TITLE Teacher Learning in the Workplace: Processes and Influencing

This study examined findings from a larger study that investigated how a cohort of 14 new teachers learned and developed over the first 2 years of teaching. Data collection involved interviews, questionnaires, and reports. Findings suggested an idiosyncratic, practical, and context-specific conception of learning. Respondents undervalued the formal contexts of learning, such as preservice education and field experiences, and they highlighted the strong influence of workplace norms and values on the process of (re)learning in practice. Results noted the powerful effect of students ' reactions within the classroom, day-to-day experience at school, and significant others (relatives and former teachers) on teacher learning in the workplace. Certain perceptions of school culture and leadership impacted the ways in which new teachers learned and developed over time. A narrow understanding of teacher professional development prevailed. They saw learning more as an individual and lonely business than a join