‘Affinity spaces’ a term coined by James Gee (2018) to define social and cultural settings where teaching is shared by several people in different locations and ‘are connected by a shared interest or passion.’ According to Gee, teaching and learning does not need to be confined to one specific space, nor a specific person, in fact it is fluid and dependent upon the common goal of those seeking the knowledge. Whilst traditionally educators attend physical seminars, workshops and programs for their professional development, the advent of social media has brought about a change in the ways that teaching professionals extend the ways in which they extend their practice.
Instagram as a Professional Learning Platform
Being time-poor and as a way to reduce exorbitant spending, increasingly, more and more teachers are using Instagram as a platform to extend their knowledge and expertise in their individual teaching areas. Being a free social media platform, it enables teachers to follow other educators who share their own teaching ideas and experiences. The visual nature of these posts and stories, either through the use of images or reels, provide a quick way for teachers to scan these suggestions and ideas. It also paves the way for teachers to engage with other teachers through the comments left on these posts.
Research conducted by Carpenter, Morrison, Craft and Lee (2020) on teachers’ use of Instagram for improving their practice, found that 71.2% of their 841 respondents used Instagram more than once a day, and with more than 80% of participants using it to ‘look at ideas and content shared by other educators’. The use of hashtags allows users to easily find relevant content quickly. Furthermore, the studies also reveal that 87.9% of respondents found that Instagram helped increase their content and pedagogical knowledge, which supports the idea of Instagram being a tool to help enhance pedagogical pursuits for teachers.
The Benefits
Access to a Wealth of ResourcesWith hundreds of educator accounts on Instagram, it offers free content for teachers to peruse and learn from. The content ranges from teaching strategies to lesson plans, and classroom management tips. These are usually also linked to the creator’s other platforms, such as blogs, podcasts or Teacher Pay Teachers, a platform where teachers can purchase teaching resources.
Networking and Collaboration
Thriving in the area of education is not just about knowledge and expertise but also the ability to foster learning through connections. This includes the ability to collaborate with others in the profession (Haas, et.al, p.373, 2020). Instagram offers teachers the ability to connect across continents, allowing them to collaborate with their peers, which in turn, creates a sense of community and support. As found in Carpenter’s et al study, more than half of participants indicated that the main reasons for using Instagram was to build ‘an educator community or support network and collaborating with other educators’.
The functions that allow users to leave comments, share someone’s post on their own stories or post, save these posts for their own use and even sending direct messages, act as a form of a ‘Personal Learning Network’ (PLN), that allows for individualised learning and engagement for teachers.
This utilises the idea of ‘connectivism’ (Siemens cited in Haas, 2020), where learning occurs through the ‘process of connecting with others’. In fact, there have been successful collaborations between educators.
Professional Growth and Reflection
By looking at examples of other teachers’ work, Instagram can be used as tool to reflect on one’s practice. In order to develop professionally, it is critical for teachers to reflect on their own teaching (Newton & Williams, 2022). In Foltyn’s qualitative study into EFL teachers’ transformation through Instagram mediated reflective practice (2022), it was found that those who had used Instagram for personal use, transformed into using it as a reflective tool. The idea of leaving one’s ‘comfort zone’ as a result of meeting new people with new ideas, encourages teachers to look within their own practice. The study also found that using their own feeds as a form of ‘record-keeping’ acts as a way from which they ‘can learn and develop’. Another way that Instagram acts as a reflective tools is through the feedback received for those who create teaching content by their followers. It helps them keep track of the viability and effectiveness of their content.
The Limitations
However, using Instagram as means for professional development also has its limitations.
Time Management and Distraction
Foltyn’s study (2022) also highlights how time-consuming using Instagram can be. Due to the high expectations set by individuals, trawling through Instagram posts and hashtags can use up valuable time. Even with saving resources, and ideas, there is then the matter of actually having time to apply these ideas to their own practice.
Demotivation
There are times when Instagram posts can lead to teachers questioning their own abilities as a teacher, especially when confronted by videos and posts of successful strategies, when these same applications do not work for them (Carpenter, et.al, 2020). The ‘unhealthy comparisons’ to beautifully curated posts can often lead to ‘self-doubt’ and negative feelings towards their own teaching practices.
A Matter of Balance
Whilst Instagram provides a myriad of ways to help teachers improve on their professional development, it is important to understand how to balance this to avoid any negative repercussions. Teachers needs to understand the limitations, create boundaries and instead use the platform along with their colleagues to bounce of ideas and re-evaluate collectively.
References
Carpenter, J.P., Morrison, S. A., Craft, M., Lee, M. (2020). How and why are educators using Instagram? Teaching and Teacher Education, 96 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103149
Foltyn, M. (2022). Hashtags for EFL teachers’ transformation: an insight into Instagram-mediated reflective practice. Reflective Practice, 23:6, p 690-704 DOI:10.1080/14623943.2022.2120463
Gee, J.P. (2018). Affinity spaces: How young people live and learn online and out of school. Phi Delta Kappa, March 2018. https://research.ebsco.com/c/np77rt/viewer/html/t4znqwxs7z
Haas, M.R.C., Haley, K., Nagappan, B.S., Ankel, F., Swaminathan, A., Santen, S.A. (2020). The connected educator: personal learning networks. The Clinical Teachers Toolbox. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. and The Association for the Study of Medical Education. doi: 10.1111/tct.13146
Newton, J.R., Williams, M.C. (2022). Instagram as a special educator professional development tool: a guide to teachergram. Journal of Special Education Technology 37(3) 447-452. DOI: 10.1177/01626434211033596
Video References
Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay
Music by Jonas from PixabayPhoto by Merakist on Unsplash
“Music” by A. Cooper is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0.
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Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-teaching-in-front-of- the-class-8466704/
Video by Dimitar Dimitrov: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-person-typing-on-a-laptop-keyboard-4496268/
Video by Thirdman: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-man-writing-on-a-board-7653379/
Video by Tony Schnagl: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-man-relaxing-his-stressed-eyes-5528011/
Video by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-woman-doing-a-presentation-in-a-meeting-7647686/
Video by Los Muertos Crew: https://www.pexels.com/video/person-browsing-online-7616840/
Video by DMC Filmes: https://www.pexels.com/video/man-browsing-facebook-on-mobile-5201209/
Video by Ketut Subiyanto: https://www.pexels.com/video/woman-surfing-her-smartphone-at-work-4629173/
Video by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/video/people-discussing-in-a-meeting-7648397/
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