Teachers are involved in a continuous process of personal and professional development beginning 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 typically focuses on professional learning that enables them to become aware of how their values and beliefs intersect with the wider professional and political contexts at the various levels of the system (King 2019; Torrance & Forde 2017). CPD provides opportunities for teachers to upskill by developing new competencies, reskill to prepare for new roles and ensure that their pedagogical and subject knowledge and skills remain current. It covers the continuum of learning from directed, planned activities with a specific aim to more organic learning opportunities and can occur both individually and collaboratively with others (Day 1999). 

Teacher CPD occurs across the broad spectrum of learning from formal, through to informal opportunities and experiences.  Formal learning is typically institutionally sponsored, classroom-based and highly structured (Marsick & Watkins 1990). Informal learning may occur in institutions, but it is not typically classroom-based or highly structured (Malcolm, Hodkinson & Colley 2003), and control of learning rests primarily in the hands of the learner (Tannenbaum et al 2010).  Social learning networks play a significant role in how teachers engage with informal learning.  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). The focus on reflection, communication and social interaction in a community of inquiry will be a key factor in unlocking the potential of informal learning in the context of Teacher CPD.

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 research study explores the role of informal, social learning in teacher professional development within a Community of Inquiry for upskilling in Computer Science. The findings may contribute to identifying effective practices and strategies that facilitate informal, social learning, thereby expanding educational opportunities. Furthermore, this research could help reshape the national adult learning agenda by elevating the significance of informal and implicit learning processes (Evans, 2019, p. 14).

A mixed-methods research design is utilised in the study 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 is 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. Potential interviewees for the qualitative phase have also been identified. Data collection for the quantitative phase involved an online survey. The data collected in the survey is being 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 particularly in teacher CPD. 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). However, 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. This research study investigates the agentive, informal social learning undertaken by teachers through participation in a professional development community of inquiry to upskill in Computer Science. In 2018, the Council of the European Union adopted a Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning which identified eight competences including the personal, social and learning to learn competence which 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 this competence and identified a further nine sub competences. 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 provides a frame of reference, within which to investigate the informal social learning central to this research and will be used to explore the nature of such learning; ts affordances, its modalities, and its meaning for the learner. In this paper, I will identify the nature of the problem, explore some of the challenges and opportunities it offers, and discuss how informal social learning offers a mechanism for exploring learning moments and cognitive presence.

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