Main Content
Session Information
01 SES 17 A, Ecosystems of Teacher Develoment Part 3
Symposium continued from 01 SES 16 A
Contribution
In this symposium, practices of professional development of teachers are studied from the theoretical views of ecosystems of learning. In this theoretical approach, practices of teacher education, including initial teacher education and the career long professional development, are studied by applying a metaphor of organisms or living entities which interrelate with one another like living organisms in the nature. Sometimes social practices, like species of an ecosystem, can be regarded as competitors, fighting against each other and competing for resources (Moore 1996). Sometimes they collaborate with other species, even forming a symbiosis. To survive in an ecosystem, the species (the particular social practice) must find an ecological niche which provides optimal living conditions for that particular species.
Our approach is based on an view that social practices are ontologically ecosystems. This ontological view has been chrystallized by Fritjof Capra: “Every living organism, from the smallest bacterium to all the varieties of plants and animals, including humans, is a living system. Second, the parts of living systems are themselves living systems. A leaf is a living system. A muscle is a living system. Every cell in our bodies is a living system. Third, communities of organisms, including both ecosystems and human social systems such as families, schools and other human communities, are living systems (Capra, 2005, p. 19).” From this perspective, all social practices may indeed be understood as living systems at an ontological level. Like in the ecosystems of nature, social practices co-exist interdependently to each other and to other living organisms. This co-existence is invoked in the notion of Zusammenhang or ‘hanging together’ (Schatzki, 1996; Wittgenstein, 1953) by which human beings and human lives exist in ‘the social’ and ‘sociality’.
The symposium is divided into three parts. The theoretical perspectives are introduced especially in the first and second presentations of the symposium. The rest of the papers introduce empirical studies applying the theory of ecosystems. The concept of system has been widely used in the general system theories (e.g. Bronfenbrenner 1979; Luhmann, Baecker & Gilgen 2013). Some of the theoretical approaches are more directly connected with the theory of ecology (e.g. Capra 2005; Capra & Jakobsen 2017) whereas some other perspectives have been adapted to educational research from the theory of economics (e.g. Moore 1993). We also acknowledge approaches that examine the role of ubiquitous technologies from an ecological perspective (Zhao, Lei & Frank, 2006). Our focus in this symposium is especially on the theory of ecologies of practices by Stephen Kemmis and his colleagues (Kemmis, Edwards-Groves, Wilkinson, & Hardy 2012; Kemmis & Heikkinen 2012) which has been influenced by the practice theory of Theodore Schatzki and the ecological principles of Fritjof Capra.
In Part 3 of the symposium, the practices of teacher education are interpreted in terms of political action. The first presentation (Huttunen, Hardy & Heikkinen) examines the processes of teacher education development in terms of political will-formation by applying the discourse theory of law of Jürgen Habermas. The second paper (Pranckūnienė) explores the political tensions and changes in teacher education in Lithuania by using a life history approach. In the last two presentations, teachers’ experiences of educational ecosystems are studied through art based research methods, inspired by post-qualitative perspectives, like visual representations and cartographies. The third presentation (Sancho-Gil, Padilla-Petry & Domingo-Coscollola) explores the Spanish ecosystem of teacher development by applying cartographies. The fourth presentation (Gutiérrez-Cabello, Correa & Aberasturi-Apraiz) applies also cartographies to explore how teachers navigate throughout ecosystems of practice. The authors also apply metaphors such as cross-pollination and brokering between educational practices.
References
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Capra, F. & Jakobsen, (2017). A Conceptual Framework for Ecological Economics Based on Systemic Principles of Life. International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 831-844. http://www.fritjofcapra.net/a-conceptual-framework-for-ecological-economics-based-on-systemic-principles-of-life/ Capra, F. (2005) “Speaking Nature's Language: Principles for Sustainability”. In M. K. Stone and Z. Barlow. (Eds.) Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (pp. 18–29). San Francisco, CA:Sierra Club Books. Kemmis, S. & Heikkinen, H. (2012). Future perspectives: Peer-Group Mentoring and international practices for teacher development. In: H. Heikkinen, H. Jokinen & P. Tynjälä (Eds.) Peer-Group Mentoring for Teacher Development. Milton Park: Routledge, 144-170. Kemmis, S., Edwards-Groves, C., Wilkinson, J., & Hardy, I. (2012). Ecologies of practices. In P. Hager, A. Lee, & A. Reich (Eds.), Learning and practice. Singapore: Springer. Luhmann, N., Baecker, D., & Gilgen, P. (2013). Introduction to systems theory. Cambridge: Polity. Moore, J. (1993). Predators and prey: A new ecology of competition. Harward Business Review, May-June 1993, 75 - 86. Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical Investigations. (G. E. M. Anscombe Trans.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Zhao, Y., Lei, J., & Frank, K. A. (2006). The social life of technology: An ecological analysis of technology diffusion in schools. Pedagogies, 1(2), 135-149.
Programme by Network 2019
00. Central Events (Keynotes, EERA-Panel, EERJ Round Table, Invited Sessions)
Network 1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations
Network 2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Network 3. Curriculum Innovation
Network 4. Inclusive Education
Network 5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Network 6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
Network 7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Network 8. Research on Health Education
Network 9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Network 10. Teacher Education Research
Network 11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
Network 12. LISnet - Library and Information Science Network
Network 13. Philosophy of Education
Network 14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Network 15. Research Partnerships in Education
Network 16. ICT in Education and Training
Network 17. Histories of Education
Network 18. Research in Sport Pedagogy
Network 19. Ethnography
Network 20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Network 22. Research in Higher Education
Network 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Network 24. Mathematics Education Research
Network 25. Research on Children's Rights in Education
Network 26. Educational Leadership
Network 27. Didactics – Learning and Teaching
Network 28. Sociologies of Education
Network 29. Reserach on Arts Education
Network 30. Research on Environmental und Sustainability Education
Network 31. Research on Language and Education (LEd)
Network 32. Organizational Education
The programme is updated regularly (each day in the morning)
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