Understanding pre-service teacher education discourses in Communities of Practice: A reflection from an intervention in rural South Africa

Abstract

Drawing on an evaluation experience of a teacher education preparation project in a rural area of South Africa, this paper attempts to explore the possibility of using Communities of Practice (CoP) in teacher preparation. The paper concludes that the concept of CoP is powerful in providing spaces for self-reflection to pre-service teachers and challenging the dominant urban-based teacher education discourses in relation to rural schools. However, the CoP is also problematic, especially with regard to the issues of social differences among the members of the CoP and the sustainability of the broader influence of a CoP on marginalised rural communities.