Collaboration in blended spaces : exploring the lived experiences of educators in a Midwestern high school

A key aspect of the work of public secondary teachers is collaboration with colleagues to address the problems of their practice toward outcomes of professional growth and student success. This narrative inquiry aimed to describe and understand the lived experiences of educators as they expanded the boundaries of their collaborative practice. Through in-depth interviews, participants shared their lived experience of transitioning their mode of departmental collaboration from face-to-face to a blended model of practice. The underpinning conceptual framework of Wenger’s Community of Practice and situated cognition, helped to frame this study. The conceptual framework of communities of practice was constructed from the idea that adult learning is a result of social practice rather than the structured, hierarchal environments typically designed for learning. Themes around trust, technology proficiency, accountability and leadership emerged from the narrative accounts of four Midwestern secondary educators. The study results have implications for collaborative practices for teachers, supports for technology proficiency, resolving the conflict between accountability and agency, and conditions necessary for a successful transition to blended collaboration as a condition of systemic learning in a public high