to learn. But you also
have those people who say, I know but I won't give. We have that, I won't say
no, we have that in all our schools, but now, the move is teamwork.
How have these workshops been different from the ones run by the
department?
I think that with our workshops, there is more participation, it was like a
two way process, it wasn't a one-way process where we were just given the
information. With the same group of people meeting, we shared our
materials and even met outside the normal workshop times. Like I said this
thing can spiral into something really big. Because it's an interesting learning
area and there are so many things you can do with it.
Extract from final interview with Ben
MM: How do you see the role of the presenters?
Ben: Ja, ja, it's wonderful, the way you run these workshops, it's really wonderful
and the other people who presented, I think they were good. They show
that they know and also they want to share their knowledge. And the way
you run it it's wonderful really. Because we are all given a chance to be a part
of it, to go in front and present. That's wonderful.
MM: How is this programme different from other workshops that you might have
attended in the past?
Ben: Yes it's different, it is different. In other workshops, it is only the
facilitator who will talk, for the whole workshop. With these workshops, we
are given a chance to express ourselves. It is useful, very useful. Because
you cannot just sit there and listen to one person for an hour. You will get
nothing from that, because if you are given a chance to express yourself, he
will see that these people have just understood.
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