Relationships are more important than content: designing effective Professional Development within a Community of Practice approach
PROCEEDINGS
Michael Henderson, Monash University, Australia
Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA ISBN 978-1-880094-64-8 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA
Abstract
Professional Development design has traditionally focused on issues of content, delivery and technology. While these foci are not discounted this research argues that designing for and investing in relationships is ultimately more important when trying to achieve sustained and transformative professional development. This research reports on the findings of two longitudinal case studies based in Australia and the United Kingdom. The participants of both studies were secondary school teachers participating in a small-scale, mixed mode (face to face and online) professional development course. The design of the course was based on a Community of Practice approach which placed the cohesion of identity and practice at the centre of issues of content, activity, technology and assessment. It was found that the relationships between participants and facilitator were a crucial factor in the nature of the sustained engagement.
Citation
Henderson, M. (2008). Relationships are more important than content: designing effective Professional Development within a Community of Practice approach. In K. McFerrin, R. Weber, R. Carlsen & D. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2008--Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1432-1439). Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 28, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/27393/.
Keywords
References
View References & Citations Map- Bathmaker, A., & Avis, J. (2005). Becoming a lecturer in further education in England: the construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 31(1), 47-62.
- Brosnan, K., & Burgess, R. (2003). Web bases continuing professional development-a learning architecture approach. Journal of Workplace Learning, 15(1), 24-33.
- Brown, J., Collins, A., & Duguid, S. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 3242.
- Carlen, U., & Jobring, O. (2007). Perspectives on the sustainability of activites within online learning communities. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 3(1), 100-113.
- Fowler, C.J.H., & Mayes, J.T. (1999). Learning relationships: from theory to design. Association for Learning Technology Journal, 7(3), 6-16.
- Ge, X., & McAdoo, S. (2004). Sustaining teachers' efforts in technology integration. In C. Vrasidas& G. Glass (Eds.), Online Professional Development for Teachers (pp. 265-281). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing.
- Hawkes, M., & Romiszowski, A. (2001). Examining the reflective outcomes of asynchronous computer-mediated communication on inservice teacher development. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 9(2), 285-308.
- Henderson, M. (2006). Fostering community cohesion to sustain small scale online professional development courses. Australian Educational Computing, 21(2), 9-15.
- Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Lloyd, M., & Cochrane, J. (2005). QSITE Report: Towards a Model of Effective Professional Development in ICT for Teachers: Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education.
- McRae, D., Ainsworth, G., Groves, R., Rowland, M., & Zbar, V. (2001). PD 2000 Australia: A national mapping of school teacher professional development. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs.
- Vrasidas, C., & Glass, G. (2004). Teacher Professional Development. In C. Vrasidas& G. Glass (Eds.), Online Professional Development for Teachers. Greenwich, Connecticut: Information Age Publishing.
- Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
- Wenger, E. (2001). Supporting communities of practice: a survey of community-orientated technologies. Retrieved 30th April, 2004, from http://www.ewenger.com/tech/index.htm
These references have been extracted automatically and may have some errors. Signed in users can suggest corrections to these mistakes.
Suggest Corrections to References