'That blasted Facebook page': supporting trainee-teachers' professional learning through social media

The creation and use of a Facebook group amongst trainee-teachers in post-16 and further education on a PGCE course at a large university in the North of England was studied. The Facebook group was self-initiated and self-managed by the trainee-teachers as a means of socialisation and peer-support amongst themselves. Data was gathered through parallel interviews with a PGCE trainee and a course tutor. Interviews were semi-structured using Tuckman's stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing) to explore the functioning of the Facebook group throughout the duration of the PGCE course. The role of teacher-trainers in influencing professional learning within the Facebook group initiated and owned by the trainee-teachers themselves was explored using the didactical triangle as a theoretical framework. It was found that the Facebook group was highly-valued both for supporting socialisation amongst trainee-teachers and as an additional means of mediating the course content of the PGCE. Lessons can be learnt both by trainee-teachers using social media for socialisation and peer-support and by course-tutors in designing teacher-training courses that may better ameliorate the pressures and sense of alienation trainee-teachers experience during initial teacher training.