Content Analysis of Science Teachers' Cooperative Discourse in Contexts of Educational Innovation

Abstract

New reform contexts increasingly demand that teachers be the leading actors of innovation, thus challenging teachers’ learning and professional development. As a result, from a socio-cultural standpoint that relates social interaction to learning, teachers’ cooperative work becomes a focus of interest. However, we know little about how teachers work cooperatively for curriculum innovation and in particular, how they develop professionally in those contexts, which is related in the literature with the idea of Professional Community. This research is aimed at increasing our knowledge in this field through a content analysis of teachers’ discourse in cooperative scenarios. The exploratory analysis done identifies the types of discourse and the discourse patterns present in these contexts, discussing their potential for the participating teachers’ learning and development.