Communities of Practice: Connecting What We Know with What We Do

Buysse, Virginia; Sparkman, Karen L.; Wesley, Patricia W.

doi:10.1177/001440290306900301

Cited by 255 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Data demonstrate that the NLELTs invest in the products and take responsibility for the consequences of the decisions made in the process of planning together. We claim this evidence is the result of legitimate participation where a teacher's empowerment allows them to adopt a community-membership sense rather than an individual orientation (Buysse, Sparkman, & Wesley, 2003).…”

Section: Forms Of Professional Knowledge Constructed Through Participmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…They initiated their activity in this community on the periphery (Buysse et al, 2003), because of their status as NLELTs or non-specialized English teachers, according to their own awareness of themselves as professionals. Nevertheless, the fact that they already possessed a body of pedagogic-related knowledge indicates two important things.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This opinion is shared by the other three teachers who feel galvanized into taking action to re-structure those curricular aspects for next term in the yearly committees organized at the school, where representatives of the teacher's community take part in the decisions. According to Buysse et al (2003), situated learning manifests in communities of practice in several important ways. For instance, "in a community of practice, shared inquiry and learning is centered around issues, dilemmas, and ambiguity that emerge from actual situations in authentic practice settings" (p. 267).…”

Section: Forms Of Professional Knowledge Constructed Through Participmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Now that the four teachers feel more empowered and the community has shifted from the nurturing of individual forms of knowledge to a process that unfolds within a participatory framework (Buysse, et al, 2003), the participants acknowledge that the transformations resulting from joint knowledge construction are given at the level they initially planned, which is the change in students' language learning progress. Most importantly, the teachers, at least in Geoff's case, were transformed through their actions and those of the other participants.…”

Section: Participation In the Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Empowering Non-licensed-in-English Language Teachers to Construct Professional Knowledge in Their Actual and Imagined Communities of Practice

Garzón¹,

Castañeda-Peña²

2017

ELT

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Research has accumulated important knowledge over recent decades on how licensed language teachers develop and learn from cognitive and socio-cultural stances. Yet, relatively little evidence exists on how non-licensed-in-English language teachers (NLELTs) grow professionally in their communities. Similarly, few studies have yet investigated the concept of "imagined communities" in the language teaching field with these particular types of population. This study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the possible forms of professional knowledge that NLELTs build through participation in the activities of a learning community. Four non-licensed language teachers participated in a nine-month collaborative-reflective process focused on language teaching practices, in a public school in Bogotá (Colombia). In analyzing their interactions and consequent products, we discuss three dimensions of knowledge construction propelled by the individual visions they brought into the community. Furthermore, we analyze how learning in that present community granted the teachers access to envisioned practices in imagined communities for a desirable future. Based on the findings we argue that success or failure in participation in present, real communities determines imagined affiliation to future communities, their practices and even the NLELTs' preferred future positionings as professionals.

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Section: Forms Of Professional Knowledge Constructed Through Participmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Forms Of Professional Knowledge Constructed Through Participmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Participation In the Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Empowering Non-licensed-in-English Language Teachers to Construct Professional Knowledge in Their Actual and Imagined Communities of Practice

Garzón¹,

Castañeda-Peña²

2017

ELT

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“…The term "research lessons" is often used with lesson study due to the process of "trying out" and revising lessons based on teacher action research (e.g., observations and classroom notes). There is some empirical evidence suggesting that learning communities can foster teacher learning (Borko, 2004;Buysse et al, 2003;Englert & Tarrant, 1995;Little, 2002;Wilson & Berne, 1999) and improve the professional culture of a school (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Teacher Study Group

Gersten

Dimino

Jayanthi

et al. 2010

American Educational Research Journal

141

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Randomized field trials were used to examine the impact of the Teacher Study Group (TSG), a professional development model, on first grade teachers' reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction, their knowledge of these areas, and on the comprehension and vocabulary achievement of their students. The multi-site study was conducted in three large urban school districts from three states. A total of 81 first grade teachers and their 468 students from 19 Reading First schools formed the analytic sample in the study. Classrooms observations of teaching practice showed significant improvements in TSG schools. TSG teachers also significantly outperformed control teachers on the teacher knowledge measure of vocabulary instruction. Confirmatory analysis of student outcomes indicated marginally significant effects in oral vocabulary. Impact of the Teacher Study Group 3 Teacher Study Group: Impact of the Professional Development Model on Reading Instruction and Student Outcomes in First Grade ClassroomsOver the past thirty years, a body of research on promising practices for effective professional development (PD) has slowly emerged (e.g., Berman & McLaughlin, 1978;Huberman & Miles, 1984;Ball, 1990;Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001).Although this body of research has had a profound impact on the field, a good deal of uncertainty remains. Advocated PD practices, though sensible and compelling, have rarely been widely field-tested and evaluated using rigorous research techniques (Guskey, 2003;Desimone, 2009).The majority of the studies in PD encompass a broad array of methodologies (surveys, comparative case studies, qualitative, mixed methods) that rely heavily on teacher self-report and case study analysis. We possess very little empirical evidence on the critical role these promising practices play in enhancing teacher learning of effective instructional strategies, and more importantly student learning (Wayne, Yoon, Zhu, Cronen, & Garet, 2008). Rarely do studies link PD to student outcomes, and the few that have attempted to do so have often yielded disappointing results. In fact, Garet et al. (2008) found that large-scale PD that included many of these practices did lead to significant increases in teachers' knowledge and observed teaching practice, but failed to enhance student reading achievement significantly.To address this need for effective PD, we developed a PD program, the Teacher Study Group, and tested its effects on teacher and student outcomes using randomized control trials. In this article we delineate the features and format of the PD program, and describe the multi-site randomized control trials study. Impact of the Teacher Study Group 4 Teacher Study GroupThe Teacher Study Group (TSG) PD program used in this study was based on our earlier research efforts to identify strengths and weaknesses of PD strategies for translating research into teaching practice in high poverty schools (Gersten, Morvant, & Brengelman, 1995;Gersten & Brengelman, 1996;Gersten, Darch, Davis, & George, 199...

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