Teacher Learning and Power in the Knowledge Society - Teacher Learning

Livingstone is Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Learning and Work at the University of Toronto, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), and Director of WALL (see www.wallnetwork.ca). [...] Teacher learning and power in the knowledge society aims to increase understanding of teachers as professionals and of some of the intricacies of their work and learning in these changing times, particularly in relation to challenges over control of their profession. [...] The New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) network research developed an expansive conceptual framework for (paid and unpaid) work and (formal and informal) learning studies, and conducted the first national survey in the world of these forms of learning and work in 1998, as well as a series of over 6 INTRODUCTION 30 exploratory case studies between 1998 and 2002. [...] Different stakeholders may adhere to conflicting views of the demands of the “knowledge economy” or the potential of the “knowledge society.” But, hopefully, increasing understanding of the learning practices of working teachers can encourage both genuine reforms of schools as workplaces and the creation of professional development (PD) programs that can link more effectively with teachers’ contin. [...] But, in our view, sense of workplace autonomy for teachers and other professional occupations is best understood in the context of the negotiating power of their associations/unions and the extent of their organizational decision-making roles.