Building and sharing teacher professional identity in virtual communities.

The main objective of the present research is the elaboration and validation of online workshop models aimed at the university training of primary school teachers. The research was carried out over two year period (the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years) in the University of Padova. Two different types group of students were involved, pre-service and the in-service (professional beginner and advance beginner) teacher students. Collaborative casework activities were offered to all students who attended online workshops with direct reference to Communities of Inquiry by David R. Garrison and Terry Anderson (2003). The research was based on integrated mixed methodology: multi strands multi methods (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2005). The data, provided from pre-post individual activities (profile protocols) and forum’s activities (forum protocols), was analysed using quantitative approaches (specificity and correspondence analyses etc.) and quantitative-qualitative approach (protocols of forums) using categories of David R. Garrison and Terry Anderson (2003; Garrison et al, 2006), Helen L. Harrington (Harrington et al, 1996), Richard F. Bales (1950; 1970) revisited and analysed by new “integrated” SNA model, and narrative interviews made with selected beginners and advanced- beginners teachers students. The results obtained confirm effectiveness of online workshop models only for student and beginner teachers, and also a tendency towards a functional fixedness and self-reference of in service teacher students, especially in advanced teachers students. The positive results of narrative interviews carried out also confirmed an increased awareness and deeper comprehension of personal and professional identity in the involved subjects. These results lead us to consider the prospect of a new model of teacher education that may be promising especially for the advanced-beginner teachers and other levels of competent or expert teachers, categories which have proven to be the most resistant to professional identity conceptual changes