1 Teachers College Record Volume 121, 140306, 2019, 26 pages Copyright © by Teachers College, Columbia University 0161-4681 Educators Meet the Fifth Estate: The Role of Social Media in Teacher Training KAITLIN T. TORPHY Michigan State University COREY DRAKE Michigan State University This chapter examines teacher candidates’ reflections on engagement with and in social media as it relates to their professional preparation and understandings of teaching within 21st- century classrooms. Extending earlier work, we present the notion of a Fifth Estate within the digital age, redefining network influence. As power and influence are negoti- ated across executive, judicial, and legislative enterprises, media—the Fourth Estate—and networks of influence among individuals within the Fifth Estate present a new form of educational professionalism. Here, educators, researchers, and the community may engage directly in virtual space. This chapter focuses in particular on the ways that candidates’ reflections on the ways in which they seek support from the Fifth Estate are shaped by their visions of teaching and learning, their trust in the teaching professionals who share infor- mation in the Fifth Estate, their efficacy to evaluate resources, and their autonomy to select and modify resources. The image of a classroom has changed little over time—benches or chairs, tables or desks, materials for work being done, and a teacher. Teachers and teaching define, in large part, the educational experience (Cohen, Raudenbush, & Ball, 2003; Nye, Konstantopoulos, & Hedges, 2004). There has been significant research on what makes a good teach- er (Dweck, 2007; Figlio, Karbownik, & Salvanes, 2016; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005; Rowan, Chiang, & Miller, 1997; Sanders, Wright, & Horn, 1997) and how to promote a healthy ethos for educators and students, and a good school (Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Lawrence-Lightfoot, 2008; Penuel, Riel, Krause, & Frank, 2009).). Emergent findings include devel- oping a shared professional vision, a set of professional practices, profes- sional learning communities, and coherence in academic content (Bryk, Gomez, Grunow, & LaMahieu, 2015). Corresponding education policy has developed around connecting teachers to communities of practice and professional learning communities (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Stoll,