Post on 10-Jan-2017
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Becoming a connected educator:
Part-time language teachers’ serendipitous professional development on Twitter
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Research background• Increase in number of Part-time language teachers (PTLTs) across
educational sectors (Beaton & Gilbert, 2013)• Increase in professional development (PD) demands (Locke, 2014)• Limited access to organised, formal professional development for
PTLTs (Stickler & Emke, 2015)• Time• Money
• Informal PD as a possibility to deal with these problems• Twitter as a space in which serendipitous PD can occur in rhizomatic ways
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
A Deleuze-Guattarian approach to research• What is a Deleuze-Guattarian approach to research?
• A Thousand Plateaus (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987): a book as a rhizome• Key questions: What does it do? How does it function?• Key concepts: assemblage, multiplicities, rhizome, becoming, affect
• Research questions• How does PTLTs’ professional development on Twitter work?• What is the affect of PTLTs’ professional development on Twitter?
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Twitter: How does it function?
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
The research journey: The researcher• Becoming a rhizome researcher (Clarke & Parsons, 2013)
• The researcher as part of the research assemblage : …” research is always more than research, because it is conducted and constructed by people who (by doing research) engage in the complex challenge of symbolic meaning-making and identity-building, informed by changing life narratives.” (p. 36)
• Rhizome researchers start where they are (nomadic)• Rhizome researchers listen to the voices/things connected to them
(assemblages)• Rhizome researchers search for research aspects that are sometimes
ignored (different affects)
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
The research journey: The pilot study• ‘Doing’ rhizomatic research: always being “in the middle”, always
being “in-between”, always “becoming other-than”• Community Plateau (data collection 10 - 12 Nov 2015): investigating
connections in the multiplicity #mfltwitterati through Social Network Analysis (Newman, 2010; de Laat, 2010)
• Twitter for PD story Plateau (data collection 16 Nov – 6 Dec 2015): investigating PTLTs’ experiences of learning on Twitter through a narrative frames online questionnaire (Barkhuizen & Wette, 2008)
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Community Plateau: The multiplicity #mfltwitterati (475 tweets, incl. retweets )
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Community Plateau: Patterns of engagement in #mfltwitterati (241 users)
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Community Plateau: Fluidity of multiplicities
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Community Plateau: Interim results• #mfltwitterati: a fragmented network (37 sub-communities) with
distinct communication patterns, 5 dominant sub-communities• Some #mfltwitterati users bridge communication between sub-groups• PTLTs who want to use #mfltwitterati for PD could connect with actors
who are central to communications to foster their rhizomatic learning• Semantic analysis of the tweets shows that PD topics occur in
conversations; most conversations about teaching tips and resources• Hashtag analysis shows the fluidity of Twitter multiplicities
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Twitter for PD Plateau: The narrative frames (n=8)
Research participants
(pseudonyms)
Gender Languages taught Volunteered for main study
Margaret female English yes
Rose female English, French, Italian yes
Kay ? French no
Robert male French, German yes (via Twitter)
Tony ? French, Irish no
Suzanne female French yes
Hanna female English, Czech yes
Rachel female English, German yes
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Twitter for PD story Plateau: learning through connecting • [ I see Twitter as a professional learning tool because…]
• “it's a place to find leads to interesting articles, and it's a space to talk, reflect, share ideas, explore and connect” (Rachel)
• “You can connect with different teachers in relation to the subject that you teach and you can learn from each other” (Robert)
• [ I connect with other (language) teachers on Twitter by…] • “I tend not to connect with other teachers as some record their every thought on twitter
but I have linked with one who seems to share useful links for the classroom and try to reciprocate with useful ideas, too.”(Tony)
Possible tensions when learning in rhizomatic ways
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Twitter for PD story Plateau: “becoming other than”• [I use Twitter for…] “escaping some of the difficulties/ frustrations in my
own working situation, getting to know others, sometimes seeking support from those who share some of my concerns/ views/ values, and sometimes curious to be challenged by different and fresh ideas.” (Rachel)
• I don't want to become old school, boring, old-fashioned and I want to keep up with the young generations. Also to find colleagues who are like me. / [There is one way that Twitter has shaped the way that I teach, and that is ….] “it has become more reflective, happier and imaginative. Also confident, because I know I am the modern educatior now:-)” (Hanna)
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
The research journey: insights from the pilot study• The pilot study has shaped the research process: stronger direction
towards Deleuzian thinking and ‘doing research’; implications for the main study with regard to approaching interviews and ‘reading’ data
• SNA has shown the complexity and fluidity of engagement on Twitter; longer term observation of individual and community engagement planned for the main study
• The narrative frames were useful for recruiting PTLTs for the main study and will inform the structure of the interviews planned for the main study; different interview questions needed to reflect Deleuzian thinking
• Ethical issues regarding research on Twitter
01/05/2023 Martina Emke, WiP seminar. The Open University
Thank you for your attention!…. And if you would like to know more, please contact me on
@MartinaEmke Martina.Emke@open.ac.uk