Abstract
The current study deals with participation in inter-institutional Communities of Practice (CoP) (Wenger, 1998) as a form of professional learning for experienced teacher educators who hold leadership positions in their institutions. In these CoPs, collaboration between teacher educators and policymakers resulted in expansive learning, which is the creation of new practical and theoretical knowledge, and a change of practice rather than adoption of knowledge constructed elsewhere. The current study describes three such communities, the expansive learning cycles that each of them triggered, and shared characteristics that may have contributed to these outcomes. The multiple case study methodology was employed. Data sources were interviews with thirteen participants (coordinators, Ministry of Education representatives and additional members from each CoP), and documents (such as meeting minutes and research papers) that were produced in each CoP. The findings show that expansive learning occurred due to a shared vision, reflective and critical dialogue, trusting relationship, and mutual support among participants. Furthermore, the inter-institutional composition of the CoPs, and the influential position of the participants within their respective organizations enabled them to introduce coordinated changes that transformed their practice at the individual, organizational and national levels.
Highlights
Teacher education has significant influence on teachers’ quality (European Commission, 2013)
The current study focuses on inter-institutional Communities of Practice (CoP) comprised of teacher educators and policymakers and on expansive learning processes that occurred in the course of their work
We look for shared characteristics of CoPs that could have supported expansive learning
Summary
Teacher education has significant influence on teachers’ quality (European Commission, 2013). In addition to external intervention experts, the participants in the Change Laboratories are committed members of the relevant organization(s) with a high sense of agency Together, they analyze current practices and identify inherent contradictions that prevent their activity system from attaining its goals (the “first stimulus”). In an illustration of this advantage, MacIver and Groginsky (2011) reported on an inter-institutional CoP of stakeholders in education from Colorado, United States who collaborated to tackle an acute problem of high-school dropout Together, they identified contradictory practices that exacerbated the problem within activity systems (such as schools’ suspension of truant students) and between interconnected activity systems (such as schools and social services’ privacy policies that prevented information sharing). Which of the CoPs’ characteristics may have contributed to their expansive learning?
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