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

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The subsequent response was to create a policy characterised by 'surveillance and regulation' of teachers' work. He describes teacher education policy change as 'correcting teacher deficit' and draws attention to the tensions between greater surveillance ofthe work ofteachers and greater teacher autonomy (ibid.). Changing roles ofteachers were also manifested in Curriculum 2005. C200S is characterised by a strongly learner-centred approach, with learners expected to construct knowledge, skills and values. The role ofthe teacher is diminished to that offacilitator of learning, a phenomenon that was likely to create a tension between teachers' traditional roles and the new expectations. Problems associated with the marginalisation ofteachers and the changing roles ofeducators have been well documented (e.g. see Muller 2000; Jansen and Christie 1999). The NSE and the New Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) for grades R-9 in South Africa signalled the need for both short-term and long-term teacher development (DoE, 2001). 1.3.3 The challenges of teacher development in a changing South Africa In the period 2001 to 2003, the Department ofEducation's chiefpriority was in-service and not pre-service teacher education. This was attributed to the staggering statistic that approximately 80 000 teachers were not professionally qualified (Parker 2002). The need for continuing professional development was further emphasised by the Curriculum 2005 Review Report. The report mooted the need for a comprehensive programme for the re training of teachers to implement Outcomes-Based Education. A 'mechanism' or model had to be developed that could provide education, training and development to more than 300 000 educators. The challenge was to decide on the most efficient and effective teacher development strategies. Poorly designed teacher development initiatives resulted in what Parker (2002) refers to as 'systemic fatigue', where "(t)eachers end up attending weekly 'training' workshops, which are not co-ordinated, or ofparticular relevance and serve more to disrupt teaching than develop it" (ibid.:2S). 21
Although the Teacher Audit indicated that in the 1990s provincial INSET movements (provincial departments and NGOs) provided non-formal, non-qualification bearing INSET to more than 238 000 teachers, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness ofthese endeavours. Parker, however, sums up the impact ofteacher development as occurring in sporadic "pockets ofinnovation and excellence within a general culture ofmediocrity and poor quality" (Parker 2002:24). The advent ofthe NSE and C2005 presented challenges for teacher education providers. The NSE places strong emphasis on research and curriculum development. Teacher education providers were expected to engage actively with the working contexts of their learners. Furthermore, "(t)he implication ofC2005 and the RNCS is that teacher education providers are expected to reorientate their own as well as school-based staff' (Sayed 2004:258). Whereas in the past, teacher education curriculum was 'centrally' controlled at provincial levels, teacher education within the ambit of universities offers opportunities for renewal and increased autonomy on the part ofproviders. A debilitating constraint on professional development in South Africa relates to the limited scale ofteacher development programmes. Resource constraints dictate the scale ofteacher development projects. The tension between development and democracy draws attention to choices that have to be made between development (improving the quality of teaching and learning in select schools thereby developing a core of excellence that would hopefully spread to all schools) and democracy (the spreading ofthe social good across all schools in a 'watered down' form). The key challenge is how to address both issues in a mutually supporting way. Sayed (2004) refers to this phenomenon in the construction ofteacher education policy as the tension between 'system maintenance' and 'radical restructuring'. 22
Page 1 and 2: Teacher Learning in a Community of
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT Conceptualising teacher le
Page 5 and 6: DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated
Page 7 and 8: DECLARATION I, Suriamurthee Moonsam
Page 9 and 10: ASSOCIATED CONCEPTS UNDER STUDY WIT
Page 11 and 12: Observation ofJohn's teaching after
Page 13 and 14: A SYNTHESIS OF THE STUDy...........
Page 15 and 16: TEMS RNCS EMS GET DoE INSET ELRC SA
Page 17 and 18: In describing the subject-pedagogy
Page 19 and 20: teachers lacked content knowledge r
Page 21 and 22: acknowledges the importance and pec
Page 23 and 24: some formal Mathematics teacher edu
Page 25 and 26: study, the coordination functions w
Page 27 and 28: It foregrounds the fact that the co
Page 29 and 30: school. Higher education opportunit
Page 31 and 32: frame models for projecting future
Page 33 and 34: teacher education by the state, (as
Page 35: schools, classrooms, management and
Page 39 and 40: One ofthe first curriculum reform i
Page 41 and 42: entrenched design feature of C2005,
Page 43 and 44: In Chapter Five, I set up a narrati
Page 45 and 46: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION
Page 47 and 48: As indicated in the previous chapte
Page 49 and 50: This view is supported by Putman an
Page 51 and 52: Learning is social in nature (Putma
Page 53 and 54: Constant reflection on and understa
Page 55 and 56: Teachers drew on their membership i
Page 57 and 58: The above arguments about the lack
Page 59 and 60: change. She highlights the importan
Page 61 and 62: Differences in the cultures oflearn
Page 63 and 64: persons and is not considered solel
Page 65 and 66: and offers insights into how learni
Page 67 and 68: America. Goodson (1992) and Calderh
Page 69 and 70: learned meaning and value for them
Page 71 and 72: 'accommodation' and intimates that
Page 73 and 74: staffroom and a 'pragmatic' teacher
Page 75 and 76: Davisson (1984), Lumsden and Scott
Page 77 and 78: directive in that it guides choices
Page 79 and 80: economic discourse, the economics p
Page 81 and 82: • Understand and promote the impo
Page 83 and 84: 2.7 CONCLUSION This chapter began b
Page 85 and 86: (Walford 2001; Anderson 1999). With
Page 87 and 88:
• It places value on the research
Page 89 and 90:
The main research question in this
Page 91 and 92:
Lave and Wenger emphasise the centr
Page 93 and 94:
3.3.2 The Work ofWenger (1998): Com
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agree with the way it takes place o
Page 97 and 98:
Figure 3.3: Refined intersection of
Page 99 and 100:
eflecting. The ability of a communi
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object to something that in reality
Page 103 and 104:
practice is not just an aggregate o
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system or institution and the influ
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3.3.2.4 Learning Practice has to be
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new possibilities for meaning. Brok
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These characteristics indicate that
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engage with one another and acknowl
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A structural model ofa community of
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who were regarded as peripheral. A
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Ideally I would have wanted teacher
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they represent key ingredients in s
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that the Wenger framework presents
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more useful and effective than part
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3.6 CONCLUSION This chapter provide
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• While my professional input int
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• Cycle ofhypothesis and theory b
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observer played themselves out. A c
Page 135 and 136:
organised events and linked communi
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In keeping with ethnographic princi
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In this qualitative study, my inter
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collection. He questions whether co
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physical context, the complex body
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completed, final text: rather, they
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the teacher over classroom events (
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'connoisseurship'. I realised that
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In this study, the criteria for the
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In Chapter One I described the sequ
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tactic by indicating to research pa
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On the occasions that I delivered b
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"Confidentiality involves a clear u
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were cordial and professional. The
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CHAPTER FIVE HOW HAD TEACHER LEARNI
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individual participants changed dif
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He received his schooling under the
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school regularly updated the books
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gone on to become really wealthy. I
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John noted that in planning the cur
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Significant changes had thus occurr
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just transfer it. For example, bank
Page 181 and 182:
Extract from the lesson: John: Pupi
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schoolwork as 'economic work'. This
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John: Now we are not looking at thi
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cardboard and drawing or sticking i
Page 189 and 190:
John: Now I want you to remember wh
Page 191 and 192:
John succeeded in drawing on the sp
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at her maths books to which the tea
Page 196 and 197:
issues that his pupils were raising
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5.5 JOHN'S CHANGING PROFESSIONAL ID
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to achieve their joint enterprise o
Page 202 and 203:
5.6 JOHN'S INCREASED PARTICIPATION
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John regarded the close interaction
Page 206 and 207:
As stated earlier, because the 'con
Page 209 and 210:
CHAPTER SIX USING WENGER'S CONSTRUC
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6.2 SECTION ONE AN ANALYSIS OF TEAC
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understanding it at all. I just don
Page 216 and 217:
In the final interview that took pl
Page 218 and 219:
MM: Shirley: learning outcomes and
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the little things like we started i
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understandings and conceptions ofth
Page 224 and 225:
Extract from Mary's final interview
Page 227 and 228:
Teachers were able to describe the
Page 229 and 230:
The essential differences between D
Page 231 and 232:
Debbie's school, Eden Primary was l
Page 233 and 234:
what he's saying. And in that lesso
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they were excellent, really good. I
Page 237 and 238:
Extract from first lesson observati
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out of the material that they had.
Page 241:
largely recall, repetition or were
Page 244 and 245:
Third extract from Debbie's second
Page 247 and 248:
From the above extracts and discuss
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with a new set ofsubjects. Without
Page 251:
was three kilometres away from the
Page 254 and 255:
In the next extract, Ben referred t
Page 256 and 257:
for making bread. The difficulty an
Page 258 and 259:
T: P: T: P: T: P: T: Look again. Is
Page 260 and 261:
stemmed from a discussion at the TE
Page 263 and 264:
Key to the table A = Good/substanti
Page 265 and 266:
was doing the budget and where they
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ofher school and the TEMS community
Page 269 and 270:
Extract from Beth's final interview
Page 271 and 272:
fox the invitations and arrange for
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Table 6.6: Teachers' learning in te
Page 276 and 277:
CHAPTER SEVEN AN ANALYSIS OF TEACHE
Page 278 and 279:
As we saw in Chapter Six, the core
Page 280 and 281:
who did or did not want to become f
Page 283 and 284:
The following extract offers a narr
Page 285 and 286:
difficulties (ibid.). In the above
Page 287 and 288:
A community moves from the potentia
Page 289 and 290:
Cindy began the workshop with a tho
Page 291 and 292:
oundaries" (Wenger et al 2002:97).
Page 293 and 294:
7.4 AN ANALYSIS OF THE TEMS GROUP A
Page 295 and 296:
necessary to learn what they needed
Page 297 and 298:
Figure 7.2: Brokering relationships
Page 299 and 300:
the group. Wenger (1998) notes that
Page 301 and 302:
knowledge ofothers. It is therefore
Page 303 and 304:
MM Shirley MM: Mary: MM: Mary Have
Page 305 and 306:
The following extract from a worksh
Page 307 and 308:
MM: Shirley: How many EMS workshops
Page 309 and 310:
Table 7.2: Criteria for the emergen
Page 311:
Soudien, a leading South African ac
Page 314 and 315:
hand, adopts a 'narrow' perspective
Page 316 and 317:
As mentioned earlier, Wenger's work
Page 318 and 319:
literature review revealed that the
Page 320 and 321:
Another important feature ofWenger'
Page 322 and 323:
'Identity' namely, 'learning as bec
Page 324 and 325:
(Hargreaves 1995). Teacher professi
Page 326 and 327:
for the purposes ofprofessional dev
Page 328 and 329:
teacher growth. CPD in Africa subsc
Page 330 and 331:
knowledge of subject content is ser
Page 332 and 333:
South Africa, due cognisance must b
Page 334 and 335:
8.3.7 An arena for engaging and con
Page 336 and 337:
the provision of appropriate profes
Page 338 and 339:
level conceptual thinking". They wa
Page 340 and 341:
Collaboration within teacher learni
Page 342 and 343:
has for teacher learning in a South
Page 344 and 345:
Bourdieu, P. (1986) The Forms ofCap
Page 346 and 347:
Department ofEducation (2002) Revis
Page 348 and 349:
Homan, R. (2002) The principle of i
Page 350 and 351:
Mattson, L. (2000) Teacher identiti
Page 352 and 353:
Smylie, M.A., Bay, M. & Tozer, S.E.
Page 354 and 355:
Westheimer,1. (1998) Among schoolte
Page 356 and 357:
APPENDIX 2 INTERVIEW SCHEDULES (INI
Page 358 and 359:
2. What information have you been g
Page 360 and 361:
APPENDIX 3 EXAMPLE OF JOURNAL ENTRI
Page 362:
APPENDIX 5 EXAMPLE OF INDEPENDENT O
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