Throughout their careers teachers are involved in a continuous process of personal and professional development. This begins with a formal qualification in pedagogical and content specific knowledge and skills.  As they develop their practice, this formal qualification is regularly supplemented with additional qualifications and learning experiences. Teacher Continuous Professional Development (CPD) refers to the breadth of activities undertaken by teachers to develop their expertise and skills to improve the learning environment for their students (Guskey 2000).  It can include directed, planned activities with a specific aim as well as more organic learning opportunities and can occur both individually and collaboratively with others (Day 1999).  Teacher Learning occurs across the broad spectrum of learning from formal, through non-formal to informal learning.  Formal learning is typically institutionally sponsored, classroom-based and highly structured. Non-formal learning is generally structured; however it may not be classroom based.  Informal learning, a category that includes incidental learning, may occur in institutions, but it is not typically classroom-based or highly structured, and control of learning rests primarily in the hands of the learner.  Incidental learning, a subset of informal learning, almost always takes place, although people are not always conscious of it (Marsick and Watkins, 1990). 

Wenger-Trayner et al (2015) posit that professional occupations are made up of a “complex landscape of different communities of practice – involved not only in practising the occupation, but also in research, teaching, management, regulation, associations and many other relevant dimensions” (p15). As a teacher progresses through their career, they will be involved to a greater, or lesser, extent in many of these aspects of their occupation, engaging in different communities of learning. Social learning networks play a significant role in how teachers navigate this landscape of practice comprising the broad spectrum of formal, non-formal and informal learning opportunities they encounter.  One such social learning network is a Community of Inquiry, which provides a framework for cognitive, social and teacher presence within which teachers can critically reflect on, review, and make adjustments to their teaching practice to improve the learning environment for their students (Garrison, Anderson & Archer 2000).

In February 2017 it was announced that a new Leaving Certificate subject in Computer Science was to be fast-tracked for introduction in Ireland in September 2018. By February 2018, the specification was launched which outlined the curricular areas to be taught and the assessment structures to be utilised.  The specification outlined an approach to teaching and learning and assessment strategies with a focus on self-directed learning and reflection (NCCA, 2018). The nature of the specification with a focus on student-centred pedagogical practices and real-life scenarios required a novel approach to teacher upskilling to develop competence and confidence within the teaching community.  A professional development framework was put in place to support teachers who wished to teach the newly introduced subject.  This framework provided skills development workshops as well as webinars, MOOCs and online collaboration and networking platforms which proved very beneficial to the teachers involved in the professional development (McGarr et al, 2020). This provided a Community of Inquiry within which the participating teachers could learn with, and from, each other.

This research study will investigate the informal, social learning undertaken by teachers through their participation in a professional development community of inquiry to upskill in Computer Science. It will, potentially, help to identify practices and strategies that facilitate informal, social learning adding to the diversity of educational opportunities for learners and helping to re-order the national, adult learning agenda by placing “informal and implicit processes in a much higher position than they have hitherto occupied” (Evans, 2019 p. 14).

A mixed-methods research design will be used to identify, describe, and comprehend the conditions that facilitate informal social learning to occur among a cohort of adult participants involved in a community of inquiry with the aim of developing competence and confidence in a new curricular area. An explanatory sequential design will be used, involving the collection, analysis, and integration of quantitative and qualitative data. The findings from the quantitative phase will be used to identify potential themes to be further explained, and explored, in the qualitative phase. It will also be used to identify potential interviewees to be investigated in the qualitative phase. Data collection for the quantitative phase will involve an online survey. Once collected, the data will be quantified and coded before being analysed using statistical techniques to determine overall trends in the data. Descriptive statistics will be used to uncover general tendencies and spread, and inferential statistics will be used to compare tendencies across different groups (Babbie 2015). A case study approach will underpin the qualitative phase, involving the collection of detailed data over time, relating to a bounded system, or a number of systems (Creswell et al 2007). A key component of case study research is the investigation of a phenomenon within its real-life context using multiple sources of evidence (Robson 1993). The research results in case descriptions and case-based themes. (Creswell et al 2007). The qualitative data will be collected through interviews and focus groups and will be prepared for analysis through a process of transcription and organisation, before coding and thematic analysis (Creswell & Guetterman 2019). The thematic analysis for this study will be inductive in approach. Because of the nature of social learning, particularly in the context of teacher learning, the real-life context will be crucial to this research.

Social learning is a crucial aspect of informal learning in general and is particularly the case for informal learning for teachers. Formal learning approaches are often used as teachers take on specific roles, with informal social learning supporting teachers as they develop their practice (Knight, Tait & Yorke 2006). The OECD TALIS report (2018) found that only 44% teachers engage in peer learning and networking even though such collaborative learning is identified as being the most impactful for them. The underpinning framework for the research study will be the LifeComp framework. In 2018, the Council of the European Union adopted a Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning. The eight competences cover Literacy, Multilingualism, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Digital, Personal, Social and Learning to Learn, Citizenship, Entrepreneurship and Cultural Awareness and Expression (European Commission 2019). The personal, social and learning to learn competence is “the ability to reflect upon oneself, effectively manage time and information, work with others in a constructive way, remain resilient and manage one’s own learning and career” (European Commission 2019, p11). The LifeComp framework was developed to create an understanding of the personal, social, and learning to learn competence. Within the broader competence a further nine competences are identified. The personal competence is subdivided into self-regulation, flexibility and wellbeing, the social competence is subdivided into empathy, communication and collaboration and the learning to learn competence is subdivided into growth mindset, critical thinking and managing learning (Sala et al 2020). The LifeComp framework will be used to explore the informal social structures utilised in the professional development undertaken by teachers to upskill in the Computer Science subject domain.

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