Maintaining Learning Community in Challenging Circumstances: A Case Study From Portugal

• In Event: Sharing Knowledge in Local Settings: International Perspectives on Teacher Learning Communities

Abstract

Schools are places where teaching occurs, but also places for teachers to learn and develop. Rosenholtz’s study (1989) demonstrated that in learning-enriched schools, teachers held a sustained view of their learning and conversely, in learning-impoverished schools, they held a terminal perspective of learning. Further, she found that ‘stuck’ schools, where there was no common teaching purpose, were less effective than ‘moving’ ones where teachers learned from one another and saw teaching as a collective enterprise. McLaughlin (1993) drew attention to the notion of school as ‘a workplace community’ viewed not only as a physical setting and a formal organization, but also as a ‘social and psychological setting in which teachers construct a sense of practice, professional efficacy and professional community’ (p. 99). It has been widely recognized that workplace conditions play a key role in enhancing teacher learning and development in schools and in classrooms with implications for the quality of education provided students. It is, therefore, essential to identify the factors that foster or hinder those processes if schools as learning communities are to be developed and if meaningful continuing professional development of teachers is to occur. The literature also suggests two influential factors affecting teacher learning and professional development at the school level: school culture and leadership (i.e., Day, 1999). This paper addresses issues related to a collaborative action research project conducted in 2009/2010 in a secondary school in Portugal. This project was conducted under a broader research project on Teachers Exercising Leadership, the aim of which is to enhance teacher professionalism through the exercise of leadership and innovation in schools within a learning community. Teacher leadership involves not only teachers leading learning in their classrooms, but also showing leadership of innovation and the building of professional knowledge within and beyond their classrooms and schools. This also includes the analysis of the political and cultural contexts of the development of teacher leadership and the ways in which cultural factors shape the strategies that can support it. This is important in contexts marked by a number of challenges such as northern Portugal, where financial and economic crisis has caused salary cuts and higher taxes, which have impacted teachers. Also, recent policy changes have affected teachers ‘work, namely the restructuring of initial teacher education in the light of the so-called Bologna process, the introduction of an exam on knowledge and competencies for entering the teaching profession; the introduction of a probationary year of practice; new mechanisms for teacher evaluation and new schemes for school governance, among others. This paper reports data from a collaborative action research carried out over a year. The goals of the project were: to stimulate teachers’ reflection upon their role as teachers and their sense of professionalism; to analyze issues related to school and professional cultures; and to reflect and improve teachers’ practice in classroom and community. The findings suggest a positive view, despite some challenges and constraints related to teachers’ professional lives at school. These and other issues will be elaborated in this paper.

Author

• Maria A. Flores, Minho University