Towards collaboration rather than cooperation for effective profesional development of teachers in South Africa: insights from social practice theory

Recent curriculum policy change has increased the demand for continuing professional development of teachers in South Africa. Support for teachers has been fragmented. This has resulted in the formation of informal teacher learning communities. This article explores the potential of a 'community of practice framework' for teacher learning in a South African education context characterized by the marked absence of teacher development programmes in areas of need. It draws on case study data from the TEMS teacher development project and from published reports of the PLESME teacher development study. Of note is that both studies adopted tenets of social practice thoery in their design. The article argues that the challenge for teacher developers is to develop, through empirical studies and sound theoretical foundations, plausible models for the continuing professional development of teachers. One such approach that offers a challenging possibility is that of teacher communties of practice. The article suggests that social practice theory provides a framework for useful and meaningful insights and as such offers much potential for continuing professional development of teachers in South Africa.
From: SARE, Vol. 14 no. 1/2 (2008)