Power Relations And Authority in Teachers' Online Communities of Practice: Formation, Impact, And Implications

Abstract

Teachers' online communities of practice have become ideal environments for teachers' professional learning, however the catalysts and derivatives of interpersonal interactions, such as power relations and authority in teachers’ online practice communities have not received enough attention -- these factors affect the inquiry and learning in teachers’ online practice communities to some extent. This study selected a case study of an online community of practice composed of four teachers. Based on the relevant concepts of Goffman's micro-sociolinguistics, we explored how teachers construct power relations and authority through discursive interactions in an online practice community, as well as its impact and implications for teachers' pedagogical inquiry and learning. This study analyzes discursive interactions in teachers' online communities of practice from a sociological perspective, providing a new perspective for analyzing teacher participation and learning in teachers' online communities of practice.