Interrupting situated practices: critical incidents in international partnerships

Abstract

This paper examines the initial steps of an internationally funded project focused on enhancing teachers’ conceptual and pedagogical knowledge of literacy development in the Western Cape of South Africa. We asked what are the tensions and breakthroughs when engaged in international teacher professional development? Four lines of inquiry support this work: internationalization and production of knowledge, professional development structures, communities of practice, and ethic of care. Resulting themes included initial barriers, localized professional development, and enhancing teacher capacity for change. To explain the themes, we identified four critical incidents. This study has potential to inform the international community of new directions for teacher learning.

Keywords:

• Teacher development
• international contexts
• critical incidents
• literacy
• international partnership

Notes

1. While engaged in this PD experience, we acknowledge that this paper reflects our perceptions of the events that comprised this experience.

2. Pseudonyms are used for the international grant competition, Project name, schools, universities, teachers, and principals in the Project. In this paper, ‘we’ refers to the UU team.