Socio-emotional aspects articulated with content in an online teachers’ community of practice: ‘agreeable dialogue zones’

ABSTRACT

Many studies highlight the importance of socio-emotional aspects in professional communities of practice (CoP). This study aims to understand how these aspects are articulated with the professional content. An online professional CoP has been subjected to analysis by following a sequential exploratory mixed-methods inductive model combining the analysis of forum contents and in-depth interviews. The results define the concept of ‘agreeable dialogue zones’ as a strip of conversation in which the search for a friendly and safe environment; professional self-demand; comfort; personal thematic preferences; and the demands of each topic in a written environment are balanced.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher development
• professional development
• community of practice
• dialogue process
• professional small talk

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alfonso García-Monge

Alfonso García-Monge is a full professor at the University of Valladolid. His research focuses embodied pedagogy, children’s play, physical education, personal learning processes and neuroimaging applied to educational contexts.

Daniel Bores-García

Daniel Bores-García is a professor at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. His research focuses on the teaching of school physical education and the promotion of physical activity in children and young people.

Gustavo González-Calvo

Gustavo González-Calvo is a full professor at the University of Valladolid. His research focuses on initial teacher training, socio-critical research in education and physical education and the perception of the body of future physical education teachers.