Abstracts - Earli

theoretical innovation is based on the "trialogic knowledge creation approach" (Hakkarianen et al.,2006, p.2), which refers to the collaboratively developed and shared objects of activity. Ourresearch is linked to the first stage of the general research schedule. It investigates the co-operationof a group of teachers, researchers and developers in a collaborative learning environment createdby the Moodle course management system. We examine how the medium e-mail and the forumare integrated in the processes of designing course materials and practicing pedagogy in anauthentic learning environment. We intend to investigate how the participants use them in order tofind out which forms of use may help a learning community in teacher training. Regarding the datacollection we focus on the interactions between the participants on personal and social level. Weapply both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse the interactions, we gain quantitativedata from the analysis of the log files as regards the individuals’ activity on Moodle. We useonline questionnaires supplemented by interviews about individual vs. collective aims, the usageof the medium e-mail and forum, and the co-operational strategies. We carry out a qualitativediscourse analysis of the texts of the interactions guided by Fairelough’s (1995) three-dimensionalframework of critical discourse analysis. The present study is related to work of the ResearchGroup on the Development of Competencies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences - University ofSzeged.M 1831 August 2007 14:35 - 15:55Room: 2.54 NovobátzkyPaper SessionProfessional developmentChair:Marold Wosnitza, Universität Koblenz-Landau, GermanyTheoretical and practical knowledge revisitedMichael Eraut, University of Sussex, United KingdomThis theoretical paper follows a series of empirical studies on professional learning in workplacesettings, whose main aim has been that of finding out how best to develop potential for enhancedlearning in those settings. The paper argues that: (1) A much wider range of theories are present inprofessional practices, their rationales and justifications, than is usually acknowledged; and thattheir absence or use needs more careful attention. (2) The sharing of practice is constrained by thesignificant role played by tacit theories and tacit knowledge of practices, by differences ofunderstanding and perspective created by different prior learning trajectories and by deceptivediscourses resulting from power relations in most workplaces. (3) Reductionist representations ofcomplex professional practices, which fail to do justice to their complexity or to recognise thesignificance of differences in clients and contexts, also present obstacles to professional learning.Acceptance of these arguments suggests that different approaches to enhancing learning in theworkplace will need to be considered. These arguments will be supported by references toempirical research by the author and other researchers, and several examples will be used to backthe arguments. There is little space for such references and examples in the proposal, which isfocused on the arguments themselves.– 719 –