Libertad de representación

this community. Of course, sharing is a broad theme, inclusive but difficult to define. In this sense, I have divided this practice according to the type of artifact at stake. My description of this practice takes into consideration Wenger’s (1998, 2010) view that our interactions culminate in the reification of products – narratives, meanings, identities, tools, maps, etc. – that originate from such interactions. The author argues that reification – parallel to participation – is fundamental to the very existence of social systems like the communities of practice. Since reification is not a monolithic concept, as it refers to the construction of both physical (e.g. tools, buildings, maps, etc.) and symbolic artifacts (e.g. meanings, identities, worldviews, etc.), it is possible to delineate it based on the kind of artifact at stake. Of course, such distinct artifacts as a hammer and one’s gender identity are not the same thing. Thus, I have divided it into three distinct types: (1) a tool produced by the community, (2) EAL literature and concepts in the same area; and (3) stories of success and professional learning in the classroom.

Therefore, I will divide this session into three different parts. In each of the parts I will discuss the specific type of artifact being shared.

Practice Event When Where Who

1. An artifact produced by the community⁄a community member Estevam advises student teachers who will microteach to use the lesson plan format they discussed in the study meetings (march 18) Pedagogical microteaching meeting, week 1 At the computer

lab Student teachers; Maria Julia and Antonio; Estevam.

Estevam lectures about the importance of lesson plan stages

Luisa’s workshop,

ninth week At the computer lab Student teachers; Maria Julia and Antonio; Estevam.

164 _{The concept of artifacts comes from Sociocultural Theory’s understanding that the workings of human} minds are shaped by the mediational forces of “cultural artifacts, activities, and concepts” (Lantolf, 2006, p. 70), to which humans are exposed since birth. Artifacts are anything from physical tools used for labor to books, clocks, and computers. Symbolic, as opposed to physical, artifacts are significant as well, such as “language, numeric systems, diagrams, charts, music, and art” (p. 69).

Adam uses Lucas’ lesson plan and explains he often gets lesson plans from the Gdrive

Teachers’ room observation, seventh week, day 1

Teachers’ room Adam, Lucas and Grazi

Maria Julia and Luisa explain that the student teachers should prepare the lesson plans for the new book. 2. EAL teaching

and learning literature⁄ key concepts

Estevam tells Lucas they should revise Harmer’s book

Week 2, feedback

with Lucas Estevam’s office Estevam and Lucas

Estevam

recommends that student teachers always give students a purpose to read a text Luisa’s workshop, ninth week At a classroom in the Institute Student teachers; Maria Julia and Antonio; Estevam. Luisa explains the

concept of ‘scanning’ Luisa’s workshop, ninth week At a classroom in the Institute Student teachers; Maria Julia and Antonio; Estevam. Estevam explains the

concept of ‘production’

Luisa’s workshop,

ninth week At a classroom in the Institute Student teachers; Maria Julia and Antonio; Estevam. Estevam explains the

concept of ‘PPP’ using the course book that they use as a reference

Luisa’s workshop,

ninth week At a classroom in the Institute Student teachers; Maria Julia and Antonio; Estevam. Meeting discussing

Freitas (2016) Week 2, feedback with Lucas Estevam’s office Estevam and Lucas 3. Narrating

classroom experience

João tells a success story in a difficult writing class

Teachers’ room observation, e Twelfth week, day 2

Teachers’ room João, Grazi and Antonia

Antonia explains that she has been working with narrative texts and personal statements in the EAP writing to make the class more fun

Teachers’ room observation, Twelfth week, day 2

Teachers’ room João, Grazi and Antonia

Nadia describes how she talked students into debating

Teachers’ room observation, Eleventh week, day 3

Teachers’ room Mariana, Nadia and Grazi Adam narrates a cool

experience co- teaching with Antonia

Microteaching pedagogical meeting, Fourth week, day 2

Teachers’ room Nadia describes how she talked students into debating

Antonia describes two classes on academic writing

Teachers’ room observation,

Thirteenth week, day 2

Teachers’ room Antonia and Adriana

Table 14: Sharing artifacts

An artifact produced by the community⁄a community member. As stated earlier,

Wenger (1998; 2010) claims that CoPs produce artifacts that make up a sense of history in a community. Since the community I investigated is one whose end goal is teaching English to the university’s students, faculty and staff, the artifacts it produces have to do with teaching – class plans, tasks and frameworks for lesson plan.

This is a relatively timid practice, as it has only three events associated with it. Besides, the pattern is not so clear – the when, where and what varies. The first two events happened in pedagogical meetings, while the third one happened in a conversation in the teachers’ room.

EAL teaching and learning literature⁄ key concepts. Another important element in the environment of EAL teachers is their knowledge of EAL methodologies, important literature references and concepts. This corresponds to what Pérez Gomez (1995) has termed technical rationality. Costa (2013) and Costa and Schlatter (2017) have shown how the division between technical and practical rationalities may be flawed in certain social arrangements because many a time their research participants used technical concepts in order to address issues that emerge from practical domains. In the events grouped under this practice, we have different elements:

- a book (Harmer, 1992), used as a reference for lesson planning; - a doctoral dissertation (Freitas, 2016) on EAP;

- technical concepts, such as “scanning”, “PPP” or production.

The events that make up the empirical data on this practice happen in different spheres in the community –when, where and who. However, they happen predominantly in the pedagogical meetings.

Personal experiences in the classroom. Another crucial element of Cops of the

same kind as this is that narratives (Merril, 2016; Costa, 2013) are important. Narratives give a sense of belonging and pass across success and learning stories for others who did not have such an experience. The events grouped under this practice mostly happen in the informal contexts – when, where and who –, that is, in the teachers’ room with student teachers shop talking. However, event 54 happens in a pedagogical meeting; right before

Adam starts teaching, he says that this class was improved in a time that she co-taught with Antonia.

Chapter summary and look ahead.

In this chapter I presented and categorized the data. In the first part of the chapter, I presented the interviews with the focal participants as well as the themes that emerged from such interviews in order to understand interviewees’ interpretations of their own professional development in the program. In the second part of the chapter, I presented a nexus between the results of the interviews and the data from participant observation. I did so by triangulating the themes that emerged in the interviews with the field journals, transcriptions and artifacts obtained through participant observation. I claim that after triangulating the results of the interviews with the participant observation data I get to the practices of teacher development of the community, that is, the practices that relate student teachers’ self-understandings (interviews) with actual social practice (participant observation). Finally, I present the teacher development practices using the following resources: (1) synoptic charts that relate the practice, as a collection of events, to the individual events in which they are realized; and (2) analysis of prototypical events in which the practice is being realized, or, in Wenger’s (2010) terms, of the local practice.

In the next chapter, I will present and discuss possible interpretations of the results, referring to earlier related studies.