Teacher Professional Learning as the Growth of Social Capital

Abstract

Teacher learning can be modeled in a variety of different ways. In this study, an analysis of teacher social capital was used to describe the effects of a school-wide professional development program. Social capital refers to the resources that teachers can access through peer collaboration to support their ongoing learning. Findings indicate that conceptualizing professional development as the growth of shared resources can avoid some of the difficulties that arise when teacher learning is viewed solely as either an individual or social process. The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable contributions by Regina Panasuk towards this work.

Keywords

• professional development
• teacher learning
• collaboration
• social capital