Dr Linda Newman University of Western Sydney - Australia

1. Examining e-learning in sociocultural communities of early childhood teachers: 21st century learning approaches for professional development Dr Linda Newman University of Western Sydney - Australia

2. Today’s presentation: • Outlines a research project that is underway • Examines some literature about professional development and communities of learning • Shares a developing e-community for team learning and research

3. The project: • Funded by the Jean Denton Memorial Scholarship • Has joined 3 Practitioner Inquiry groups running from University of Western Sydney • 15 participants have joined • 5 participants remain active at present • Meet approximately monthly face-to-face and online between meetings

5. Our conceptual resources/tools • Communities of practice/learners • Sociocultural learning for adults • Teacher professional development • Sustainable professional development • Teacher networks • Electronic networks • Team Learning using an e-system

6. Preschool teacher for 30 years Outer urban area (mountains) Small community Large staff – outreach programs No postgraduate study Meet Jean • Came to meeting 1 and was excited to work with another local preschool teacher and school principal • Interested in transition to school and leadership • Withdrew because of technology focus and withdrawal of local contacts

7. School principal of catholic school Same community as Jean Excited to work with local preschool teacher on transition Interested in leadership Withdrew because deputy left mid-term and workload was too high Meet Sal

8. Preschool teacher in community preschool for over 30 years Small community in outer urban area Feels isolated Small staff, very stable, all been there for 20 years or so Interested in transition and leadership Excited to find support community of like-minded professionals Withdrew because assistant had heart attack at work and needed time and emotional space to support staff Felt staff couldn’t cope with research project on leadership just now Meet Helen

9. Preschool teacher for 6 years Local government centre in outer urban are- a lot of vandalism Very mixed socio-economic clientele Runs Critical Curriculum group Runs conferences Interested in parent perceptions of preschool education in relation to preparation for school Remains in program Meet Denise

10. Teacher for 30 years Works in a government school in newly developed outer urban estate Support teacher across school for students with learning needs Interested in leadership inclusion of children with learning needs Principal has left and new principal not yet appointed Remains in project but will work with long day care teacher on questioning because of leadership gap in school at present STOP PRESS – withdrew this week because of leadership issues in school Meet Gloria

11. Meet Annette • Teaching in government school for 5 years • Studying Masters • Has funding to run transition project • Wants to study transition to school • Has just joined project

12. Long Day Care teacher for 30 years Studied teaching after working for many years Doing Masters degree Member of Critical Curriculum group Assists in conference convening Interested in setting up e-communication website for critical curriculum members Meet Kelly

13. Want do they have in common? • When they meet it is hard to stop them talking to move forward with agenda • They are women • They are teachers • Intellectual and professional isolation • A desire to make change • A strong commitment to their profession • Have had little professional development

14. How do we know about their research interests?

16. Developing a research project • Zing Questions • What are my broad areas of interest for research and WHY? • What do I want to know more about in this area and WHY? • What are some possible SPECIFIC questions related to this area? • Are my questions good ones for a short research project project and WHY or WHY NOT? • Who would be working on the research project? • Write a timeline for the project. Write like this: 1. XXX 2. XXX 3. XXXX • Who do I need to inform and gain consent from? • What permissions will I need to get started? • What resources will I need to get started? • What are the possible constraints or barriers that I need to consider? • What information will I need to collect and how will I collect it? Write like this: Information: Collection method • What do I know about existing research in this area? • What might my end product look like? • Who will be interested in my research findings? • How will I share my research with interested people? Write like this: Stakeholder: Way to share (e.g. article in Every Child) • How can the UWS team support me in my project? Write like this: My name: support I would like from UWS

17. What does the literature say about them? • Professional development • Increasingly, professional development in its traditional form of one-off workshops run by external consultants is seen as lacking in applicability and sustainability, indeed a waste of time. Within such traditional paridigms, teachers “believe that schools make poor use of them as professionals and the resulting lack of professionalism hinders their ability to teach to their full capacity (Andrews & Rothman, 2002; Moore Johnson, 1990). • Effective professional development for organisational change in successful learning organisations requires participants to acquire, interpret and apply information to turn ideas into innovation. Innovative organisations develop frameworks and strategies for enquiry and experimentation within knowledge-sharing processes that enable everyone to act in an informed way on what has been learned (Aron, 2000 cited in Andrews & Rothman, 2002).

18. Professional networks • Networks have potential for teachers with evidence that teacher networks have enormous potential to affect classroom practice, because of their high credibility with teachers within safe environments that motivate them, allow them to take risks, develop knowledge and commit to improvement. • High profile companies such as Cisco, Charles Schwab, and eBay were “network orchestrators” for the purpose of creating organisational knowledge-sharing collaborations (Anderson & Rothman, 2002). Communities of practice Draw on tacit knowledge to create new knowledge. Vygotsky’s theories of dialectical and collaborative learning, and & Wenger’s work help to explain the process (1999). Situated and “just in time” learning creates meaningful change (Ashton & Newman, 2006; Newman & Findlay, 2007)

19. What are their projects? • Parent perceptions and goals for early childhood programs • Children’s questioning for an inquiry based curriculum • E-learning communities for early childhood teachers • Transition to school

20. Developing our project • Using the EDNA e learning community

26. Conclusion • It is heartening and inspiring to see these teachers reflecting deeply on their practice • University staff are an important resource to support and facilitate teacher research • Teachers need better support and networking to improve practice and create innovation and new knowledge • The e-network shows great potential

28. References: • Andrews, K & Rothman, M. ( 2002). Cultivating innovation: How a charter/district network is turning professional development into professional practice. Phi Delta Kappan. 83 (7), 506-513. • Aron, L.J. (2000). Managing to learn: How companies can turn knowledge into action. Retrieved from Working Knowledge. Harvard Business School http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/1777.html. 13/8/07 • Moore Johnson, S. (1990). Teachers at work: Achieving success in our schools. New York: Basic Books. • Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: A brief introduction Retrieved 03/11/06 from www.ewenger.com/theory/communities_of_practice_intro_WRD.doc,

29. Contact Linda Newman l.newman@uws.edu.au