Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Processes of practice and identity shaping teachers’ TPACK enactment in a community of practice

Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Cite this article

Abstract

Technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) has been used by hundreds of studies as a theoretical framework to explore teachers’ technology use in classroom settings. While these studies have contributed to understandings of the interplay between these different knowledge domains and the differences between pre- and in-service teachers’ knowledge, little work has been done to examine the influence of teachers’ socially mediated workplace settings on TPACK enactment. This paper examines the impact of situated, social contextual factors on teachers’ knowledge development and enactment by reporting findings from an eight month case study involving ten teachers in an Australian secondary school. Results reported in this paper indicate that TPACK enactment is influenced by processes of identity development and practice. These findings challenge the established position of knowledge as an epistemological possession inherent in the TPACK framework rather than also considering knowing as an epistemology of practice. Implications for in-service teachers and school authorities are discussed and three conclusions are presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramovich, S., & Schunn, C. (2012). The Influence of Teacher Created Metadata in Online Resource Exchanges. Paper presented at the world wide web conference. France: Lyon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albion, P., Jamieson-Proctor, R., & Finger, G. (2010). Auditing the TPACK confidence of Australian pre-service teachers: the TPACK Confidence Survey (TCS). Paper presented at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2010, San Diego, CA, USA. http://www.editlib.org/p/33969

  • Angeli, C., & Valanides, N. (2009). Epistemological and methodological issues for the conceptualiation, development, and assessment of ICT-TPCK: advances in technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). Computers and Education, 52(1), 154–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archambault, L., & Crippen, K. (2009). Examining TPACK among K-12 online distance educators in the United States. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 71–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayling, D., & Flagg, E. (2012). Getting stuck in: Learners participation in an online community of practice. Paper presented at the New Zealand Association for Cooperative Education 2012 Conference Proceedings.

  • Bagnoli, A. (2009). Beyond the standard interview: the use of graphic elicitation and arts-based methods. Qualitative Research, 9(5), 547–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barab, S., & Duffy, T. (2000). From practice fields to communities of practice. Theoretical foundations of learning environments, 1(1), 25–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, C. (2012). School leader use of social Media for Professional Discourse.

  • Barton, D., & Tusting, K. (Eds.) (2005). Beyond communities of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulfin, S. (2009). Literacies, new technologies and young people: Negotiating the interface in secondary school. (PhD), Monash University, Melbourne.

  • Cook, S., & Brown, J. (1999). Bridging epistemologies: the generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing. Organization Science, 10(4), 381–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, S. (2008). A conceptual analysis of technological pedagogical content knowledge. (PhD), Brigham Young University, Provo.

  • Cox, S., & Graham, C. R. (2009). Diagramming TPACK in practice: using an elaborated model of the TPACK framework to analyze and depict teacher knowledge. TechTrends, 53(5), 60–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crilly, N., Blackwell, A. F., & Clarkson, P. J. (2006). Graphic elicitation: using research diagrams as interview stimuli. Qualitative Research, 6(3), 341–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuban, L. (2004). The blackboard and the bottom line. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denscombe, M. (2008). Communities of practice a research paradigm for the mixed methods approach. Journal of mixed methods research, 2(3), 270–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drath, W. H., & Palus, C. J. (1994). Making common sense: Leadership as meaning-making in a community of practice. Greensboro, North Carolina: Center for Creative Leadership.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dynarski, M., Agodini, R., Heaviside, S., Novak, T., Carey, N., Campuzano, L., . . . Sussex, W. (2007). Effectiveness of reading and mathematics software products: findings from the first student cohort. Retrieved from Washinton, D.C.: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20074005.pdf

  • Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (2005). On the case: approaches to language and literacy research. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elkjaer, B. (2003). Organisational learning with a pragmatic slant. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 22(5), 481–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, A., Hodkinson, H., Hodkinson, P., & Unwin, L. (2005). Learning as peripheral participation in communities of practice: a reassessment of key concepts in workplace learning. British Educational Research Journal, 31(1), 49–68. doi:10.1080/0141192052000310029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, B. (2004). Informal learning in an online Community of Practice. Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), 20–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, C. R. (2011). Theoretical considerations for understanding technological pedagogical knowledge (TPACK). Computers and Education, 57, 1953–1960.

  • Hager, P. (2005). Current theories of workplace learning: a critical assessment. In N. Basica, A. Cumming, A. Datnow, K. Leithwood & D. Livingstone (Eds.), International Handbook of Educational Policy (pp. 829–846). London: Springer.

  • Handley, K., Sturdy, A., Fincham, R., & Clark, T. (2006). Within and beyond communities of practice: making sense of learning through participation, identity and practice. Journal of Management Studies, 43(3), 641–653. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00605.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, M. (2007). Investigating the role of community in sustaining teacher participation in blended professional development. (PhD), James Cook University, Townsville.

  • Hildreth, P. M., Kimble, C., & Wright, P. (1998). Computer mediated communications and communities of practice. Paper presented at the Proceedings of Ethicomp.

  • Howley, A., Wood, L., & Hough, B. (2011). Rural elementary school teachers’ technology integration. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 26(9), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain, A., Thomson, D., Farley, A., & Mulready, P. (2012). Engagement and learning through social software in finance: a retrospective on the trading room experience. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(6), 701–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jang, S. (2006). Research on the effects of team teaching upon two secondary school teachers. Educational Research, 48(2), 177–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jimoyiannis, A. (2010). Designing and implementing an integrated technological pedagogical science knowledge framework for science teachers professional development. Computers and Education, 55(3), 1259–1269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, C. M. (2001). A survey of current research on online communities of practice. The Internet and Higher Education, 4(1), 45.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, K., & Dinh, H. (2012). TPACK: trends in current research. Paper presented at the Australian Computers in Education Conference (ACEC), 2012. Perth: Australia.

  • Kelly, M. A. (2008). Bridging digital and cultural divides: TPCK for equity of access to technology. In AACTE Committee on Inovation and Technology (Ed.), The Handbook of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators. New York: Routledge.

  • Kensler, L. A. W., Reames, E., Murray, J., & Patrick, L. (2012). Systems thinking tools for improving evidence-based practice: a cross-case analysis of two high school leadership teams. The High School Journal, 95(2), 32–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koehler, M., & Mishra, P. (2005). What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of technological pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 32(2), 131–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koehler, M., & Mishra, P. (2008). Introducing TPCK. Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge TPCK for Educators Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: a framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumtaz, S. (2000). Factors affecting teachers’ use of information and communications technology: a review of the literature. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 9(3), 319–341. doi:10.1080/14759390000200096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M. (2012). The role of community in teachers’ knowledge development. In Paper presented at the ACEC 2012. Perth: Western Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M. (2013). Investigating In-service teachers’ workplace TPACK development. Australian Educational Computing, 28(2), 21–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M. (2014). Teachers’ TPACK enactment in a Community of Practice. (PhD), Monash University, Melbourne.

  • Phillips, M. (2015). Models of technology integration. In M. Henderson & G. Romeo (Eds.), Teaching and digital technologies (pp. 318–331). Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M. (2016). Re-contextualising TPACK: exploring teachers’ (non)use of digital technologies. Pedagogy and Education: Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M., Lancaster, G., & Cooper, B. (2014). Team teaching with technology: Upsetting the TPACK applecart. Paper presented at the Australian Computers in Education Conference 2014, Adelaide, SA. http://acec2014.acce.edu.au/sites/2014/files/drafts/Team teaching with techonology. Upsetting the TPACK applecart.pdf

  • Phillips, M., Koehler, M., & Rosenberg, J. (2016). Looking outside the circles: Considering the contexts influencing TPACK development and enactment. Paper presented at the Society for Information Technologies in education conference. Georgia, USA: Savannah.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porras-Hernández, L. H., & Salinas-Amescua, B. (2013). Strengthening TPACK: a broader notion of context and the use of Teacher’s narratives to reveal knowledge construction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 48(2), 223–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rittel, H. W. J., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences, 4, 155–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, J. (2000). Communities of practice: a framework for fostering coherence in virtual learning communities. Educational Technology & Society, 3(3), 384–392.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, G. (2012). Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials:. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, J., & Koehler, M. J. (2015). Context and Teaching with Technology in the Digital Age. In M. L. Niess & H. Gillow-Wiles (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education in the Digital Age, (p. 440.). Hershey: IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W., Tobin, K., Carambo, C., & Dallard, C. (2004). Co teaching: creating resources for learning and learning to teach chemistry in urban high schools. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(9), 882–904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandholtz, J. (2000). Interdisciplinary team teaching as a form of professional development. Teacher Education Quarterly, 27(3), 39–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 65–73. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, L. S. (1993). Teaching as community property. Change, 25(6), 6–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. (1991). Bounded rationality and organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 125–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Somekh, B. (2008). Factors affecting teachers’ pedagogical adoption of ICT. In J. Voogt & G. Knezek (Eds.), International handbook of information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education (pp. 449–460). New York: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC..

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Squires, S., & Van De Vanter, M. L. (2012). Communities of practice. A Companion to Organizational Anthropology, 289–310.

  • Stake, R. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straub, E. T. (2009). Understanding technology adoption: theory and future directions for informal learning. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 625–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varga-Atkins, T., & O’Brien, M. (2009). From drawings to diagrams: maintaining researcher control during graphic elicitation in qualitative interviews. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 32(1), 53–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Willis, J. (2007). Foundations in qualitative research: interpretive and critical approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. (2009). Case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Michael Phillips

Authors
  1. Michael Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Phillips.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Phillips, M. Processes of practice and identity shaping teachers’ TPACK enactment in a community of practice. Educ Inf Technol 22, 1771–1796 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9512-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9512-y

Keywords

search

Navigation