COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: AN INVESTIGATION INTO ITS IMPACT ON ELT STUDENTS’ PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Year 2013, Volume: 22 Issue: 2, 365 - 382, 29.12.2013

Yrd.doç.dr. Rana Yıldırım Dr. Meral Şeker

Abstract

It is well documented in the literature of teacher training that working in collaborative groups enable teachers to reconstruct their professional knowledge e g Hung Der Thanq 2001 Such a process assists pre and in service teachers to take on partial but meaningful roles on the way to becoming full participants in a teacher community while constructing knowledgeable skills through reflection on action The notion underlying this type of professional learning is grounded on the theory of Communities of Practice CoP where student teachers try to solve problems through interactions with others in the community and through conceptualizing and re conceptualizing Wenger 1998 In this respect the aim of this study is to identify the impact of adopting a CoP approach to pre service English Language Teaching ELT students’ personal and professional development The data for the study were obtained from 18 ELT students’ weekly journals they kept for three months and semi structured interviews Findings reveal that applying CoP approach to pre service ELT teacher education has multidimensional impacts on students’ personal and professional development Keywords: communities of practice pre service teacher education personal and professional development

Keywords

communities of practice, pre-service teacher education, personal and professional development

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: AN INVESTIGATION INTO ITS IMPACT ON ELT STUDENTS’ PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Öğretmenlerin grup içinde işbirliğine dayalı çalışmalarının profesyonel gelişimlerine
katkıda bulunduğu öğretmen eğitimi literatüründe sıkça vurgulanmaktadır (Hung &
Der-Thanq, 2001). Hizmet öncesi veya hizmet içinde böyle bir sürece dahil olmak,
öğretmenler için başta kısmi ama anlamlı roller almalarını ve giderek öğretmen
topluluğunun tam bir üyesi olmaları kolaylaştırmakta; bir yandan da geri-düşünme
yoluyla yeni beceriler kazanmalarını sağlamaktadır. Söz konusu olan mesleki öğrenme
yönteminin “Uygulayıcı Topluluk” kuramına dayanmaktadır. Bu yöntemde öğrenciler
topluluğun diğer üyeleri ile sürekli iletişim içinde kavramsallaştırma yoluyla öğrenirler
(Wenger, 1998). Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma Uygulayıcı Topluluk yönteminin
uygulanmasının İngiliz Dili ve Eğitimi öğrencilerinin kişisel ve mesleki gelişimleri
üzerine etkilerini saptamayı hedeflemektedir. Çalışmanın verileri 18 İngiliz Dili ve
Eğitimi öğrencilerinin üç ay boyunca tuttukları haftalık günlükler ile onlarla yapılan
görüşmelerden elde edilmiştir. Sonuçlar Uygulayıcı Topluluk yönteminin katılımcı
öğrencilerin kişisel ve mesleki gelişimleri üzerine çok yönlü etkisi olduğunu
göstermektedir.

Keywords

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