The Teaching Instagram Community There is no doubt that digital technologies are having staggering effects on the lives of educators and their students (Trust, Carpenter, & Krutka, 2016). Social media applications provide opportunities for multimodal, supportive learning that can occur anywhere, at any time (Dron & Anderson, 2014). It has the capacity to provide teachers with various avenues to develop their knowledge, skills and identities. Trust, et al (2016, p. 28) defines Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) as “uniquely personalised, complex systems of interactions consisting of people, resources, and digital tools that support ongoing learning and professional growth.” Professional development is not a proficient aspect of the teaching profession and is why many educators seemingly prefer digital platforms to extend their PLNs and improve their pedagogical practices. The digital platform of Instagram reflects the Connectivism model; the capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known (Dron & Anderson, 2014).
Interconnection In the teacher Instagram community, the opportunities to share expertise, ideas and clarify questions are countless. This is due to the six different modes within the Instagram application of direct messaging, stories, feed posts, live streams, IGTV (Instagram TV) and reels. Each mode can be used depending on how publicly users want to communicate with others and the amount of creativity they wish to utilise in doing so. Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate life-long learning (Cantrill, et al., 2014).
Aside from the discussions of teaching-related content, there are competitions, collaborations and trends that are frequently occurring within the platform. For users to learn from other members in the community, a strong foundation of social connection is required (DeLamater & Myers, 2010). Users do not have to participate in these social activities, but the option is presented and builds upon the professional connections made between educators. The impact these social aspects have on the community is a strong sense of belonging. As Cantrill, et al (2014) states, social connection is a natural instinct in human beings. The platform has a family feel to it that allows individuals to connect with like-minded people, who can empathise with their feelings and celebrate their successes. Being able to laugh with these people, collaborate with other teachers on videos and resources creates a close-knit community and encourages participation. The people you are interacting with each day are more than strangers on the internet, they become friends and often lead to real-world friendships and relationships. This strong sense of belonging fosters a highly engaged, motivated and supportive environment (Catrill, et al., 2014; Ito, et al., 2013).
The basis of the community is to experience learning through meaningful activities and projects (Ito, et al., 2013). As Black (2013) states, “without inspiration, no one can truly be successful.” Every educator in the learning environment has individual strengths able to be shared with the community. Naturally, weaknesses are also disclosed through seeking feedback and support. Reflective practice is critical for any educator and is something that is encouraged within the community. Connected learning communities are known as openly networked reflective practices (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). Openly discussing and sharing individual strengths and weaknesses promotes reflective and critical thinking and creates that meaningful and inspirational environment. This form of engagement is known as networked individualism and has a heavy focus on an individual (Rainie & Wellman, 2012). When they feel comfortable to open up their practice for scrutiny and observation, opportunities for collaboration, discovery and connection are created (Trust, Carpenter, & Krutka, 2016).
Openness and Accessibility In the last few decades, technology has completely reorganised how we live, communicate and learn. (Siemens, 2005). The teaching profession is far bigger than the internet. Seeking connection, meaning and purpose has been a human pursuit far longer than the internet has existed to support these digital platforms. Social media and digital platforms “serve as nodes in a network of learning” (Cantrill, et al., 2014). More informal learning platforms, such as social media are significant aspects of learning experiences in the 21st century. The Instagram application that supports the teacher Instagram community is easily accessible. It is a simple, user-friendly application that simply requires a digital device and a free account. Teachers participate in digital networks to find, share and create professional knowledge and to collaborate with and feel supported by education professionals (Trust, Carpenter, & Krutka, 2016). Cross-generational and cross-cultural connections are available at users’ fingertips, which are often not possible in real-world workplaces.
Members of the community are so incredibly diverse. The educators’ backgrounds differ in all aspects, whether that be age, qualifications, context they are working in, cultural background or the journey that led them to their current role. The range of experiences within the community is abundant and provides a rich basis for connection and collaboration to occur for the education sector. Cantrill, et al (2014) explains how educators who connect with others about their practice are able to reach beyond their present context to bring others towards them, which in turn, creates powerful learning. Viewing, listening and interacting with such a diverse group of people incidentally provides opportunity to explore many possibilities for expanding teaching capabilities and sparks curiosity for future practices.
Sharing of Work The purpose of this community is to create a safe and supportive platform for educators, all over the world, to share, discuss and discover innovative and personalised resources and pedagogies to support their learners. During a university course, Geier and Neisler discovered that becoming experts on a topic and sharing this knowledge with a wider audience created a strong sense of dignity between them. There is not simply one type of work that is shared between the teacher Instagram members. Some of the common ones are teaching resources, storage methods, teaching space layouts, teaching pedagogies and behaviour management skills. The format of the Instagram application creates a highly visible and interactive space for expertise to be distributed (Ito, et al., 2013). The users are both consuming and creating content within this community. The multitude of members allows for ample opportunity to share ideas. This subsequently creates an environment where ideas are constantly being discussed and the quality of inspiration sparked from these discussions is invaluable.
Feedback is something that is highly valued on the platform. Instagram is known as a safe space, where seeking feedback is encouraged by members. The more users engage with others, the more confident they become and feel capable of sharing their own ideas and resources with the group and receiving feedback from these people. This process cultivates a “need to know” and “need to share” mindset (Ito, et al., 2013). Feedback and resources are shared with the idea of reciprocity in mind. The majority of sharing is done with the knowledge that they will reciprocate an offer made in the future. The six different modes within the application discussed above allow for a range of ways these exchanges can occur. Again, depending on the confidence of the person sharing, the different modes can reach as many, being a post on a public feed, or as few members as possible, being a private direct message. These features create low-level entry barriers and ensures the concept of “lurking and leeching” is achievable (Ito, et al., 2013). The degree of freedom in a network-based learning environment is very high (Dron & Anderson, 2014). As a user within the community, you have the freedom to share and interact as much as you feel comfortable doing so. Having such an accessible application with a large volume of members, ensures individual choice does not limit overall inspiration gained from the wider community. As Dron and Anderson discuss (2014), people in networks make decisions and move in specific directions but the focus of this movement cannot be dictated by an individual. There are plenty of confident people who are willing to share their experiences regularly and the amount of people in this position only increases over time.
Interest-driven A key aspect that differentiates the teacher Instagram community from the standard Instagram community is the majority of users have both a personal and a teacher account. Consequently, the content produced and discussed on the teacher platform is solely related to education and careers. Experiences are more concentrated than if personal achievements and events were intertwined. This community is centred on the teaching profession and is a key attribute to its success and influence. Within the community, there are several smaller, more focussed groupings of members. The composition of these varies but tend to be based on the year-level, the location of their education facility, specialty they may teach or focussed areas of passion within the teaching space. For example, at the beginning of each school year, Australian year five educators will follow one another, and discussions can spark around what their context looks like, the similarities and differences between them are shared and first day ideas and resources are discussed.
There are three main avenues for “lurking” to occur with the intent of joining these smaller groups within the community (Ito, et al., 2013). The search feature allows users to type in key words or usernames and sift through the multitude of results. There is also an ‘explore’ page, which consists of accounts and posts that Instagram believes would be of interest to you, based on your movements within the application. An influential feature is the ability to search or follow certain hashtags that are written in photo captions. If a user has a strong interest in a new type of writing pedagogy, for example, they can immerse themselves in this topic. They can then follow this hashtag and posts about this subject will now appear on their feeds and encourages the development of this skill.
Each day there are elements of celebration and acknowledgment within the community. Similar to feedback and sharing, publication of individual progress and interest are highly encouraged. Member shoutouts are a regular occurrence to build upon that sense of belonging felt within the connected learning environment. A strong sense of empowerment is felt as a result of this supportive and uplifting culture. Due to the online nature of the platform, recognition for personal and professional achievements are in the form of gaining followers, strong emotional connections, instant gratification and praise via comments or private messages. These positive rewards act as incentives for members to continue sharing, being open and honest with one another and increases their confidence, not only on a personal level, but on a more professional level that can flow into their teaching practice. Regardless of what form an individual’s education experience takes, the visibility of the application allows everyone’s journeys to be followed and celebrated as they would be in a more conventional friendship group or family setting. This integration of interest and peer culture fosters a motivated, meaningful and mutual community that promotes sustained learning amongst its members (Ito, et al., 2013).
Shared Purpose In a recent study on PLNs for teachers, many of the participants reported feeling like social and empowered educators who were continually engaged in the learning process (Trust, Carpenter, & Krutka, 2016). The teacher Instagram community would be described as a group of highly supportive, highly motivated individuals who bond over the shared purpose of improving their teaching practices. There is no doubt that this connected learning environment connects the three spheres of individual passions, peer support and a shared drive to succeed in the education sector (Ito, et al., 2013). Regardless of age, experience or context, every member is there for the shared purpose of developing and sharing their knowledge and skillset along the course of their teaching journey. It is this shared purpose that binds the members together and creates an open, trusting and influential community of current and future educators.
As Ito, et al (2013) explains, a major sphere of connected learning is the concept of being drawn towards future-oriented goals and achievements. Within the teacher Instagram community, leadership is frequently conveyed through older and more experienced educators sharing the path they followed to gain a leadership position, as well as showing and discussing the behind the scenes of administration and leadership roles. The live-stream feature is often used for this purpose. Users can host live sessions where they explain in detail the process of gaining a leadership position, answer member questions about this and provide the community with personalised tips and advice for those who may be wanting to follow a similar path.
The fact that this community is within a digital application, allows these discussions to be had in more of an informal, non-invasive setting and therefore creates an open-minded view on potential career aspirations and opportunities. It also allows those online mentors to build their capability. These skills can then translate into their real-world, professional lives and give them the confidence to offer these sessions to colleagues. Trust, et al (2016) supports this by discussing how teachers who expand their PLNs through digital technologies and social media expand their connections beyond local networks and seek knowledge and opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available to them. Without communities like this one, there would potentially be a large number of educators who were closed off to expanding their skillset or moving into leadership positions simply because they were not exposed to them in their workplace.
Recommendations for further expansion or learning opportunities Jones (2015) emphasises how important the human element is to networked learning and that online materials are not sufficient in isolation. A recommendation to increase the learning opportunities for educators in the teacher Instagram community is to encourage real-life meet and greets. Members could visit sites to observe other member’s pedagogical practices and then implement these into their own contexts. The term coined by Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989) situational cognition, explains how learning can only occur if there is social interaction as well as authentic activities. Practice-based tasks are crucial for individuals to develop their skills and abilities (Kear, 2010). Members within the teacher Instagram community would flourish if their online experiences were complimented with real-world experiences. In a case study conducted by Trust, et al in 2016, there were numerous participants who accessed a wide variety of non-traditional professional development settings, such as social media, to further their professional growth. Another recommendation is to increase the amount opportunities for professional development to be available through the Instagram application. This could be in the form of webinars using the live-stream function, professional reading of articles shared by other members or even daily interactions and education-based discussions counting towards professional development hours for staff members. As discussed in length above, due to the sheer volume of users in the community, there will be someone in the network who exhibit the skills and interests needed to assist with specific requests (Dron & Anderson, 2014). Risks for the teacher Instagram community Dron and Anderson (2014) concluded that communities with undefined parameters and a lack of structure were usually overwhelming and unpredictable. Interacting in a space with too many options can make it difficult for members to form opinions of their own and make appropriate decisions. As Dron (2007) states, freedom is often a curse; choice is not always equivalent to control. Schwartz (2004) builds upon this by explaining how the quantity of content fed to individuals via social media leads to an excess of choice and consequently diminishes the control users have. When there is too much diversity available on a platform, this can lead to chaos (Dron & Anderson, 2014). A major risk for the teacher Instagram community falls upon the notion of unrealistic portrayals of the teaching profession. There is a concern that “popular” does not equal “useful” (Dron & Anderson, 2014). There are often discussions around educators who are currently or have previously implemented activities or purchased unnecessary products purely because it was “trending” at the time. Priorities shift from focusing on the learners to focusing on capturing influential content to receive gratification from others on the platform. Dron and Anderson (p.140, 2014) define content produced on social media as “curated, mashed-up, re-presented, and constructed by those in a network.” DeLamater and Myers (2010) label this as self-presentation and is defined by individuals attempting to control how others see them online. The lines between fiction and reality become blurred and comparative behaviours emerge on both personal and professional levels. These negative behaviours have the potential to be detrimental to student learning as well as professional growth (Brake, 2014). To diminish these risks, it is critical that the members of the teacher Instagram community keep in mind their personal context while engaging in the platform.
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