The teacher study group as a space for agency in an era of accountability and compliance

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of discourses upon teachers who strive to be professionals amidst the US No Child Left Behind era. Using qualitative research methodology and ethnographic techniques, a case study was conducted within the context of a teacher learning community comprised of two female secondary teachers and the researcher. Data were collected via transcripts of the conversations, teacher interviews, written reflections and field notes. Discourse analysis was employed to unpack discourses operating within the context of the teacher learning community. The study illustrates the push–pull relationship between constraint and possibility for teacher professionals. The paper illuminates how a teacher learning community becomes a space for agency for the ‘teacher as professional’ and how teacher development can be sustained within a contemporary context of compliance and accountability.

Keywords:

• communities of practice
• discourse analysis
• professional development
• teacher collaboration
• teacher role