Relationships are more important than content: designing effective Professional Development within a Community of Practice approach Dr Michael Henderson Monash University Australia Michael.Henderson@education.monash.edu.au Abstract: Professional Development design has traditionally focused on issues of content, delivery and technology. While these foci are not discounted this research argues that designing for and investing in relationships is ultimately more important when trying to achieve sustained and transformative professional development. This research reports on the findings of two longitudinal case studies based in Australia and the United Kingdom. The participants of both studies were secondary school teachers participating in a small-scale, mixed mode (face to face and online) professional development course. The design of the course was based on a Community of Practice approach which placed the cohesion of identity and practice at the centre of issues of content, activity, technology and assessment. It was found that the relationships between participants and facilitator were a crucial factor in the nature of the sustained engagement. Introduction The failure of traditional models of Professional Development (PD), especially in the field of teaching with ICTs, have lead to increasing focus on community based approaches in PD research (for instance: Brosnan & Burgess, 2003; Ge & McAdoo, 2004; Hawkes & Romiszowski, 2001; Lloyd & Cochrane, 2005; McRae, Ainsworth, Groves, Rowland, & Zbar, 2001; see: Vrasidas & Glass, 2004). A community perspective contextualises the debate over such issues as the mode of delivery and infrastructure, and instead directs the focus of research and design towards the complex nature of teachers as members of a wider community, as professionals with unique ways to understand and manage their worlds, and as situated learners. In essence, PD of teachers must recognise the interdependency of identity and practice. It is important to recognise that the use of the term identity is carefully applied to describe an individual’s history, goals, and traits within a social context. It is argued, from a Community of Practice (CoP) perspective that learning is dependent on both doing and becoming (Wenger, 1998, p. 5). The key to this transformative process is active participation and engagement based on the complex socio-cultural relationships among participants (Carlen & Jobring, 2007; Henderson, 2006). This paper draws on a larger, longitudinal study and uses new data to significantly build on earlier findings (see Henderson, 2006). This paper focuses on the way in which the relationships of two groups of secondary schools teachers in Australia and the United Kingdom impacted on the nature of their participation. The course in which they were enrolled was purposely designed so that participant relationships, that is, their socially negotiated understanding, values and needs directed the course content, activities and assessment. In essence the curriculum was purposely made secondary to the imperative of social practices that would support a CoP. Community of Practice (CoP) Wenger (2001) states that ‘a community of practice is not merely a community of interest. … Members of a community of practice develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems – in short a shared practice’ (pp.2-3). However, they ‘are connected by more than their ostensible tasks. They are bound by intricate, socially constructed webs of belief, which are essential to understanding what they do’ (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989, p. 34). Community of Practice places the issue of identity on centre stage. In order for teachers to transform their practices they must enter into what is essentially a personally transformative experience that occurs over time. As a result, Community of Practice begins to explain why sustained experience is valuable, and why PD must tackle more than mere technical skills. -- 1432 -- Henderson, M. (2008). Relationships are more important than content: designing effective Professional Development within a Community of Practice approach. In K. McFerrin et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2008 (pp. 1432-1439). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.