Sustaining Online Teacher Networks

The past decade or more has seen the escalation of various forms of social media. With this has come a change in the way many teachers access their professional learning. No longer are they content to accept traditional ways of delivery of professional learning such as conferences or bringing in experts to a school as the only way to learn. One such means that teachers are now accessing is through Twitter and, in particular, Twitter chats. These provide readily available sites where teachers can connect with a global audience and access professional learning suited to their diverse needs. They form what Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner (2020) would call a Social Learning Space. There are examples of chats that evolve into sustained Communities of Practice. This chapter reports on the findings of a qualitative study of seven current Twitter chat facilitators. Data analysis suggests that these leaders demonstrate new forms of distributed leadership in the way they facilitate the chats and how they ensure they are relevant and engaging for teachers. They are helping to amplify teacher voice. These findings have implications for Initial Teacher Institutions, schools and policy makers and for envisioning new forms of leadership.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.