The trajectory of learning in a teacher community of practice: a narrative inquiry of a language teacher’s identity in the workplace

Abstract

A major criticism of the Community of Practice theory is that it mainly focuses on the inward induction process of learning while neglecting the outbound trajectory. Yet, this criticism still remains at the hypothetical level in most of the literature. This paper aims to advance the theory by addressing this criticism on an empirical basis. The research highlights a language teaching reform context where the traditional and liberal pedagogies co-existed in a Chinese university department. Based on a narrative inquiry of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher’s (Feng) experience during the reform, this paper reports four stories distilled from multiple ‘restorying cycles’ and knit together as a coherent narrative of Feng’s learning trajectory. The first story narrates how Feng was persuaded to join the department and lead the liberal pedagogical reform. The second story illustrates Feng’s loss of identity when she was confronted with the challenges of competing pedagogies and the conflicting identities of a liberal and a traditional practitioner. The third story recounts her identity crisis when she tried to put into practice liberal assumptions in parenting her daughter. The last story relates the critical incident that led to Feng’s self-exclusion from the community. The research findings indicate that teachers need to shift their identities to adapt to the new work order in the workplace. This process is intertwined with a two-way trajectory of learning, which can be shaped and reshaped by various power relationships in the community. The research findings have brought important messages for administrators and teachers alike to deal with the new challenges in the workplace. The research has also highlighted the theoretical importance of recognising the social-ness, bi-directionality and power-enactment of teacher learning in communities of practice.

Keywords:

• language teacher identity
• teacher community of practice
• trajectory of learning
• narrative inquiry

Notes

1. The term ‘teachers’ is used in this paper as a general reference to the lecturers of a university department to respect the cultural convention in Chinese to refer to educators at all levels as ‘teachers’.

2. In this paper we use ‘Community of Practice’ to refer to the social theory of learning, while keeping the small letter form ‘community of practice’ for general reference to the concept.

3. The Multidimensional College ELT System refers to the overall reform in College ELT. It is intended to build up an Internet-assisted, student-centred teaching system with a focus on students’ communicative competence, especially listening and speaking skill enhancement.