Main Content
Session Information
01 SES 14 A, Ecosystems of Teacher Development Part 1
Symposium to be continued in 01 SES 16 A
Contribution
The significance of the social context, and the interactions within it, have been the focus of much research on teachers, emphasised strongly through the pedagogical focus on sociocultural theory and communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). Teachers coexist in groups, sharing spaces and resources, performing roles and responsibilities and negotiating experiences with others. They meet together to form supportive groups and engage in critical dialogue as part of their professional practice. Different ecosystems operate within these contexts. Each member’s actions are influenced by group norms and consensual standards that define their behaviour. These ecosystems within a school feature in our studies both as the research focus and, in the Maltese study, as the research method employed, with data collected from dialogue in focus groups. We seek to understand the explicit use of group interactions and their effects through the dialogue involved between the participants, where, through focus groups, a space is created for them and the researcher to listen to others’ experiences, and discussions are fostered, negotiated and shaped with and by others within the group (Freeman, 2006). The main objective in this research study is to explore how two different social contexts (Scotland and Malta) may provide tools and opportunities for professional growth for different groups of teachers, and how eco-systems are developed in these contexts. It presents an analysis of how different eco-systems in teacher education may be experienced differently by members with different individual learning dispositions. In the Scottish context, the focus is on teacher induction and the way Newly Qualified Teachers interact and change the eco-systems of the people they come in contact with. In the Maltese context, the focus will be on the way three different groups of teachers, based in three different schools, learn and grow professionally through interacting with their peers and with their own social context. The different career phases, professional learning communities which these teachers form part of, and previous professional learning experiences will influence the way these teachers participate in this eco-system of teacher learning. This analysis will lead to an understanding of the complexity of the work of teachers and of teacher education, and the importance of the social context in affording or constraining teachers in their professional learning. As a theoretical framework, Gibson’s notion of ‘affordances’ is used to understand how learning for teachers takes place through perception of, and interaction with, an environment.
References
Freeman M (2006). Nurturing dialogic hermeneutics and the deliberative capacities of communities in focus groups. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(1): 81–95. Gibson, J. J. (1977). The theory of affordances. In R. E. Shaw & J. Bransford (Eds.), Perceiving, acting, and knowing: Toward an ecological psychology (pp. 67-82). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Gibson, J. J. (1986). The ecological approach to visual perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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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