Creating a “Professional Community” of Teachers: Consideration Based on Networks with Others in Contribution to Teachers' Learning

<p> The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors leading to the formation of teachers' “professional communities” based on the formation process, and thereby to present a new perspective in order to grasp the formation of these communities.</p><p> First, this paper draws on the findings of previous research to make the point that the “professional community” of teachers is not a place or a group, but rather a “context” for school reform in which teacher learning occurs, with teacher interaction at its core.</p><p> Next, this paper focuses on a junior high school micro-community, presenting the process of the transformation of X Junior High School from a community of teachers to a “professional community.” By presenting the process of constructing personal networks with others who contribute to teachers' learning, it reveals the reality of the formation of teachers' “professional communities”. At the same time, it also reveals the reality of the “professional community” for individuals, as teachers' engagement with others in the community away from their workplace contributes to their learning.</p><p> In the discussion, this paper shows the following four factors that lead to the formation of the ‘professional community’ of teachers.</p><p>1) Networks that work directly with teachers' learning and their initiation</p><p> The openness that existed among teachers has been transformed by one teacher's new practice to function as a network that works directly for teachers' learning.</p><p>2) Quality of relationships with others as a foundation to support teacher learning</p><p> The quality of relationships with others, such as a sense of security and trust, is important as a foundation for teacher learning.</p><p>3) Communicative learning to establish teacher learning</p><p> Acquiring an interpretive view of the practices of others is necessary to accomplish learning.</p><p>4) Connecting with the heterogeneous</p><p> Transformation through synergistic renewal of the community culture is needed, through the incorporation of heterogeneity and the transformative development of the individual teachers who make up the community.</p><p> Finally, this paper proposes the following four points as new perspectives on the formation of teachers' “professional communities.” The first is that the professional community of teachers is not a “place” or a “group” but a boundary-crossing and fluid network with others that contributes to teachers' learning. The second perspective is that the quality of the relationship between the teachers' “professional community” and others should be considered analytically in its context as a network with others. The third point is the perspective on the interaction between teachers not only as instantaneous and individual-to-individual, but also as possible interactions between individuals and communities over time. The fourth perspective is on the actions of others that contribute to teachers' learning not only in terms of their direct contributions thereto, but also in terms of their contributions to the environment that supports teachers' learning.</p>