EXPLORING TEACHER ROLES IN TEACHER LITERATURE CIRCLES

Abstract

This article reports a part of a study conducted among in-service teachers in a Malaysian secondary school. The focus of the main study was on teacher learning in teacher literature circles. However, this article focuses on the roles played by teachers during teacher literature circles. The roles are described and identified as they emerged from the data. Three teachers and the researcher met informally in the school library and discussed the new text once a week over a period of seven weeks. The teacher literature circle discussions were recorded and transcribed. The study found that the emergent roles facilitated the teachers’ meaning making processes, as the teachers tried to understand the text, which they had to teach to their students.