From Isolation to Collaboration: Social Benefits of Participation in a Physical Education Teacher Educator Professional Learning Community

• In Event: Exploring Issues of Marginalization, Resources, and Transformative Pedagogies in Physical Education

Abstract

Academic life as a teacher educator is complex and lonely as faculty enjoy little time to engage in dialogue with colleagues about research and teaching practice (Gallagher et al., 2011; Hadar & Brody, 2010). Negotiating these tensions requires support and mentoring, yet, there is a paucity of research examining teacher educators’ continued professional learning (Brody & Hadar, 2011; Cochran-Smith, 2003). The purpose of this study was to explore higher education physical education teacher educators’ understandings of how participation in a learning community combated professional isolation and furthered professional learning. Results indicated that professional isolation was combatted on two levels, and by doing such there was a move from isolation to collaboration that resulted in learning.

Authors

• Kevin Patton, California State University - Chico

• Melissa Parker, University of Limerick