Abstract
ABSTRACT As teachers’ informal professional development is visible in social media, this study probes teachers’ participation in self-organized Facebook groups in mathematics or Swedish-language education. In total, 553 posts from six Facebook groups were categorized using Shulman’s knowledge-base framework, and analysed using systemic functional grammar. Teachers use “questions” and “offers” most frequently (88%). Within these speech functions, pedagogical content knowledge dominates (63%), indicating that these groups constitute professional learning communities that teachers use as a professional development resource, focusing the interaction on pedagogical content knowledge. This study finds a largely similar practice in Facebook groups across the two subjects.
Highlights
This article discusses teachers’ professional approach to engaging in teacher collaboration and professional development
This study addresses the following questions: What parts of the subject-specific teaching practice are made visible in Facebook interactions? What do teachers want to accomplish when posting in a Facebook group? How can teachers’ interactional patterns permit or preclude knowledge sharing?
The present study examines six large Facebook groups (>2,000 members each) formed and maintained by teachers with themes connected to mathematics or Swedish-language education
Summary
This article discusses teachers’ professional approach to engaging in teacher collaboration and professional development. Talbert (2010) emphasizes that participating in professional networks of collaboration and development entails creating an environment of trust and risk-taking, as well as upholding a culture of sharing successes and strategies. Arises in both formal and informal environments (Little, 2002), where teachers’ professional networks today are extended into social media (e.g., Liljekvist et al, 2017). Social network sites, such as Facebook, allow teachers to form groups or contribute and share content via a non-bureaucratic, peer-to-peer approach to professional development. The evolution of social media has prompted inquiry into how teachers construct their own professional development
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