The Student Teacher and the School Community of Practice: A consideration of 'learning as participation'

Abstract

In the UK, government reforms over the past two decades have ensured that initial teacher training is now school based. This paper uses Lave & Wenger's (1991) notion of 'learning as participation' to explore the processes involved in student teachers' school-based learning. The paper identifies internal and external pressures that pulled students towards the adoption of what were seen as 'appropriate' ways of thinking, talking and behaving. In the face of these pressures students appropriated the behaviour and discourse of their teachers, although their initial understandings could be likened to what Vygotsky (1962) termed pseudoconcepts. However, despite these pressures, students were reluctant to relinquish their ideals and perspectives: there appeared to be a tension between 'fitting in' and 'being themselves'. The paper concludes that 'learning as participation' may not adequately represent the complex relationship between the newcomer and the school community of practice nor the pain, conflict and loss inherent in becoming a teacher.