Learning in cyberspace: an ethnographic perspective on the Scottish ‘chartered teacher’ programme

Abstract

Although a substantial literature is devoted to the professional development of teachers, emerging dimensions located around e‐facilitation techniques have yet to be documented and their implications understood. This paper is based around a case study of a professional group of highly experienced teachers from the state sector who were undertaking a research dissertation within the ‘chartered teacher’ (CT) programme. The rationale for their studies is embraced by the action‐research paradigm where it is expected that change and improvement in practice occur as the fundamental impacts (Cohen & Manion, 1996). The CT programme was established by the Scottish Executive and the General Teaching Council for Scotland, in partnership with the higher education sector. Its ideological underpinnings, however, go deeper, lying in a concern with the fostering of a dynamic, putative evidence‐based professionalism. It is ‘delivered’ entirely through the Internet with students located throughout Scotland, including the r...