The Scope of Professional Development in a Virtual Study Group

Abstract

This thesis focuses on a personal concern about my own professional development and my interest to create a study group that facilitated working collaboratively with other teachers toward reaching a common goal. In turn, this would give me the opportunity to explore the scope of professional development in a teachers community. The features of the balance between theory and practice found in this manuscript deal with the size of the group, the agenda, and the role of the facilitator. Hence, most of the theory reviewed during this research asserted that the smaller a study group is the better for the participants because all of them have the opportunity of contributing, and being listened. Interestingly, the practice showed that the bigger a group is, the bigger the opportunity to enrich from each other becomes. Theory and practice coincide that the group agenda should be planned and discussed by all its participants, and that it represents the scheme of the group s dynamics. Likewise, the role of a facilitator in the group is the key to organize the other participants functions in the group. A further characteristic of the role of the facilitator in the social constructivist viewpoint is that the instructor and the learners are equally involved in learning from each other as well (Holt and Willard-Holt 2000).