Abstract

This study investigates teachers' dilemmas when encountering changes in teaching and learning after participating in an online community of practice (OCoP). As teachers have a vital role and should have crucial skills in creating conducive practice and facilitating the learners’ engagement and motivation in learning. Changes in teaching practices, such as the implementation of new strategies, are important because they can improve the quality of learning. However, these changes often challenge teachers, especially when balancing curriculum demands, student needs, and resource constraints. Moreover, teachers also bump into several dilemmas when implementing new practices learned from the online community of practice (OCoP). Within narrative case study, the data set of the study contains Zoom meeting observation and WhatsApp transcript between mentors and teachers  and primary data of narrative stories gained from the three English teachers’ spoken interview. Moreover, teachers show that their dilemmas were associated with four parties: school, teacher, student, and the policymaker. Their contradicting belief and practices between existing and new practices are not for addressing potential dilemmas of an obstacle but as a direction to the new practice. This study revealed that teachers changed their beliefs and teaching practices significantly. These changes included shifting from transmission patterns to a combination of transmission and heuristics and an increased use of English. Teachers overcame these dilemmas by employing reflective strategies and innovative practices acquired through OCoP. It confirms that OCoP plays an important role in helping teachers manage dilemmas and develop professional practices. Active participation in OCoP is an effective strategy for dealing with changes in the teaching profession.

There is no Figure or data content available for this article

References

• Assen, J. H. E., Meijers, F., Otting, H., & Poell, R. F. (2016). Explaining discrepancies between teacher beliefs and teacher interventions in a problem-based learning environment: A mixed methods study. Teaching and teacher education, 60, 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.07.022
• Beardsley, M., Albó, L., Aragón, P., & Hernández‐Leo, D. (2021). Emergency education effects on teacher abilities and motivation to use digital technologies. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(4), 1455-1477. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13101
• Cabaroglu, N., & Tillema, H. H. (2011). Teacher educator dilemmas: A concept to study pedagogy. Teachers and Teaching, 17(5), 559-573. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.602210
• Carpenter, J. P., Krutka, D. G., & Trust, T. (2022). Continuity and change in educators' professional learning networks. Journal of Educational Change, 23(1), 85-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-020-09411-1
• Chaaban, Y. (2017). Examining changes in beliefs and practices: English language teachers' participation in the School-Based Support Program. Professional development in education, 43(4), 592–611. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1233508
• Clandinin, D. J., Huber, J., Huber, M., Murphy, M. S., Orr, A. M., Pearce, M., & Steeves, P. (2006). Shifting stories to live by: Interweaving the personal and professional in teachers' lives. In Composing Diverse Identities (pp. 112-134). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203012468
• Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Sage publications.
• Connelly, M., and J. Clandinin. 1990. Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19 (5), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X019005002
• Duncan-Howell, J. (2007). Online Communities of Practice and their Role in the Professional Development of Teachers. The University of Melbourne.
• Fransson, G., & Frelin, A. (2016). Highly committed teachers: What makes them tick? A study of sustained commitment. Teachers and Teaching, 22(8), 896-912. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2016.1201469
• Fransson, G., & Grannäs, J. (2013). Dilemmatic spaces in educational contexts–towards a conceptual framework for dilemmas in teachers work. Teachers and Teaching, 19(1), 4-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2013.744195
• Guskey, T. R. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teachers and teaching, 8(3), 381-391. https://doi.org/10.1080/135406002100000512
• Kaniuka, T. S. (2012). Toward an understanding of how teachers change during school reform: Considerations for educational leadership and school improvement. Journal of Educational Change, 13(3), 327-346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-012-9184-3.
• Kelly, N., & Antonio, A. (2016). Teacher peer support in social network sites. Teaching and Teacher Education, 56, 138-149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.02.007
• Kennedy, M.M., 2016. How does professional development improve teaching? Review of educational research, 86, 945–980. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0034654315626800
• Leask, M., & Younie, S. (2001). Issues in Teaching Using ICT (0 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203185117
• Lee, J. C. K. (2019). Teachers' work, change and learning: roles, contexts and engagement. Teachers and Teaching, 25(4), 399-403. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2019.1625616
• Lieberman, A., & Pointer Mace, D. (2010). Making practice public: Teacher learning in the 21st century. Journal of teacher education, 61(1-2), 77-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347319
• Marín, V. I., Asensio-Pérez, J. I., Villagrá-Sobrino, S., Hernández-Leo, D., & García-Sastre, S. (2018). Supporting online collaborative design for teacher professional development. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 27(5), 571–587. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2018.1547787
• Meijs, C., Prinsen, F. R., & de Laat, M. F. (2016) Social learning as approach for teacher professional development; how well does it suit them?, Educational Media International, 53 (2), 85-102, https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2016.1211333
• Mills, K., Jass Ketelhut, D., & Gong, X. (2019). Change of teacher beliefs, but not practices, following integration of immersive virtual environment in the classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 57(7), 1786-1811. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0735633119854034
• Ng, C., & Leicht, A. (2019). 'Struggles as engagement' in teacher change: a longitudinal case study of a reading teacher's changing practices. Teachers and Teaching, 25(4), 453-468. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2019.1625764
• Oddone, K. (2022). The nature of teachers' professional learning through a personal learning network: Individual, social and digitally connected. Teaching and Teacher Education: Leadership and Professional Development, 1, 100001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tatelp.2022.100001
• Pareja Roblin, N., & Margalef, L. (2013). Learning from dilemmas: teacher professional development through collaborative action and reflection. Teachers and Teaching, 19(1), 18-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2013.744196
• Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional Development for Language Teachers Strategies for Teacher Learning. Cambridge University Press.
• Sansom, D. W. (2020). Investigating processes of change in beliefs and practice following professional development: multiple change models among in-service teachers in China. Professional Development in Education, 46(3), 467-481. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2019.1634625
• Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard educational review, 57(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411
• Sonday, A., Ramugondo, E., & Kathard, H. (2020). Case study and narrative inquiry as merged methodologies: A critical narrative perspective. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1609406920937880. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1609406920937880
• Sugimoto, A. T. (2021). The Back Burner: A Teacher’s Dilemmas When Working With English Learners in a School With Few English Learners. Journal of Education, 201(1), 10-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022057420903258
• Tam, A. C. F. (2015). The role of a professional learning community in teacher change: A perspective from beliefs and practices. Teachers and Teaching, 21(1), 22–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.928122
• Teng, L. S. (2016). Changes in teachers' beliefs after a professional development project for teaching writing: two Chinese cases. Journal of Education for tEaching, 42(1), 106-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2015.1135228
• Tillema, H., & Kremer-Hayon, L. (2007). Facing dilemmas: Teacher-educators' ways of constructing a pedagogy of teacher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 10(2), 203-217. https://doi.org/10.1080/1356251042000337954
• Ulvik, M., Smith, K., & Helleve, I. (2017). Ethical aspects of professional dilemmas in the first year of teaching. Professional Development in Education, 43(2), 236-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1178163
• Vrasidas, C. and Zembylas, M. (2004). Online professional development: lessons from the field. Education and Training, 46(6/7), 326-334. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910410555231
• Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Weiss, J., Nolan, J., Hunsinger, J., & Trifonas, P. (Eds.). (2006). The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments. Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3803-7
• Xue, S., Hu, X., Chi, X., & Zhang, J. (2019). Building an online community of practice through WeChat for teacher professional learning. Professional Development in Education, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2019.1647273
• Yan, C. (2015). ‘We can’t change much unless the exams change’: Teachers’ dilemmas in the curriculum reform in China. Improving Schools, 18(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480214553744
• Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (ed.). Thousand Oaks.
• Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (Sixth edition). SAGE.

How to Cite This

Article Metrics

Download Statistics

Other Statistics

Copyright and Permissions

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

LEKSIKA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Data Availability