Abstract
This study examines discourses of an evolving cross-institutional community of Teachers and Teacher Educators in Action Learning (TATEAL) in China and its annual events to explore the discursive construction of teacher learning in terms of knowledge, social relations and identity. Data is derived from observation, interviews and documentation. A narrative approach and a discourse approach are combined for data analysis. Narratives are constructed to explore the interpretive power, multi-voices and dialogic space. Intertextuality as a tool of discursive inquiry is used to identify textual relations, situated meanings, knowledge and power as the effects of community discourses on teacher learning. By using a discourse lens, teacher learning is regarded as texts produced and "read" through discursive practices. The texts, written or spoken, reify learning moments in the community discourses and indicate how teacher learning discursively happen in a web-like network in the community. Power relation is produced, negotiated and embedded in textual relations through discursive practices of text production. Contextual factors are identified to understand how teacher learning is situated in terms of text production. Teacher knowledge was negotiated, circulated and reconstructed in the community discourses and thus learning became transformational. The community of TATEAL and its annual events have provided a platform for its participants to make dialogical voices, negotiate meanings, and enhance discursive capability that enables teachers and teacher educators to make their tacit knowledge explicit and sustain professional development and self-empowerment in an era of reform and accountability.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Publication status | Published - Dec 2010 |
Event | The 2nd East Asian International Conference on Teacher Education Research: "Teacher Education for the Future: International Perspectives" - The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, China Duration: 15 Dec 2010 → 17 Dec 2010 |
Conference
Conference | The 2nd East Asian International Conference on Teacher Education Research: "Teacher Education for the Future: International Perspectives" |
---|---|
Abbreviated title | EAI 2010 |
Country/Territory | China |
City | Hong Kong |
Period | 15/12/10 → 17/12/10 |