The geography of high school teacher learning in communities of practice

This study addressed how high school teachers learn through designed and emergent community of practice (CoP) participation. This study also sought to describe the roles that high school administrators played to encourage high school teachers' learning in communities of practice. The study examined high school social studies teachers in Oakland County, Michigan as they learned about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to understand how learning about the standards unfolded through CoP participation.;Data from this study showed that teachers participated in a variety of designed and emergent communities of practice which influenced learning. The introduction of the CCSS provided an opportunity to describe how teacher sense making, shared practice, and identity developed through CoP participation. This study also described the mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoires of CoPs which emerged as teachers learned about the CCSS. Teacher leadership roles within CoPs changed to facilitate implementation of the CCSS. This study showed how teachers who had multi-membership in CoPs might influence learning. Patterns of teacher CoP participation produced variances in teachers' sense making and shared practice. The resulting variances may have consequences for CCSS implementation in schools.;This study also showed that high school principals played roles to encourage teacher learning in CoPs. Principals structured teacher learning in ways consistent with their own beliefs about how teachers learn. One principal believed teachers learning is socially situated structured teacher learning though CoPs whose joint enterprise aligned with CCSS implementation. Another principal valued engaging teachers in topics on school culture, which teachers saw as unrelated to their practice. Principals also provided structural conditions such as time for teachers to learn in CoPs. However, this study suggests that providing structural supports should be coupled with focusing teachers on instruction. This study also demonstrated that high school principals and assistant principals play different roles in cultivating teacher learning in CoPs. Assistant principals in both schools had relationships with teachers which allowed them to identify and meet teacher learning needs.