Communicative learning spaces and learning to become a teacher

Abstract

This paper explores teacher learning. It focuses on access to ‘communicative learning spaces’ (a concept we coin and develop within this paper) and argues that the creation of such spaces can be a powerful enabler of teacher learning. We draw on the findings from three studies conducted in three different countries - Norway, Australia and Sweden. The studies focused on different stages of teacher learning - initial teacher education, the induction phase of teacher learning in the workplace, and the continuing professional learning of in-service teachers. The paper considers the features that characterise communicative learning spaces and their development. Using the theory of practice architectures we examine what enabled and constrained the development of these communicative learning spaces in each of the three cases.