ABSTRACT

Considerable research has shown professional learning communities (PLC) within schools as a beneficial way for teachers to develop professionally within the context of their own work environment. Although the positives are often highlighted in PLC’s, there is limited information as to how teachers function within these spaces. This qualitative case study seeks to gain an understanding of preschool teachers’ experiences in a PLC. The data were constructed from three sources over a period of four months to include interviews with teachers, observations of PLC sessions, and classroom documentation. The data were analysed through a process of generating codes and grouping codes into categories. Through this analysis, identity and negotiability emerged as central tenants to teachers interacting within this space. We describe and interpret the processes of identifying as a member of and negotiating meanings in this PLC using Wenger’s (1998/2006) work as a lens to decipher these ideas. We argue that teacher learning is a matter of creating and sustaining communities comprised members who, to varying degrees, own and are responsible for a shared picture of practice.

摘要

大量研究表明，学校内的专业学习社区 (PLC) 是教师在自己的工作环境中进行专业发展的有益方式。尽管 PLC 中经常强调积极的一面，但关于教师如何在这些空间内发挥作用的信息有限。本定性案例研究旨在了解幼儿园教师在 PLC 中的经验。这些数据是在四个月的时间内从三个来源构建的，包括与教师的访谈、PLC 会话的观察和课堂记录。通过生成代码和将代码分组的过程来分析数据。通过这种分析，身份和可协商性成为教师在这个空间内互动的核心租户。我们使用 Wenger (1998/2006) 的工作作为破译这些想法的镜头来描述和解释识别为该 PLC 中的成员和协商含义的过程。我们认为，教师学习是一个创建和维持社区的问题，社区成员在不同程度上拥有并负责共享的实践图景。