A Practitioner Inquiry of High School Teachers' Experiences Participating as a Community of Practice

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Poster 19: Practitioner Inquiry

Abstract

The focus of this study was to explore high school teachers’ perceptions of self-directed professional development as participants in a community of practice. The conceptual framework included sociocultural theory and social constructivism to explore theories of learning and culture in a community of practice. I utilized methods of interactional ethnography to investigate relationships between discourse, activities, and the participants’ construction of knowledge. Findings from this study suggest, among other things, that teachers individually constructed their own professional development utilizing practitioner inquiry to explore self-selected questions specific to their practice in the context of their work with support from the community. Findings from this research study contribute to an understanding how Situated Learning Theory connects to teacher professional development.

Author

• JD Procter, Eastern New Mexico University