Pedagogical Transformation and Teacher Learning for Knowledge Building - Turning COVID-19 Challenges into Opportunities - Special Issue 2021

Oct 15, 2026

This paper examines a Knowledge-Building Community (KBC) effort that connects teachers across and within schools to support knowledge creation during COVID-19 disruptions. It addresses online learning implementation challenges and identifies three misalignment areas: learning disconnected from home-school separation, piecemeal technology used to mimic physical teaching, and gaps between teacher professional development and classroom practice. Through analysis of three interconnected cases spanning curriculum, pedagogy, technology, and community, the paper highlights emerging realignment themes supporting transformative pedagogy and technology.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Knowledge-Building Community (KBC) and Teacher Learning

Misalignments and Realignment Efforts

Transformative Pedagogy, Technology, and Community Dynamics

Volume 4 7 (4) Special Issue 2021 Pedagogical Transformation and Teacher Learning for Knowledge Building: Turning COVID-19 Challenges into Opportunities Transformation pédagogique et formation d’enseignant·e·s en coélaboration de connaissances : convertir des obstacles en opportunités au temps de la Covid-19 Chew Lee, Teo, National Institute of Education, Singapore Seng Chee, Tan, National Institute of Education, Singapore Carol Chan, Hong Kong University, China Abstract This paper reports on a Knowledge-Building Community (KBC) continual effort connecting teachers within and across schools for knowledge creation and community building during the COVID- 19 disruptions. During this crisis, schools around the world are being challenged with the issues of implementing online learning. We identified three areas of misalignments: disjoint in learning with home-school separation, piecemeal technologies to mimic physical teaching, and disconnect between teacher professional development and classroom practices, and we discussed emerging realignment efforts for transformative learning. Through analyzing the three cases of how teachers responded to COVID-19 challenges in inter-related areas of curriculum, pedagogy, technology, and community, several themes on emerging alignments conducive for transformative pedagogy and technology through community advancement were identified. These themes include innovating practice around the centrality of ideas, perceiving knowledge building as pervasive, transformative use of technology, and symmetrical advancement of knowledge where expertise is distributed within and between communities. These case examples show that in these disruptive times, the teachers were more actively building new practices supported by the community dynamics and systemic processes of the KBC. Consequently, the interactions between stakeholders shifted from disjointed relations in different hierarchical levels to a network community of people, ideas, and resources, and teachers continually advancing their knowledge-building practice in these challenging times. Keywords: Knowledge-building community; Discourse; Teacher professional development; Knowledge building classroom CJLT/RCAT Vol. 47 (4) Résumé Cet article rend compte de l'effort continu d'une communauté d’élaboration de connaissances (CoÉco) pour connecter les enseignant·e·s d’une même école et d’écoles différentes à des fins decréation ou de coélaboration de connaissances pendant les perturbations de la COVID-19. Depuis ledébut de cette crise, les écoles du monde entier ont été confrontées aux problèmes de mise en œuvre del'apprentissage en ligne. Nous avons d’abord identifié trois zones de désalignement : la disjonction del'apprentissage de par les réalités maison-école distinctes, l’usage fragmenté de technologies pour imiter l'enseignement en salle de classe et la déconnexion du développement professionnel desenseignant·e·s des pratiques de classe. Par la suite, nous avons discuté de réalignements émergents pour un apprentissage transformateur. En analysant trois cas où des enseignant·e·s ont relevé des défis reliés à la COVID-19 dans les aires interdépendantes que sont le programme d'études, la pédagogie, la technologie et la communauté, nous avons repéré plusieurs thèmes rattachés à des alignements émergents propices à une pédagogie et une technologie transformatrices de par l'avancement de la communauté . Ces thèmes comprennent une pratique innovante qui repose sur la centralité des idées, la perception de la coélaboration de connaissances comme omniprésente, l'utilisation transformatrice de la technologie et l'avancement symétrique des connaissances là où l'expertise est distribuée au sein des communautés et entre celles-ci. Ces cas exemplaires montrent qu'en ces temps perturbés, lesenseignant·e·s ont été plus actifs à développer de nouvelles pratiques soutenues par la dynamique communautaire et les processus systémiques de la CoÉco. Par con

FAQs

What is the focus of this paper regarding COVID-19 disruption?

The paper focuses on how a Knowledge-Building Community (KBC) engages students in knowledge building while teachers address COVID-19-related challenges.

Which three misalignment areas are identified?

The paper identifies misalignments in learning due to home-school separation, in the piecemeal use of technologies to mimic physical teaching, and in disconnects between teacher professional development and classroom practices.

What themes emerge from the three teacher response cases?

The cases reveal themes such as centrality of ideas, viewing knowledge building as pervasive, transformative use of technology, and symmetrical advancement of knowledge through distributed expertise in and between communities.

Oct 15, 2026

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