Professional communities of teacher educators: the characteristics that promote their success

ABSTRACT

This study examined Communities of Practice (CoPs) composed of senior teacher educators. Our goals were: (1) to identify factors that contribute to or hinder the success of CoPs, (2) to consider the characteristics that help CoP coordinators be effective leaders. The research used qualitative data-collection and analysis. It targeted inter-organizational CoPs supported by the MOFET institute in Israel, interviewing 23 participants and 12 coordinators of 13 different CoPs. Factors perceived as contributing to a community’s successful functioning were: choosing a topic relevant to community members, engaging in activities that contribute to participants’ professional development and establishing positive interpersonal relationships between community members. Hindering factors were essentially the absence of the aforementioned characteristics and technical difficulties. Participants claimed that community coordinators needed to balance their own leadership with participants’ initiatives, while addressing the community’s needs. The findings suggest that inter-institutional CoPs can serve as a framework for educational leaders’ professional development and may inform their planning.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the MOFET Institute, Israel.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the MOFET Institute Israel [no number].