Teachers Teaching Teachers (Goodyear, Casey & Kirk, 2014)

I was very intrigued by this article upon reading the abstract. Though I think it provided some very interesting findings and suggestions for the use of social media for physical educators, I thought that there were some gaps in the research. As a former physical education teacher, in order for me to change my practice was not an option. I was given a strict timeline that I had to follow that told me what pages to use in the textbook. We did have access to a discussion board and a website of approved lessons and games, but for me to incorporate other topics and activities, I had to just do it on my own. There is no way I could have gotten away with having it written down on a social media site as this could be used against me if I was found to have been “straying” from the curriculum. I do think the idea of using social media for continuing education/in-service and training. As a non-traditional teacher, I would have appreciated consistent and continuous access to a community of other non-traditional teachers for support and knowledge. If the school districts are comfortable with students fulfilling their physical and health education requirements online, I do not see why they do not think this type of education is adequate for the instructors (unless of course they just don’t care about the students’ education and don’t truly believe it is adequate). I did also like the suggestion of teachers having a connection to experts, but I do not think that this was adequately explored. I do not know who the expert would be in a real school setting. At the end the department becomes the facilitator, but I’m not sure who the department is. I gleaned that some of the facilitating happened organically, there was clearly someone specific running it. Would this be a department head? Whoever it was, it would add another responsibility to their job description and we all know that teachers are likely not getting pay raises anytime soon (but more work, yes). I think that there are benefits associated with teachers learning from each other, but this CoP could be an opportunity for those in academia to connect with practitioners. I am very discouraged when I think about all of the research that is being conducted and all of the amazing findings coming out of it that no one is reading or that are not being put into use. This would be a great opportunity to bridge this gap.  I was also confused by the author’s differentiation between social media and Web 2.0 tools. They said that social media would “become a thing of the past” but I do not understand how it is different than Web 2.0 tools. The article did point out a very important function of this CoP; support. The use of retweets or the sharing of tweets as a reinforcement for the original poster is a positive outcome of social media groups. The concept of social competence is very important when someone is trying something new. As a current PhD student, I sometimes experience imposter’s syndrome but then when I go to conferences and present my research to other scholars in the field, I get some of that confidence back and am reminded that I do know what I’m talking about. It is also very encouraging to have an idea and to see that it is working for someone else and that your work is helping others. People need that pat on the back, even it is just through a simple retweet or comment. Of course, another issue that may arise with sharing ideas and materials in this type of online community is that some may be carrying the weight of the whole group or some people may not be prosuming and instead just consuming. People have to give and take, not just take as this may cause conflict and become discouraging to those teachers that are always providing knowledge but never receiving any.