Using a community of practice for teacher professional development in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Achieving teacher transformation through professional development training programs is not always guaranteed. Research has shown that teacher transformative learning is more likely to occur through professional interactions with colleagues and critical reflection. Such processes can help teachers develop new knowledge, change their previous beliefs about teaching, implement new strategies in class, and improve their classroom teaching practice. A Community of Practice (CoP) professional development model provides an environment where such learning can be achieved. While popular in the West, the CoP model is underused in parts of the world that have traditional educational systems, such as the Middle East. This chapter reports on a teacher professional development program using a CoP model designed to provide training on classroom teaching strategies and techniques to 25 college teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The chapter first describes the process of the CoP program and then reports on the results of an investigation of the participants’ attitudes towards the program and the content of the training sessions as well as how they implemented the specific teaching techniques in their classes.