Exploring Teachers' Professional Development
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Exploring teachers’ professional development with Twitter: A sociomaterial analysis GUEST, Ian Fraser Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/24081/ This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. Published version GUEST, Ian Fraser (2018). Exploring teachers’ professional development with Twitter: A sociomaterial analysis. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University. Copyright and re-use policy See http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive http://shura.shu.ac.uk Exploring teachers’ professional development with Twitter: A sociomaterial analysis Ian Fraser Guest A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2018 Abstract “BEST. PD. EVER!” Some teachers make bold claims for the way that Twitter supports their professional development, yet research into this area is rather limited. This study sought to gain a better understanding of the practices involved and the part that Twitter plays. It uses a sociomaterial sensibility informed by actor-network theory (ANT) to unravel the complex webs of relations which form, break apart and reform when knowledge practices are enacted in the mediated arena of Twitter. To explore this rich but messy environment, I evoke the spirit of the Parisian flâneur to develop an ethnographic approach I refer to as ‘flânography.’ Characterised by purposeful wandering, the approach coupled participant observation and interviews, with emerging methods involving a bot and a 'walkie-talkie' app. Adopting the sensibility of the flâneur consistently through data collection, analysis and presentation resulted in traversals which render pathways of experience. This led to me presenting the findings in three ‘Gatherings’ (Law, 2004a), each taking a tweet or other data snippet as a point of departure. Through the Gatherings I present the activities of both human and nonhuman participants, establish how they came together (or didn’t) and gain a better appreciation of the outcomes of those interrelationships. In reading across the Gatherings, two interlocking dimensions emerged through which teachers' learning practices on Twitter might be conceptualised. ‘Compound learning’ describes how practices can be understood through three meanings of compound: framed chemically (through formation of bonds and associations), financially (like interest which grows cumulatively) and as a mixture (an assortment of actors engaged in activities). The second dimension describes how compound learning can be enacted across three ‘scales:’ acts, activities and practices. By extending previous research, this thesis contributes a richer and deeper understanding of what ‘Twitter Professional Development’ involves, thereby helping to legitimise it within broader professional development discourse. Adding to the current literature on teachers’ professional learning, this thesis reveals how significant personal-isation is in two senses: that teachers can exercise choice in what, when and how they learn; and secondly, the importance of being able to forge socio-professional connections with fellow educators in different ways. The flânographic approach and the new methods which arose within it offer wider contributions for studies exploring activities which range across online and offline spaces, and through time. i Acknowledgements This thesis represents only the tip of an iceberg which owes its visibility to a host of buoyant people. My first debt of gratitude is owed to my supervisors, Mark Boylan, Guy Merchant and Emily Perry. Without their initial encouragement, I would not have started the PhD; without their ongoing advice, support and guidance, I could never have brought it to this conclusion. I am also grateful to Sheffield Hallam University for providing the means through which I could undertake this study full time, and also for making available such an abundance of opportunities to learn. The most potent aspect of that emerged in the support, wisdom, friendship and humour of my fellow doctoral students at Sheffield Hallam … and beyond. In particular, I was blessed to be able to learn with Martina Emke, a fellow doctoral student in Germany conducting similar research to me. Twitter constituted our parallel research area, source of connection and means of communication. Thanks to all for making this a more manageable and thoroughly enjoyable experience. So many people were kind enough to participate in this study and their words are visible throughout this thesis. I am so grateful for their willingness to be involved and generosity in donating their time. Special thanks are deserved to those who took the trouble to read my research blog, then challenge my thinking through their comments. Though my parents are no longer with us, their influence on my capacity and desire to learn continues into this, my sixtieth year. What I am, I owe to them and posthumously thank them through these pages. In lieu of a family, my friends provided the sounding board I sometimes needed, kindly asking about my research and patiently listening to me wittering on. Other than a supervisor, who but a best friend would offer to read through a draft of a thesis? Surprisingly, all of them are still my friends. ii Presented with the kind permission of Ian McMillan, author, poet, journalist, broadcaster and ‘Barnsley Bard,’ this poem goes part way towards conveying – in a single tweet – a sense of how this study was conducted. iii Foreword “My flâneuse is the undetected scholar of the world around her, a connoisseur of experience. She wanders, observes and examines, tuning in to her surroundings with intense attentiveness. Her flânerie involves inaudibly impassioned immersion in, and expansive opening to, her environment. She absorbs and is absorbed. She pursues the poetic in the everyday. Covertly, she seeks understanding, meaning, awakening, transcendence. The édu flâneuse applies this nomadic noticing to the educational spheres she encounters. Places, people and philosophies cocoon her until she emerges quietly transformed.” Deborah Netolicky, The édu flâneuse1. Flânerie – the art of wandering, observing and rendering the city and its life – both inspired and informed this study. However, rather than the broad, bustling, boulevards of Paris studied by the first generation of flâneurs, the focus of this thesis is an altogether different 'place.' Thanks to Twitter I am now more up to date with education than ever before. I now get daily professional development from hundreds of education’s best ‘tweeters’ from all over the world[...]As soon as I started posting, I realised that Twitter is the most powerful tool for a teacher to use for PD. This quote from a blog post2 by Craig Kemp, a teacher in Singapore, typifies the kinds of comments which increasingly piqued my curiosity and provided the inspiration for this study. The ‘city’ whose streets I intended to tread is Twitter. It is an enormous place, with a ‘population’ of over 330 million, who range far and wide. There is no intention however, to attempt to capture it all, since Craig’s comment is more specific. It is educators on Twitter who attract my gaze, and specifically those involved in ‘professional development.’ Rather than pounding the streets, I shall be scrolling the tweets. Some travellers prefer to roam guide-free, immersing themselves in the city and experiencing its vitality in the raw. Feel free to do that with this thesis, knowing that the Streetmap or 'Contents' which follow, act as reference points should you become lost. The opening chapter serves as a 'Rough Guide,' providing an overview of where I, as flâneur, roamed. Here you’ll be introduced to some of the ‘characters’ I met, the 1 https://theeduflaneuse.com/on_edu_flanerie/ 2 http://mrkempnz.com/2011/05/twitter-vs-paid-professional-development.html iv ‘architecture’ I encountered and the activity I witnessed. The Streetmap which follows may prove useful and if you struggle with the local dialect, the Phrasebook might also help. Unlike the flâneurs of old, I chose not to wander alone and enlisted travelling companions whose insights helped me see afresh; we’ll meet them too. v Streetmap vi Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Foreword iv Streetmap vi Contents vii Tables and Figures xii Phrasebook xiv 1 INTRODUCTION 1 What brought me to this study........................................................................................................ 1 An overview of Twitter .................................................................................................................... 5 Finding out what teachers are doing on Twitter .......................................................................... 7 Aims .................................................................................................................................................... 7 Personal hinterlands .......................................................................................................................... 9 A ‘Rough Guide’ to this thesis ...................................................................................................... 10 Approach .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Conventions ....................................................................................................................................