Player professional development: A case study of teacher resiliency within a community of practice

Abstract

This case study follows seven high school teachers over the course of a year engaging in “Player Professional Development.” As these teachers studied game design principles for classroom instruction, this study looks at how their gameful learning intersected with administrative disruption of teacher time. Building on literature about communities of practice, teacher resiliency, and game-based learning, these findings highlight how structural barriers to teacher-led PD affect feelings of teacher burnout. Ultimately, the teachers in this study shifted from a stance of “playing” to “escaping” PD, reflecting a general attitudinal shift to structural PD challenges at their school site.