ERIC EJ1090580: "We Do More than Discuss pdf

ERIC EJ1090580: "We Do More than Discuss

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Description of the Book:

In an era when many news media, policy makers, and professionals in the field may consider teacher education “under attack,” teacher education programs are being held accountable for increased rigor (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2012). Teacher educators are in a unique position to examine more closely specific practices and teacher education as a profession to enhance program quality and candidate outcomes. Toward that end, the authors focused on work within a “community of practice” (Wenger, 1998) for this inquiry. Faculty who work in elementary school settings at least one day per week, serving as liaisons to partner schools and supervising teacher candidates, made up this community Faculty at this institution worked collaboratively to share leadership and go against the grain of institutional hierarchical structures (Martin, Snow, Osguthorpe, Coll, & Boothe, 2012). Within this context, they created a space for clinical supervisors to share publicly their work with each other and enact change, as they engaged in professional development through the Elementary Education Liaison Group (EELG).

In this study, the authors designed a systematic investigation of EELG practice and its internal and external influence, focusing on two research questions: (1) How do participants experience the EELG context and its influence on how they learn and develop? and (2) How does the elementary education community of practice influence individual and programmatic change? Herein, they describe their theoretical framework for professional development and the resulting emphasis on professional capital of a particular group of educators (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012). Next, they outline the research design and describe and three key themes connected to teacher educator professional development. The authors conclude with a discussion on professional capital and the power of collective activity to transform teacher educator development and teacher education contexts for program transformation

• Creator/s: ERIC
• Date: 2015
• Year: 2015
• Book Topics/Themes: ERIC Archive, Communities of Practice, Elementary Education, Professional Development, Teacher Education, Social Networks, Social Capital, Partnerships in Education, Inquiry, Qualitative Research, Case Studies, Surveys, Data Analysis, Shared Resources and Services, Leadership Styles, Decision Making, Educational Change, Snow, Jennifer L.|Martin, Susan D.|Dismuke, Sherry

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