Distributed Expertise in an Elementary Professional Learning Community

• In Event: 35.062 - Connected Learning in Chicago Public Schools

Abstract

Although much work situates students as learners who draw from diverse funds of knowledge (Hull & Schultz, 2002; Moje et al., 2004; Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992), teachers are often depicted primarily in their roles as representatives of the official discourses of school. Contributing to this characterization is the fact that studies of teachers have tended to remain anchored in institutional spaces like pre-service sites, classrooms, and professional development settings. This paper argues for the importance of locating not just students but also teachers as participants across varied sociocultural contexts who draw from a wide range of resources in their practice. Applying a connected learning theoretical framework to teacher practice, this paper examines a grade-level team of teachers’ diverse pathways to knowledge (including multiple forms of formal professional development and informal networking and writing) in an elementary school that has been intentionally designed to support connected learning. The presenter will share results from a case study in which she explores the teaching and learning experiences of these elementary teachers at Convergence Academies engaged in numerous learning opportunities, including: (1) support from a school-based Media Integration Specialist, (2) on-going professional development focused on digital media integration and project-based learning, (3) digital media unit-planning and implementation with Digital Media Mentors, (4) participation in the online iRemix professional development platform, and (5) in-person and online collaborations across various other sites (e.g., teacher Facebook group). Constant comparative analysis methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) are used to code and re-code case study data collected from observations, interviews, and artifacts. The presentation shares three illustrations to highlight pathways to knowledge that were formative for teachers as they engaged in teaching and learning at Convergence Academies--the first where a teacher and Digital Media Mentor shared a common interest, the teacher was apprenticed into learning about digital media production through this relationship, and the pair co-developed and implemented curriculum; the second where a teachers’ online collaborations informed pedagogical design; and the third where school-based professional development supported time for teachers to play with new media technologies and collaborate with each other. These personalized pathways to knowlege not only informed teachers’ instruction but also allowed them to gain social, cultural, and academic capital. These findings are significant to research concerned with teaching literacy and supporting teachers, particularly in media-intensive environments.

Authors

• Rebecca Woodard, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Emily Machado, University of Illinois at Chicago