New Paper: Teacher Communities

Posted by on May 12, 2006

[posted from Public Education Network newsblast]

WHAT MAKES A TRUE TEACHER COMMUNITY?

Educators tend to throw the term “community” around quite flippantly, says researcher Sam Wineburg. While we hear of school community, learning community, teacher community, professional community, or communities of practice, “We often assign the term when there is no semblance of community life taking place.” What distinguishes a community of teachers from a group of teachers sitting in a room for a meeting? Wineburg and his colleagues Pamela Grossman and Stephen Woolworth explore this question in their paper, “What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers?” It’s a highly engaging but lengthy paper — if you have limited time to read it, you might begin on page 44 with the section “Toward Community,” or on page 49 with “Why Care about Community?”

http://depts.washington.edu/ctpmail/PDFs/Community-GWW-01-2001.pdf