<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
				
				<p>The purpose of this article is to suggest a conceptual framework for understanding professional communities of teachers, specifically those communities that extend beyond workplace, and in some cases national, boundaries. The nature of the paper is a theory-building paper informed by a review of literature in this field. The lit­erature that informed this paper is of two types: firstly, case study reports written by practitioners engaged in professional communities; secondly, academic papers that explore the nature of such communities. The use of the first of these genres means that the framework presented emerges from the experiences of teachers and other practitioners, rather than being imposed upon them. This article presents a conceptualisation of five aspects of professional communities. These are as fol­lows: the ways in which teachers’ self-efficacy may be shaped by their perceptions of membership of a professional community; the boundaries of such communities; the challenges posed by recognising community membership, and also by individuality; and in the final section, the potential for knowledge-sharing within such communi­ties. Its contribution to the wider academic debate is its potential to inform empirical research on communities that is currently taking place, by means of a wide range of projects, in universities across Europe and beyond.</p>
			</abstract>

The purpose of this article is to suggest a conceptual framework for understanding professional communities of teachers, specifically those communities that extend beyond workplace, and in some cases national, boundaries. The nature of the paper is a theory-building paper informed by a review of literature in this field. The lit­erature that informed this paper is of two types: firstly, case study reports written by practitioners engaged in professional communities; secondly, academic papers that explore the nature of such communities. The use of the first of these genres means that the framework presented emerges from the experiences of teachers and other practitioners, rather than being imposed upon them. This article presents a conceptualisation of five aspects of professional communities. These are as fol­lows: the ways in which teachers’ self-efficacy may be shaped by their perceptions of membership of a professional community; the boundaries of such communities; the challenges posed by recognising community membership, and also by individuality; and in the final section, the potential for knowledge-sharing within such communi­ties. Its contribution to the wider academic debate is its potential to inform empirical research on communities that is currently taking place, by means of a wide range of projects, in universities across Europe and beyond.

Conceptualising professional communities among teachers

Polish Journal of Educational  Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Conceptualising professional communities among teachers"}

The purpose of this article is to suggest a conceptual framework for understanding professional communities of teachers, specifically those communities that...

Conceptualising professional communities among teachers

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

Page range: 123 - 142

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/poljes-2018-0011

Keywords
professional communities, teachers, knowledge sharing within communities, teachers’ professional identity

© 2019 James Underwood, Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Conceptualising professional communities among teachers

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

Page range: 123 - 142

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/poljes-2018-0011

Keywordsprofessional communities, teachers, knowledge sharing within communities, teach­ers’ professional identity

© 2019 James Underwood, Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
professional communities, teachers, knowledge sharing within communities, teachers’ professional identity