ABSTRACT

Background: Physical Education (PE) teachers around the world often struggle with different experiences of precarity such as job insecurity, high workloads, lack of infrastructure in schools, and others. Communities of practice (CoP) are recognised as an important democratic strategy for teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD). A democratic CoP seeks to promote spaces where teachers can empower themselves by taking risks and collectively struggle to overcome their challenges. The majority of studies regarding CoPs and PE have, however, been conducted in privileged, global north countries with PE teachers who were predominantly white and middle-class. Much less attention has been paid to critically examining PE-CoPs with teachers in precarious contexts in the global south countries.

Purpose: This study investigated the process of nurturing a democratic PE-CoP in a precarious, Brazilian school context.

Methods: Ethnography and action research framed this 2-semester study. Participants included six PE teachers, a facilitator, and a critical friend.

Data collection/analysis: Data sources included: (a) lead researcher observations collected as field notes; (b) weekly teachers’ meetings and researchers’ meetings; and (c) teachers’ interviews. Data were analysed using an inductive and iterative thematic process.

Findings: Results indicated the development of a democratic PE-CoP in a precarious situation through an ongoing and dynamic progression where teachers built their own practice to overcome the marginalisation of PE and were supported to exist. In this untenable context, the nurturing of a democratic CoP focused on teachers’ survival and ‘defending themselves’ while learning to struggle together to change their micro-context.

Implications: Nurturing a democratic CoP created a space for the negotiation of what was meaningful and useful for these teachers in their reality. In these contexts, we suggest that teachers’ CPD must include not only content knowledge but also the quest for better professional conditions.

摘要

背景：世界各地的体育 (PE) 教师经常面临各种不稳定的经历，例如工作不安全、工作量大、学校缺乏基础设施等。实践社区 (CoP) 被认为是教师持续专业发展 (CPD) 的重要民主战略。一个民主的 CoP 旨在促进教师可以通过承担风险并集体努力克服挑战来赋予自己权力的空间。然而，大多数关于 CoP 和体育的研究都是在享有特权的全球北方国家进行的，体育教师主要是白人和中产阶级。在全球南方国家的不稳定环境中，与教师一起批判性地审查 PE-CoP 的关注要少得多。

目的：本研究调查了在不稳定的巴西学校环境中培养民主 PE-CoP 的过程。

方法：民族志和行动研究构成了这项为期 2 学期的研究。参与者包括六名体育老师、一名辅导员和一名挑剔的朋友。

数据收集/分析：数据来源包括：（a）作为实地记录收集的首席研究员观察；(b) 每周教师会议和研究人员会议；(c) 教师面谈。使用归纳和迭代主题过程分析数据。

结果：结果表明，通过持续和动态的进展，在不稳定的情况下发展民主的 PE-CoP，教师建立自己的实践来克服 PE 的边缘化并得到支持。在这种站不住脚的背景下，培养民主的 CoP 侧重于教师的生存和“保护自己”，同时学习共同努力改变他们的微观环境。

启示：培育民主的 CoP 为这些教师在现实中的意义和有用的谈判创造了空间。在这种情况下，我们建议教师的 CPD 不仅要包括内容知识，还要包括对更好专业条件的追求。