‘For once I Felt Useful’: A Self Study of A Physical Education Teacher Navigating School Culture through Professional Learning Communities during Induction

ABSTRACT Teachers in contemporary schools carry a host of work-related responsibilities. As such, the act of teaching (delivering content) is only one aspect of being a teacher. Interactions with colleagues, administrators, and students combine to form a complex socialization process as teachers, especially novice teachers in their induction years, learn to navigate the sociopolitical climate and culture of schools. In many schools, professional learning communities (PLCs) are utilized as one method for continuous professional development, but these formations introduce unique considerations for a teacher’s socialization because of the various ways they are structured. Guided by Occupational Socialization Theory, this self-study explores Molly’s experiences navigating two school cultures during her induction years. Molly’s graduate school experience coincided with her induction years of teaching in the K-12 setting. As Molly learned more about PLCs in her master’s program, she desired to learn how she could more fully contribute to them. Molly found her reflections returning repeatedly to the notions of belonging and community while striving to find her way as a beginning teacher. Implications from this study include the necessity to conceptualize teaching as more than delivering content. Schools are political spaces with built-in mechanisms designed to reproduce the culture. Teachers in physical education have often reported feeling marginalized within the school community. Physical education teachers may need more experience with cross-curricular collaborative work designed to improve the learning and well-being of young people. Learning how to specifically contribute to and navigate PLC school structures is perhaps underemphasized in teacher preparation programs.