“It Made Me Better Here”: English Teachers’ Narratives of Professionally Oriented Participation Online

• In Event: Teacher Stories and Experiences: Insights From English Teachers Across Multiple U.S. States

Abstract

This paper details a thread from a larger qualitative study investigating secondary English teachers’ professionally oriented participation online. Given the intensification of teacher work in the current climate of public education (Easthope & Easthope, 2010) and the emergence of participatory cultures (Jenkins, 2006) in the age of new media, the purpose of the study was to build an understanding of teachers’ experiences participating online (via blogs, microblogs, and social network sites) in exploration of teaching, learning, and literacy. Focused on teachers’ narratives, this inquiry was guided by the following question: How do selected secondary English teachers experience professionally oriented participation online?

A constructivist perspective informed this study in which “absolute realities are unknowable, and the objects of inquiry are individual constructions of reality” (Hatch, 2002, p. 15). Constructivist theory recognizes knowledge as “emergent, developmental, nonobjective, viable constructed explanations by humans engaged in meaning-making in cultural and social communities of discourse” (Fosnot, 2005, p. ix).

I employed purposive sampling to identify participants: five secondary English teachers who were active in two or more online arenas. I conducted a pair of interviews with each participant. Given that interviews are used widely as a method of data collection in qualitative studies informed by a constructivist perspective (Koro-Ljungberg et al., 2009), they were a natural data source for this study.

Inductive and recursive methods of narrative analysis helped me examine how participants described their experiences engaging in professionally oriented participation online. After defining and identifying narratives in the interview data, I conducted a thematic narrative analysis to identify common thematic patterns and a structural narrative analysis to illuminate variations in meaning (Riessman, 2008). Multiple validation strategies, including member checks and audit trails, enhanced the study’s trustworthiness.

Analysis revealed several prominent themes, including (a) establishing a network of support and (b) informing thinking/ shaping practice. Participating teachers consistently shared narratives illustrating the supportive nature of their colleagues at a distance. Likewise, the teachers’ narratives captured ways their participation online has informed their thinking about pedagogical matters (e.g., the use of rubrics, choice reading) and, in turn, shaped their practice. Attending to the structure of participants’ narratives helped to underscore the content of the narratives, as variations in structure (e.g., unique complicating-action/evaluation sequences; extended resolutions) illuminated points of contention, points of emphasis, and variations in meaning.

The capacity to participate online in activities related to the exploration of teaching, learning, and literacy is not recognized by the field of English education as a required standard of professional knowledge and skills for prospective English teachers (CEE Standards Revision Writing Task Force, 2012). However, the findings of this study indicate that English teachers may benefit from engaging others in the self-directed, dialogic work of professionally oriented participation online. By examining narratives of pioneering teachers like those featured in this study, teacher educators may come to understand how such professional engagement may prolong teachers’ careers, sustaining them with collegiality and fresh perspectives on pedagogical matters as the intensification of teacher work increases.

Author

• Luke Rodesiler, University of South Florida