Professional Growth and Identity Development of STEM Teacher Educators in a Community of Practice

Abstract

Quality STEM teacher education is predicated on teacher educators who are wellequipped to design learning experiences, provide feedback, guide the development of teachers across their career span, and conduct rigorous research to advance education theory and praxis. While numerous models and approaches to professional development for teachers exist, few parallels can be drawn between the professional development of teachers and teacher educators (Loughran, 2014). To support the multi-faceted identity (trans)formation of STEM teacher educators, self-directed learning opportunities can help bridge knowledge and practice, enhance productive collaboration, and support efforts to negotiate multiple and conflicting agendas (Goodwin & Kosnik, 2013). The purpose of this empirical study was to explore the identity (trans)formation of teacher educators participating in a long-term interdisciplinary STEM-based Community of Practice (CoP; Wenger, 1998), which began in 2012. An analysis of our experiences through the figured worlds lens informs how a CoP can impact curricular approaches and teacher PD, imploring members to move through their comfort zones into innovative spaces. We conclude with suggestions for our STEM teacher educator colleagues who seek opportunities to challenge their own positions and best support preservice and in-service STEM teachers in a way that allows them to model for their students the value of community.

Research on Learners and Teachers of Mathematics and Science: Forerunners to a Focus on Teacher Educator Professional Growth

“…In line with this extended view, the teacher educators in the collection of papers in this issue are as follows: university-based teacher educators who educate prospective teachers (Hanuscin et al, 2021;Lloyd et al, 2021;Superfine & Pitvorec, 2021;Weinberg et al, 2021), and practicing teachers (Triantafillou et al, 2021;Weinberg et al, 2021), as well as practice-based teacher-educators working with practicing teachers (Borko et al, 2021;Venkat & Askew, 2021). Reflecting the current absence of an agreed-upon name for practice-based teacher educators, the terms used for these people by the authors in this special issue are Teacher-Leaders (Borko et al, 2021) and Mathematics Subject Advisors (Venkat & Askew, 2021).…”

“…The papers in this special issue contribute important information regarding practices of teacher educators that were the focus of development. Selected practices include promoting discussions in mathematics courses for prospective teachers (Superfine & Pitvorec, 2021), adapting the design of workshops in response to specific teachers' needs and goals (Borko et al, 2021), supporting teachers' inquiry into teaching/ learning mathematics and science (Triantafillou et al, 2021), adapting existing approaches to new audiences (Hanuscin et al, 2021), connecting university coursework to prospective teachers' field experiences (Lloyd et al, 2021), supporting teachers in implementing an intervention developed by academic faculty (Venkat & Askew, 2021), and working in a university-based teacher educators' Community of Practice (Weinberg et al, 2021).…”

“…Four of the papers in this issue focus on the professional growth of university-based teacher educators (Hanuscin et al, 2021;Superfine & Pitvorec, 2021;Triantafillou et al, 2021;Weinberg et al, 2021), one paper centers on the professional growth of a mixed group of university-and practice-based teacher educators (Lloyd et al, 2021), and two on practice-based teacher educators (Borko et al, 2021;Venkat & Askew, 2021). In contrast with the traditional approach to professional growth of teacher educators as a by-product of their work, the contexts in which the professional growth of teacher educators was situated in all papers involved structured, sometimes formal, professional learning opportunities.…”

Finding Common Ground: A Synthesis of Science and Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Experiences with Professional Growth

“…Despite learning about the important role of collaboration in the context of each paper, what is still not understood is how collaboration might be negotiated differently by teacher educators in mathematics compared to science. Of the seven articles presented in this issue, only two (Weinberg et al (2021); Triantafillou et al (2021)) represent a collaboration between mathematics and science educators. In Weinberg et al (2021), while "STEM disciplinary expert" was a domain of STEM identity these authors were considering as part of their STEM identity development, it appeared that only one member of the group experienced (limited) transformation in this domain.…”

“…More specifically, we noticed across these articles how authors have taken up different ideas as to who is a teacher educator. For example, we see in four of the papers the authors themselves are the focus of study and are seeking to understand their professional identity (see Lloyd et al, 2021;Weinberg et al, 2021) or are discussing models of professional growth established at their institution and their own learning as participants in the program (see Hanuscin et al, 2021 andTriantafillou et al, 2021). Other authors are a step or two removed as the teacher educator of focus, and as such are not examining their own learning as teacher educators, rather how a graduate student (see Superfine & Pitvorec, 2021), district level subject advisors (see Venkat & Askew, 2021), or school level teacher leaders (see Borko et al, 2021) are growing professionally as educators of teachers.…”