Communities of practice are
formed by people who engage
in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor.
(Wenger 2011, p1)
When I started my teaching career in the 80's, I definitely belonged to comparatively fewer Communities of Practice than I do now. My job
was rather insular, in that I belonged to a profession, I worked in a subset of
a school called a syndicate, and I worked within the four walls of my
classroom. I had very little interaction outside of my immediate collegial
community. And even then, my interactions were limited by the social context of
the times. Colleagues shared resources, divided up workloads, and very little
else. It was rare for anyone within that narrow model of what a Community of
Practice is, to ask for help, change the status quo, experiment, or venture on
a new path. Change in education was not rewarded, therefore, change could be glacial.
Because education is traditionally a self-preserving,
slow-moving hierarchy, my competency and role was very much historically and
socially defined. A good teacher displayed similar characteristics. A good
teacher was measured against a fairly narrow criteria. A good teacher uses that
communal, shared repertoire of language, routines, sensibilities, artifacts,
tools, stories, and styles that all teachers share. (Wenger, 2000, p 229). But back then, the shared repertoire had no variety, little range, and minimal divergence.
Teaching in the 80's was largely homogenised. Students came to school and largely knew exactly what they were going to get.
Teaching in the 80's was largely homogenised. Students came to school and largely knew exactly what they were going to get.
There have been many disruptions and disconnections over my
career that have challenged my experiences with the teaching role I was so
accustomed to, a role that was historically steeped. I have been to several
ULearn conferences. I have completed Master’s Level papers on why pedagogy
changes have lagged behind the digital explosion. I have exposed myself to the
thoughts and ideas of leaders from around the world in ICT. My Communities of
Practice have developed and grown out of these disruptions.
I now look at the nuances and gradations of all the Communities
of Practices that I consider myself to belong to now. Yes, I belong to the same
profession, still working in a syndicate within a school. But I also belong within
the domains of other communities. We are communities that have created a shared
repertoire of practice.
I belong to a subset of teachers within my school who have a
common goal of trying to develop a digital curriculum teaching with digital
platforms within a largely traditional, non-digital learning environment.
I belong to a Community of Learning (COL) that is drawing teachers from seven local schools to develop strategies to improve our literacy levels.
I belong to a network of teachers who have made connections across the world after a successful Global Read Aloud to share ideas and resources, and get students communicating with each other over digital networks.
The student volunteer army, and the Scratch online community are further examples of communities where ideas are shared and discussed, and learning is initiated.
The current associations I have made with colleagues on the Mindlab course this year, both in class and online, are further Communities of Practice. I consider all of these to be genuine Communities of Practice because the activities we undertake reflect many of the practices Wenger 2011 highlighted in the table on page 3.
I belong to a Community of Learning (COL) that is drawing teachers from seven local schools to develop strategies to improve our literacy levels.
I belong to a network of teachers who have made connections across the world after a successful Global Read Aloud to share ideas and resources, and get students communicating with each other over digital networks.
The student volunteer army, and the Scratch online community are further examples of communities where ideas are shared and discussed, and learning is initiated.
The current associations I have made with colleagues on the Mindlab course this year, both in class and online, are further Communities of Practice. I consider all of these to be genuine Communities of Practice because the activities we undertake reflect many of the practices Wenger 2011 highlighted in the table on page 3.
I belong to many other online communities but they fail to become
a Community of Practice because the interaction is largely one way, and my role
within the community is merely perusing, viewing and absorbing. We don’t interact
and learn together.
All these Communities of Practice are contributing towards
the changes I have made to my pedagogy and practice. They are informing me,
changing my definition of competence. I am defined by my Communities of
Practice, just as my practice is defined by the communities I am not a part of.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Wenger, E. (1998).
Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems thinker, 9(5), 2-3.
Wenger, E. (2011). Communities
of practice: A brief introduction.
Such a well written blog! Amazing. It is great to think that the 21C skills like collaboration that we are seeking to instill in our students are being displayed by their teachers.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you mention how their teachers are displaying those 21C skills we are trying to instill in our Tamariki. From where I sit, some teachers are, and others are still playing ostrich, or hanging on grimly to those historical expectations about what their job entails.
DeleteI am quite fascinated that many of these teachers do participate quite willingly in a digital world. They use face book. They place bets using a TAB app. They grocery shop online. But they fail to see how anything in this digital world might impact on their teaching pedagogy.
I really enjoyed reading you blog Philip. Like you I also started teaching in the 80's. Computers were those rather things hidden in the back of the library, with a green screen. Little did I realise the impact they would have on my teaching that they do today. We didn't even have a photocopier. There was a thing called a heat-set copier which cost about $2 a page and you needed to get your senior teacher to sign off before you made a copy of anything. Ah how things have changed, my students don't even think twice about make a copy.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things you noted was been part of a syndicate. This is the one thing from being a classroom based teacher I really miss. A team of people teaching similar ideas and concepts as you. They are there to give support. I'm now a specialist teacher of Visual Arts in a Middle School. Being the only one in our school at times is difficult. As what suits one specialist teacher doesn't always suit all. I notice we also have clashing needs. The community of practice I now get the most support from is one based loosely around a group of artist and other art teachers through Facebook. In fact it wasn't until working with the Mindlab group I had even considered forming a either a circle of friends or a community through G+ to keep in better touch. Looking forward to reading more from you. Cheers J9
Hi Janine, Nice to talk to another dinosaur from another place in time. Yes, I remember the smell from those worksheets we ran off on the gestetner. If we wanted to add colour, we changed to a different coloured carbon sheet to make some new etches to the master copy. The 20th, or 30th copy would diminish in quality to a point where it was largely illegible.
DeleteIt's amazing how Facebook and Twitter can create Communities of Practice that have few rules, no hierarchy, blurred boundaries, and minimal membership requirements. Yet some of these communities can provide some of the best PD around.
Hi Philip,
ReplyDeleteThanks for opening up your thoughts. I can relate to how you feel as it's always hard to have others look over your stuff without feeling like you are being judged. However, in doing so allows for greater reflection on your practice and shows a growth mindset, something that we teachers need to model to your students.
Being that I'm only into my third year of teaching, it was interesting to read about how things have changed over the years, but what has intrigued me the most is how many Communities of Practices you are involved in and the professional development you have undertaken to keep up with the current practices. It would have been easy to sit back and become a follower of change, but obviously that is not you and I'm sure as a leader, your skills and knowledge in all these groups is having a positive effect on many others.
Thanks again for sharing.
Hi Fiona,
DeleteYou know, I have never considered myself to be a leader. I feel much more comfortable in the background somewhere, letting others have the reins and taking charge. Yet, your'e probably right. I have always been at the forefront of my learning communities, showing the changes that are possible, and having the initiative to try and make a difference. I guess that makes me, by default, a leader. I'm happy to be seen as one even if the role is not defined, or even labelled.
Many of the Communities of Practice I partake in suit my learning style, in that participation is not fixed or rigid, and people can opt in or out depending on their other commitments and needs. I like these blurred boundaries.
Philip I think you would be great at being a leader. I don't think you would be a traditional leader but would find your own quirky way to inspire many people. From your post you have a wealth of experience that can be used to help new teachers coming into the sector and with you overwhelming enthusiasm you will continue to be at the forefront of your learning communities as you look for that edge that inspires students and do do things in a different way.
DeleteHey Heidi,
DeleteThanks for your kind comments. I love the idea of being quirky. You're right, I wouldn't be traditional. And sometimes, that aint a bad thing...
Wow, really interesting to read about how teaching has developed and changed over the years. I wonder if social networking and digital technology has meant that it's easier to collaborate. I've come to teaching post-internet and don't know any different. All of my Communities of practice have an online element that is crucial to the success of the CoP, however I would also say that face-to-face interaction is equally important.
ReplyDeleteHi Kate,
DeleteYes, I have seen many changes over the years, both positive and negative. I think society struggled for a while trying to make sense of this bold new world and what it was doing to our young ones. Like I said, I did master's papers on why education was so slow (and perhaps still is) to change in a rapidly changing environment, despite the billions of dollars spent on overcoming the first order barriers to change i.e. infrastructures and hardware. I'm far more hopeful now, because I believe that in the main, education is far more ready to make those pedagogical changes.
Yes, you are right, the digital age is far easier to create new Communities of Practice. They can spring up on a myriad of topics, and then splinter off in new directions, or morph into something entirely new. The digital age enables like-minded people to find each other and create meaningful interactions easily. My biggest problem is sorting out how I can maintain all my participations. Sometimes it can become an overwhelming noise that needs to be filtered somehow.
Hey Philip,
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to read about the changes that have taken place for your community of learning. You explain this in a really insightful way, and it's good to hear about the things that helped expand and morph your current community of learning (things that as a BT I will definitely be more aware of). I agree with your point about some of the online "communities of learning" that never fully live up to the definition for myself - being a lurker and not someone who easily engages and interacts with people online versus face to face. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!