Status and inquiry in teacher communities

Taking a socio-cultural perspective on status, this study investigates how teachers' seniority, status, authority and power-relations shape veteran and novice teachers' learning in teacher communities. Applying Goffman's concepts for investigating the interaction order, this case study of a single community focuses on the subtle nuances of discourse in one video-recorded meeting. The analysis shows how power dynamics in community discourse afford and constrain novice and veteran teacher learning; how settings, facilitation practices, leadership and social expectations mediate status, power dynamics, and thus inquiry, thereby constraining professional learning.