The Analysis of Teacher Professional Learning to Teach Difficult Histories: A Sociocultural Perspective

• In Event: Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

This study reports the process of teacher learning to teach a difficult history such as the history of school desegregation in a context of a six-month professional learning community. The main data source included seven video recordings of small group sessions where each teacher brought in lesson ideas for feedback. Wenger’s (1998) three modes of learning such as engagement, imagination, and alignment guided data analysis. Findings illustrate teachers in the study were likely to frame the problem of teaching school desegregation by relating it to the issues around the curriculum and students. They also resolved problems by sharing materials and conceptual resources and aligned their practice with expectations of stakeholders in the local, state, and national contexts.

Author

• Yonghee Suh, Old Dominion University