Multi-theoretical approach when researching mathematics teachers’ professional development in self-organized online groups

International audienceAbstract: Teachers worldwide are using social media as a professional development resource. In studying social media as ‘a place’ for teachers’ professional development, we investigated large Facebook groups with themes connected to teaching and learning in compulsory schools. The interaction in these groups was analysed within the framework of systemic functional grammar. In order to reveal knowledge known and shared by teachers as a community, we have also used Shulman’s (1987) framework. Most posts received responses and this response is in line with the expected response pattern. The speech functions ‘Questions’ and ‘Offers’ were most common. Further, most posts addressed subject specific knowledge. The multi-theoretical approach used when researching mathematics teachers’ professional development in self-organized online groups showed that these large Facebook groups facilitated professional learning