Abstract
Mobile technology has become for many an essential aspect of everyday life. It has transformed how people interact and is widely adopted by social networks to facilitate communication, support engagement and build collaboration. With reference to Shove et al., (The dynamics of social practice: Everyday life and how it changes, 2012) three element social practice model and Wenger (Communities of Practice: learning, meaning and identity, 1998) community of practice framework, this “insider” research study analyses the norms, behaviours and attitudes of users of a mobile messaging service over a two-year higher education teacher training programme. It also examines the socio-technical interaction between the trainee teachers and the relationship between the mobile messaging application and other communicative practices.. Overall, the findings from this research study suggest that although the concept of a community of practice is problematic, the WhatsApp practice positively shaped the experiences of the trainee teachers on their programme.
Highlights
Mobile communication technology in the twenty-first century has become for many an essential aspect of everyday life, transforming social relationships and interactions (Ellison & Boyd, 2013; Katz & Aakhus, 2002)
In respect of studying social practices, focus groups and interviews have been criticised as they fail to capture the dynamic nature of their performance (Martens, 2012; Nicolini, 2017), and it is difficult for participants to articulate the intricacies of practices, to explain and make sense of what they do
The extent to which the year one teacher training cohort had adopted WhatsApp on their course was a revelation to me, their former tutor
Summary
Mobile communication technology in the twenty-first century has become for many an essential aspect of everyday life, transforming social relationships and interactions (Ellison & Boyd, 2013; Katz & Aakhus, 2002). It has enabled users to form social networks which transcend boundaries of space and time, and which “provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging and social identity” 19) as “investment in social relations with expected returns in the marketplace.”. The context of this study is a part-time two-year higher education teacher training programme. Trainee teachers are exposed to and expected to assimilate a vast amount of information concerning pedagogy and professional practice They will face challenges on their teaching placements. By having access to a supportive group, they can share information and resources, alleviate some of their fears and boost their self-esteem
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