Week 32 – Changes in my Practice!

I have always thought I could be a lifelong learner and as I complete my last blog of this course I fully believe I am lifelong learner and I just love learning new things ! This is nicely summed up by one of my tutor students who is also a head student and a saying which has been captured from one of her speeches and is displayed around school.

Quote from Parampara Koirala Class of 2016

What has made the learning even more worthwhile is the ongoing opportunities to collaborate, discuss and be presented with research and evidence to promote critical reflection and develop myself as a reflective practitioner as someone who can

“develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and development.” ( Osterman & Kottkamp 1993)

Using the New Zealand teachers professional body that has the expectations for professional standard, The Ministry of Education, Practicing Teacher criteria for e-learn the 2 criteria I have chosen are:-

Criteria 4 – Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

Working in an already established and new modern learning environment school the reflective aspect of this course has provided an opportunity to evaluate the strengths and the possible areas which could be further developed to make it a environment for 21st century learners in an open community. I have always said to people who ask “what’s it like in open spaces?” the space really is irrelevant, it could be a cow shed! Its the teaching and learning experience  which matters and I am very grateful for the Mindlab course to make me really sit back and critique my own practice to ensure I am continually keeping in mind the aim of developing 21st century life long learners.  The key experiences which have had an impact on my practice are; one, the agile methodologies and project based learning moving to interdisciplinary learning opportunities. Two, how being connected for  both student and teacher is vital in preparing for beyond the classroom and developing and enhancing skills such as collaboration, innovation and creativity. I have tried, tested and reflected on the use of SCRUM, gamifying challenges, real world based problem solving and using different collaboration activities. Some with success and will definitely be continuing with next year, some which need time spent on them to make into worthwhile authentic learning experiences and some which still need a wee bit of more testing!

Criteria 7 – Promote a collaborative, inclusive and support learning environment

Building relationships that matter has been a goal this year. The Mindlab assignment on professional inquiry (PI) I really enjoyed doing for two reasons. I final understood really what a good PI should look like even though I have supposedly been doing it for the past 2 years at  my school. I sure know what I do now to make it rigorous and meaningful for my students. Although the assignment was a planning activity, I actually carried out most of mine and collected student voice to influence my teaching inquiry, planned interventions and collected evidence to feedback to my students to support and intern benefit all my students not just those of the focus group.Secondly this opportunity and others has also provided opportunity for conversations that matter with my colleagues and particularly my deputy principal. I have had many conversations around my learning and reflections, growing my relationship with her, much to her surprise at times about the  extent of my personal professional growth she was previously unaware of.

Next professional development dream – real big this one!

To bring those teachers who teach with agile methodologies & agile classrooms, Eduscrum and quest based learning Q2L to New Zealand to learn and collaborate with, which could lead to working with liked minded teachers here to make this work for senior students studying NCEA. ( or maybe I need a trip the countries in which they practice!)

Final THANKS

I can’t sign off without a heartfelt thanks to the wonderful facilitators, my fellow students particular those who have made up the Saturday crew for for the fun, support, laughter, conversations and collaboration. Good luck for whatever is your next big dream.

References

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/

Week 31 -Professional Context – Crossing boundaries.

 

Interdiscipline connections

My Inter-discipline Map. Link to coggle here

Identifying my near future goal:– to work more interdisciplinary with the community team members in the open modern learning environment.

Why should we?

Secondary education is very much based on single disciplines taught in isolation with specialist teacher experts in their own areas and only they can teach their subject. Casey Jones concludes her critique of interdisciplinary teaching with a possible disadvantage to some schools

 “Interdisciplinary curricula is time consuming and takes collaborative team work to create, which can seem like a hard and exhausting disadvantage, but in the end, the interdisciplinary approached inhibits many favored skills that are sought by future colleges and employers.” ( Jones, C. 2009)

Although in a school where teachers are already working in mixed subject learning spaces and have professional development time at the end of the year ( mine) this could be an opportunity to pursue and be creative. The buy in of teachers would be the next hurdle but evidence based professional inquiry could be a possible approach for gaining the early adopters as the positive effect on learning for staff and students could develop communication, pedagogy and critical thinking. Interdiscipline methods are not just team teaching but well thought out and planned units spanning two or more disciplines. Working in mixed discipline communities like I do I feel I should be trying to push the boundaries further and not let our assessments drive our authentic learning. Time need to be set aside for explicit opportunities to collaborative and prepare these opportunities with like minded teachers.

 

My journey so far

The extent at present of my interdiscipline learning is combing a chemistry research standard with an english research standard where students used the chemistry context but presented their findings in a way that was suitable for both disciplines assessment. It was a pleasing venture as was successful and definitely one to pursue further and incorporate in collaborative planning for next year.

How might interdiscipline teaching affect my role?

Concerns towards the change of content needed by students to deal with real world problems leads my thoughts to question Will there be a decline in the amount of content coverage of my subject? Or should I be looking at it more in that the teacher works along side the students co-constructing the unit to ensure the students get to learn about what it is they don’t know yet that links to the real work issues.

The role of individual science teachers at a senior level has the potential to change from the traditional specialists in their own separate areas – chemistry, physics, biology to broadening to “science” teachers who are able to facilitate learning in all areas and call upon the community of teachers for individual expertise when and where required. A radical change for senior high school teachers in New Zealand working to NCEA, a challenge I feel definitely worth pursuing and experimenting with even if small steps at time.

Are part of previous assessments the notion of quest based learning Q2L and project based learning DaVinic Schools has been something of interest triggered by the first half of our course and aspects I have been experimenting with within my own subject domain and yet to move into other disciplines. This is likely to help my move forward with the near future goal.

Composing this post has made me realise I need to put forward a proposal to my DP  outlining the timely importance for our school to put interdiscipline collaboration on the agenda for our upcoming professional development plan. Dr Deana McDonagh, Associate Professor University of Illinois sums it up well. The need for our students (and teachers) to

“learn more holistically rather than myopically…to allow cross pollination to occur” and as teachers “not being experts in all these fields is an advantage” (ThomasMcDonaghGroup  2011)

 

References

Jones, C. (2009) “Interdisciplinary Approach – Advantages, Disadvantages, and the Future Benefits of Interdisciplinary Studies,” ESSAI: Vol. 7, Article 26. Retrieved from: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol7/iss1/26

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA

 

Week 30 – Professional Online Social Networks

What is Social Media?

Social media allows us to be more connected to others whether it be within the profession, fellow subject teachers or students. It provides opportunities to communicate, collaborate and connect with other networks via the internet and hence worldwide.

From LinkedIn – What is social media?

Sheryl Nussbaum- Beach CEO of Powerful Learning Practice, professional learning for connected educators, sums up the reason why we should be a connected educator on the Core Connected Educator video

“because at the very heart of teaching and learning we are connected, we share ideas, we build collective intelligence with our students and connected educators know how to take learning beyond the walls of the classroom” (Nussbaum-Beach S. 2016)

My social media involvement is mainly Facebook at present, widely used for personal benefit and growing for my professional benefit. I am member of many private groups from community based to those for mums. I am also a member of many private groups to enhance my teaching for example NZ subject groups, ILE and collaboration and Mindlab groups. My involvement in most groups could be classed as a watcher or follower not always contributing. I learn a huge amount to help inform my teaching and my own personal learning but I have to admit I am not at the moment a great sharer to  the wider communities. Other social media I am connected through are boards on Pinterest which I have shared with students. These worked well for research standards, although it was led by me, it would have been great to encourage students to contribute to the boards.

Social Media use in the classroom and a teaching aid.

In a previous blog I had expressed my concern about using Facebook in class and being ‘friends’ with my students. On a personal level I still want to keep that boundary but my mindset on using in the class to aid learning has been changed due to activities this week in school. If I had a Facebook group for my Level 2 class this week, their level of preparation would have been much higher, by their own admission! Why fight something which I experience as a hinderance of time and instead use it to my advantage. Many students at my school work very much on the ‘just in time’ need to know basis. No matter how much I try to ensure all know what is happening next lesson from Tuesday to Friday ( through verbal, written and google classroom communication) Student’s still turn up on Friday morning and say ” what are we doing today? WHAT we have an assessment?” Alas if only I had posted in Facebook the previous afternoon. I have previously had Facebook groups 2 years ago where discussions took place between students themselves and myself and I will be creating some again next year!

There are also so many companies and establishments using Facebook within my subject area that it could also encourage those connections beyond our school to help make the students more connected and communicate about their learning outside the classroom.

Professional development and Social Media

Being  a connected educator is definitely someone I would like to say I was, but I definitely have a long way to go. One of Edutopia’s top tips for being connected is to ‘just jump in’. The second part of the Mindlab course has been an opportunity to do just that and I am learning about the benefits of communicating with like minded people and I am making small changes in my practice to gain the benefits, like following people on Twitter and using for professional purposes not for personal. Interestingly my school has just shared the plan for our teacher professional development once the all the seniors have left will be in the style of a conference with a live twitter feed! We will be encouraged to participate in this connected way, a great opportunity to try it out.

The potential for Core Connected Educator to help improve the connected New Zealand teachers like myself is huge. The advantage of online courses without the travelling and increased flexibility of time helps us working mums. Although I have found that at times talking about an issue before writing about it helps my understanding and clarity.

References

ConnectedEducatorNZ (2016) Retrieved from, http://connectededucator.org.nz

Edutopia, Leoni, E. (2014). Ten Tips for becoming a connected educator. Retreived from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/10-tips-become-connected-educator-elana-leoni

Nussbaum-Beach S., (2016) Retrieved from: http://connectededucator.org.nz/blog/2016/09/06/sheryl-nussbaum-beach-on-being-a-connected-educator/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 29 – Influence of Law and Ethics

Ethical Dilemma

Using Facebook as a means for sharing information and communicating with year 12 & 13 students. I have chosen this dilemma for a couple of reasons; I’m not afraid to admit I love Facebook, I post photos of activities of what I and my family get up to, Why? Because all of my family are in the UK or other parts of the world and love to see what we get up to and vice versa and just to say ‘look what we’re doing!’ It’s an easy way of communicating with them all instead of worrying about are they still in the same house or still in the same job last time we said Hi. I also use Facebook  for private groups both professionally and personally for sharing resources and information. The students that sit in front of me are no different, the majority of them are hooked too, the Facebook book screen is easy to spot from a distance. Only big difference is I know when it is most appropriate to check my Facebook posts and it’s not during class!

So if they are all on it and checking it why not use in class?

Communicating with students outside of the  allotted learning time to ensure they are kept informed is something I have been working on since joining my current school. They all have gmail accounts set up and the use of google docs is widely used as the school only uses open source software – no Windows. But they as yet have not figured out they need to check their emails regularly. But they do check their Facebook! So Last academic year I decided after much deliberation so set up Facebook groups for my 2 year 12 classes.

Why did I deliberate?

Accept or decline??

I have always felt strongly about keeping the distance between student and teacher friendships. The relationships should be about learning, ok yes I share stories about myself and my life when relevant to learning or in context to the topic, students thrive on being able to connect to real stories. But I do not want students past or present as friends on my Facebook page. I don’t post pictures I don’t want them to see or make inappropriate comments.  I just believe my life is mine and as a professional I do not wish to blur the relationship. As the Education Council refers to in their Commitment to the Profession

“In the belief that the quality of the services of the teaching profession influences the nation and its citizens, teachers shall exert every effort to maintain and raise professional standards, to promote a climate that encourages the exercise of professional judgement, and to achieve conditions which attract persons worthy of trust to careers in education.” (Education Council n.d)

What could go wrong?

I’m included in someone else’s inappropriate post whilst my students are friends on my post and see and share the post. I may be perfectly innocent but the damage may be done for my professional image and relationships I had established with students and colleagues. The school community will make their own judgement regardless of my own opinion and in fact my silence could probably be the best course of action. Discussion with leadership would allow for consideration of any action if needed. If I am not directly at fault am I to blame. I unfortunately think that would be irrelevant here given how quickly information is shared and widely commented on in social media.

What did I do?

I did not become Facebook friends with any of my students, I created private Facebook groups for them to join and there I was able to post reminders of upcoming events assessments and resources required. I was able to contact individual students by posting on the group – not messaging. The effect: – immediate responses, prepared, informed students. Students asked questions outside of learning time which I or fellow student could answer.

This was a success but could this be done with out using social media?? Well this academic year I did NOT create Facebook groups I am using Google classroom and school email. Although it did meet a need I decided I wanted to keep Facebook for myself, students respected the privacy I requested when I told them I would not be accepting friend requests and compared that to staff who did have students as friends. I think I prefer to viewed in a way I can control and not at the mercy of others. Google classroom and email have yet to be as successful as Facebook BUT it’s getting there and you can do lots more cool learning things!

 

References 

Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program. (2012). Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educators: Facilitator’s Guide. Retrieved from http://www.ctteam.org/df/resources/Module5_Manual.pdf

Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certficated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0

 

Week 28 – Indigenous knowledge and culturally responsiveness.

Culturally responsive pedagogy 

Culturally responsive teaching is ” using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively” ( Gay G., 2002) It goes beyond the incorporating cultural stories into the classroom but being aware of the individual and what they can bring to the learning so that learning is engaging and personal for all. Summed up by Russell Bishop.

From: http://1law4all.kiwi.nz/category/new-zealand/

We all like to think we are masters of our subject (secondary school) and effective teachers and in fact without it feel we are not serving our students well, but are we masters of knowing our students. If we know them can we not meet their needs better, plan the learning better or better still co-construct their learning with them to ensure they individually find success.

Cultural responsiveness in my practice

Reflecting on Professor Russell Bishops Edtalk (Bishop R., 2012) I was pleased to be able to confirm one of the major cultures of my school is the relationships established between student and teachers. As I have previously discussed in an earlier blog it is one of the defining aspects of the school in which I teach.  Although the percentage of Maori on the roll is relatively low, all achieve success but not always high success. As an individual teacher I have learnt ( whilst at my present school) how to develop learning relationships that matter, I treat everyone as an individual and our school develops individual learning plans for all so no one student is singled out as ‘needing’ an individual academic plan. MAP -My Achievement Plan. Other strengths are:-

• Staff work collaboratively to ensure every student matters
• Feedback and feedforward are embedded in every day learning – so much so students seek feedback
• High expectations of all students – no one slips through the cracks – all students will find their individual success
• Care for Maori as Maori – with a student Maori council to develop leadership within Maori for Maori

I believe we do demonstrate effectively “relationship centred education” (Bishop R., 2012)  but more it is probable put more accurately and encompassing by Geneva Gay as “culturally responsive caring”  “action oriented in that it demonstrates high expectations and uses imaginative strategies to ensure academic success for ethnically diverse students”. As all “Teachers genuinely believe in the intellectual potential of these students and accept, unequivocally, their responsibility to facilitate its realization without ignoring, demeaning, or neglecting their ethnic and cultural identities. They build toward academic success from a basis of cultural validation and strength.” (Gay G., 2002)

Being culturally responsive is not sufficient to just be held with the teacher alone, it must be supported by leadership and the community. Our school has strong links with the community and whanau and the above strengths in individual teachers would not be as strong without the constant reaffirmation of the power of relationships by the leadership team through professional development and evidence based learning.

Would be even better if…

One difference as a whole staff I have experienced at this school is singing waiata before morning meetings. I have never sang so much and I quite like it. As a non NZ citizen but permanent resident for the past 11 years, I have learnt more about Maori language and tradition than before, through song. But I feel sometimes this is something the staff do not the students. Should we not be spreading this amongst the community of the school, encouraging more use of the language on a daily basis in greetings, congregating as a school where waiata is sang by all students and led by students. Sharing the meanings and the stories, not just at prize givings and start of the year celebrations but all year round.Conversations with year 13 students was enlightening when they said they wanted to meet more frequently as a school or community (something the school does very little formally).

References

Bishop R., ( 2012) Edtalks. Culturally responsive pedagogy of relations
Source: Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally reponsive pedagogy of relations. . Retrieved from [ https://vimeo.com/49992994 ]https://vimeo.com/49992994

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. (2001 AACTE Outstanding Writing Award Recipient). Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106+.

Week 27 – The Broader Professional Context.

Photo – Pixel Fusion Workspace

The photo depicts a NZ workplace where work spaces are shared not just with co-workers but with other like minded companies. Agile development and innovation is how this award winning small business runs. Is this not what are students should be experiencing and preparing for?

TREND: – Rethinking how schools work

Long-Term impact trend identified in the NMC Horizon Report: 2015nK-12 Edition. (New Media Consortium, 2015)

This really intrigues me for a couple of reasons; one of my most exciting new discoveries through the mind lab course this year has been the use of agile methodologies and agile classrooms and how it can be used to change the way learners gain new knowledge and work effectively in a collaborative way. To be effective you need to be flexible about how you approach the learning, not always so easy in a traditional environment. Secondly, I currently work in an open plan school which established some major changes to how the school works to take into account some of the issues raised in the Education at a glance: Priority Learner in New Zealand Schools. (Educational Review Office, 2012) Yet I feel innovative approaches of teaching ( quests, project- based, agile) are still not able to be fully embraced.

What do the schools of the future look like?  

Will schools of the future be schools? Obviously technology would be expected to play a big role in the way the school works, but would students need to all be in the same place? Maybe looking to the work place of the future, of where our students are striving to be is the key to understanding how a school should work. Traditional sitting in rows, waiting for the bell and teacher at the front isn’t going to cut it in the working world today. Those 21st Century skills from the ITL research (ITL Research (2011)) are what’s needed for example; collaboration, real-world problem solving and innovation. The term “unbundling” as referred to in business and technology could also be useful to think about in education.   “It involves multiple ideas and practices coming together in ways that could “re-bundle” learning and teaching to better reflect the context and demands of the 21st century world.” (Bolstad et al., 2012) Effectively, taking apart what we have that works well, add to it and bring back together in a different way that meets the needs of the future learners.  NZ new schools considered to be embracing these ideas ( Hobsonville Point, Rotatuna Junior High School) are still in the early stages.

The Challenges in Practice

The biggest challenge for I see for secondary schools is moving away from having each subject kept distinct. We need to take more risks to experiment with more collaboration with our colleagues to create more authentic learning which encompasses more than one learning domain. What are the students interested in and allowing the learning to flow from there, the role of the teacher being to make the links to the learning domains seem natural. Easier said than done as the other main challenge is the need for assessment and NCEA. The New Zealand Curriculum encourages this shift but as yet we still work towards making NCEA fit this shift. I feel it can be done with creativity in assessment tasks and how evidence is collected. This is  a change which takes time and experimentation. But schools have to be be able to work in a way that will allow this to happen. As described in an Edutopia blog of the school of the future “Authentic assessment involves a substantial amount of planning, specifically backward planning. That means you start at the end….It makes teaching more efficient and really speeds things up.” Edutopia (2011)

Google campus could be the key to where we should be looking with community programs, co-working spaces, inclusive communities and global networks all housed in one building a hub where people can learn, connect and create.

References

Bolstad, R; Gilbert, J;McDowall,S; Bull, A; Hipkins, R; New Zealand Council for Educational Research. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching – A New Zealand Perspective. New Zealand: Ministry of Education. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Edutopia. (2011) How the School of the Future Got It Right. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/stw-assessment-school-of-the-future

Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved from http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/evaluation-at-a-glance-priority-learners-in-new-zealand-schools/

ITL Research. (2011). Innovative Teaching and Learning Research: 2011 Findings and Implications. Retrieved from http://www.itlresearch.com/research-a-reports/2011-itl-research-findings.

New Media Consortium. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Retrieved from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf

Week 26 – Issues in my professional context.

“It’s not if you are bright, it’s how you are bright” 

Three students’ project for one of our school mantra’s!

I currently work in a decile 10 senior high school with a ethnicity composition of  Māori 8%, NZ European/ Pākehā 55%, South African 7%, Korean 6%, Chinese 5%, Indian 2%, other European 10%,  other 7%. Although the socio- economic data suggests affluent background, these statistics don’t show the number of students visiting the school councillors for anxiety related issues which the councillors regularly keep us updated as numbers are increasing each year. The school attracts students who want to follow their passions and be who they want to be, in an young adult environment. It is still a relatively new school for the area, with open plan learning commons, long periods, no bells and 200 minutes of tutorial time a week. With all its new initiatives it still up there with other decile 10 schools for NCEA results. Last year exceeding national decile results for student gaining NCEA Level 2 and 3.

I feel very fortunate to work where I do and this is primarily due to the school culture and  community.  I would find it very difficult to go back to working in a more traditional style of school having experienced the “way we do things here” as is generally not the the way its done in neighbouring schools. As a school for both staff and students we have mantra’s or sayings which really are embedded in the way the school works and shapes the feel of the school.

Our doors are always open to visitors and staff and students are accustomed to groups of people walking around watching and intrigued to the goings on. When you enter the school I think the culture is everywhere. Everyone is on first names basis, including the principal, a concept initially I thought would be strange but actually allows mutual respect between adults.  We have two way conversations about what matters, you won’t hear teachers shouting or demanding to know why aren’t you supposed to be here, doing that? etc. Students make informed choices about their learning and all are on completely different learning plans, from deciding which external paper assessments they will take to how they want to record their learning in class. We have no pre-requisites for any of our option choices, students may choose depending on their future and desired interests. Students refer to the school as the ‘school were we get to choose‘

How does this culture manifest? Relationships! The relationships between students and teachers, the relationships between all staff at all levels are the key. This then also flows on to the relationships with the families and community. I have 15 students which are my tutor group, I’m their tutor teacher, their dean, their go to person. I’m also the go to person for their teachers. The relationship which develops is different to any other tutor teacher experience from previous school. I regularly discuss one on one, track academic progress, careers, general school life goings on. It ensure no-ones slips through the cracks as someone is always looking out for each and every student. When relationships are strong, communication is key too. Parents may not have always been on board with the innovations and initiatives when the school first opened, but now my experience is always very positive and how grateful parents are of how their son/daughter has had so much individual support and guidance to allow them to be prepared for the real world beyond school, even for the most challenging students, where no-one turns a blind eye.

Among staff, innovation and risk taking is common place backed by evidence and research undertaken within the school community and with students and fellow staff. Leadership demonstrates and encourages thinking and acting innovatively as long as the student is at the centre, then both student and teacher will learn together. My professional learning whilst at the school has also grown as we learn together about Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset, John Hattie’s Visible learning, Building Learning Power by Guy Claxton and most recently Trivium 21C by Martin Robinson. All of which plays a part of building the culture to ensure the school will always be a NEW school.  Not all new initiatives are great ones and have to be rethinked but lessons are always learned and the culture of the school allows that to happen. Working with liked minded teachers also ensures within a professional environment everyones ideas are excepted and listened to.

References:

Claxton, G. (2002). Building learning power. TLO Limited Bristol.

Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.

Robinson, M. (2013). Trivium 21c: Preparing young people for the future with lessons from the past. Crown House Publishing.

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture

Week 25 Practice

Defining My Community of Practice

My Community of Practice

Using Wenger’s definition of Community of Practice COP “groups of people who share a concern or a passion or about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002, p.4) My community of practice is my subject department. Three teachers who all teach the same subject but are not situated in the same learning communities geographically within the school vicinity. So how  does this  community of practice be fit into the three distinct elements: joint enterprise, mutual engagement and shared repertoire (Wenger, 2000).

Our shared domain of interest is our love of our subject and the desire to ensure all our students have access to quality teaching and learning and will ultimately find their personal success. Our joint enterprise is, we also share in the need to be the best that we can be whilst working along side each and the students. As members of the community we all have extensive years of experience of teaching our subject in a variety of schools and we pull on each others strengths, I bring  creativity and innovation, my fellow community members bring the adventurous activities and organisation skills to name a few and we thrive on the  way we easily work to mutually benefit each other.

Within our COP we have scheduled meetings within the school meeting calendar but we more frequently have greater learning conversations at other times. These have been for example, morning tea at the cafe once a fortnight, catch ups after teaching the classes we have in common. One particular spontaneous semi – regular meeting is at the top of the stairs to review how a lesson went which all three of us are teaching. The first teacher to deliver the lesson shares and generally reflects on the what went well, what they should have done differently, so the other two teachers can amend and be better prepared when they deliver that lesson which could be straight after we met!

Our interactions may not be in person everyday, but each week we would have group emails to share urgent information or check and reschedule deadlines for ourselves or students depending on the activities of the week. We also call upon each other for advice in regard to our understanding of subject specific terminology and content. For example, a difficult question from a student or a scenario we can not explain. The great thing about our school calendar is we also get an actual time slot once a month to discuss our own professional inquiries with each other and give each other feedback!

Our shared repertoire has not always been greatly shared, but recently due to more joint planning activities where each person within the community takes a section of a unit of work to plan a couple of lessons for us all to teach. More interaction and collaboration is taking place. We have always used google drive and docs etc. to create resources but now we are commenting and reflecting on each others work before we use it to ensure quality and innovation which will motivate our students. Something I personally have been slowly working to develop within the COP from my learnings and reflections from the Mindlab course another of my COP.

I would consider my self an active member of the COP and even though there is subject leader we are all leaders within this community, sharing responsibilities, taking on roles when things need done. We don’t wait to be told, we all work towards a shared goal and rely on each other to act when needed and are frequent and open communication mainly in non formal occasions ensures we continue to achieve together,”a group of people who share a passion for something they know how to do.” (Knox ,2009)

References

Knox, B.(2009, December 4). Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems.Organization,7(2), 225-246.

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.