The Use of WeChat as an Online Community of Practice among Primary School Teachers in Guangdong, China

Abstract

Against the backdrop of rapidly developing digital education, WeChatone of the most widely used social tools in Chinahas provided a new platform for communication and collaboration between primary school teachers and parents. Based on the theory of Communities
of Practice, this study adopts a qualitative research approach to explore how primary school teachers in Guangdong utilize WeChat to build
online communities of practice to promote home-school collaboration. The findings reveal that teachers gradually form a structurally stable
and interactively dynamic online educational community by clarifying shared educational goals, encouraging deep parental involvement, and
consistently sharing educational resources. However, issues such as information misinterpretation and increased teacher workload are also
identified. The study aims to provide both theoretical support and practical guidance for primary school teachers to effectively use social platforms to enhance the quality of home-school cooperation.