By Radhika Gholkar
The need for teacher development is well acknowledged across education systems. High quality education depends on how skilled and knowledgeable teachers are. There has been significant investment in teacher development interventions through cascade training, coaching, mentoring or direct training of teachers. While these formats have seen some impact, more needs to be done to achieve substantial transformation in teachers’ knowledge, skills and practice. Teacher development needs to be seen as a continuing process rather than ad hoc, infrequent and ‘short burst’ training programmes. There is also a need to shift to teacher-led ‘learning’ as against externally provided ‘development’.
Communities of Practice (CoP)
CoP are ‘social learning systems’; a group of people with common interests, questions or a passion connected to each other. The concept has travelled domains including information technology and medicine. It has gained momentum in education being increasingly looked at as a context-specific, needs-based and sustainable continuing professional development (CPD) option for teachers. To teach effectively, teachers need to respond to daily classroom challenges in an ongoing manner by connecting their practice, experience and knowledge and CoPs could help enable this.
The CoP model was first piloted at scale in Maharashtra for teachers of English through the Tejas project. About 51,500 teachers participated in monthly face-to-face meetings called Teacher Activity Group (TAG) meetings with their peers led by a trained coordinator from within the group. Teachers were also part of an online CoP on WhatsApp where they shared their reflections, concerns and challenges related to teaching English with each other. An evaluation of the impact of TAG meetings on quality of English lessons revealed considerable change in teaching and learning of English. For instance, more teachers demonstrated use of interactive and learning-centred techniques in their classrooms, which resulted in improved learner participation. Teachers’ participation in TAG meetings boosted enthusiasm for CPD among teachers, encouraged teachers to innovate in classrooms, increased their confidence to speak English, and expanded opportunities learners have for using English in the classroom. The evaluation also revealed that CoPs on WhatsApp had become an important way of sharing ideas and communicating with peers and this use of social media to support TAGs propelled teachers to engage in other forms of online CPD including regular Twitter events hosted by teachers and coordinators and writing blogs.
CoPs were useful during the Covid-19 pandemic when teachers experienced unprecedented challenges and levels of stress. Teachers found they were equipped to quickly move their TAG meetings online. Informal feedback from teachers corroborates that CoPs in the form of TAG meetings facilitated the much-needed support and connection during the pandemic.
Enabling CoPs
Benefits of the CoP model are not limited to teachers and learners but extend to wider government education systems. A more reflective and self-directed teacher means the teacher is better able to communicate developmental needs and seek appropriate support. This also means government education systems potentially have a lesser burden to lead, organise and manage teachers’ professional development. Traditional CPD interventions require government machinery to not only identify and arrange for academic expertise but also manage the operational aspects. A CoP model, built around motivated learners, is likely to reduce operational and logistical inputs, while ensuring improved outcomes.
But government systems still have a crucial role to play. The administrative aspects of managing CoPs are as important as the academic aspects. For example, for CoPs to work within the government system, teachers need the necessary permissions to attend, administrative support is required to identify safe spaces for meetings and school principals need to enable an environment of experimentation and innovation for teachers to develop their practice in their classrooms. The evaluation of effectiveness of TAG meetings also revealed that lack of such administrative support from local educational authorities limits the effectiveness of CoPs.
Considering the benefits for teachers and wider education systems alike and the ever-evolving needs of learners, the CoP model promises to reimage the teacher development process.
The author is senior academic manager, English, British Council India