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

historical overview ofresearch into classrooms and attempts to locate this particular
aspect ofthe present research study. It attempts to reflect the broad trends in research on
teachers over the last four decades. The intention is to describe the dominant trends as
they emerged historically during each era.
A prominent feature in the 1960s was a preoccupation with implementation strategies.
Researchers did not go into classrooms to conduct open-ended research. The research
focus was on developing 'teacher-proof materials that were intended to improve the
effectiveness ofschools. The school was seen as an institution where, if the right quality
and mix ofinputs were selected, then this would translate into the desired outputs. This
implementation approach was commonly referred to as the input-output analyses of
schools that evolved from the Tyler rationale for curriculum development (Schubert
1986). According to Goodson (1992:23) "...teachers were shadowy figures on the
educational landscape mainly known ... through large scale surveys ... oftheir position
in society. Teachers ... were present in aggregate through imprecise statistics..." This era
portrayed teachers as 'villains' who were responsible for the underachievement of school
pupils. The dominant research paradigm during this period was the product-process
research paradigm (Freeman 1996).
The work ofLortie (1975) strongly influenced research in the 1970s. His renowned book
Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study highlighted the dearth ofempirical research on
actual classroom teaching (Lortie 1975:vii). The late 1970s saw a shift in focus to a
concentration on the constraints within which teachers worked. "Teachers were
transformed from villains to victims ... ofthe system within which they were required to
operate" (Ball and Goodson 1985:87). This orientation is evident in the work of
researchers like Delamont (1976), Woods (1979), Hargreaves (1978), and Shulman and
Elstein (1975) who were prominent during this period.
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the scene set for the commencement of contextually
sensitive research focussing on the study ofteachers' lives and careers. The early 1980s
was, however, a somewhat turbulent period in educational research in both Britain and
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