What is a Community of Practice?
Wenger defines communities of practice as “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).
As educators we cannot help but be part of at least one community of practice. When I think of this term I see many interlocking circles - each circle defining one community of practice but no circle that sits distinctly on its own. I think that I belong to a number of communities of practice; the teaching community at St Francis of Assisi; the Senior Leadership Team at St Francis; My Professional Learning group (Principals); My Professional Learning group (within St Francis); the Canterbury Primary Principals Association (CPPA); My Twitter Professional Learning Network; the Catholic Cluster; The Canterbury Catholic Primary Principals Association (CCPPA); the Mairehau Learning Cluster. For each of these communities of practice we engage at different levels depending on the goals or shared vision that we have.
What is the purpose and function of your practice? In what ways do you contribute to the community of your practice?
First and foremost I am an educator and a leader and my community of practice is the St Francis of Assisi teaching community, we share knowledge and expertise and interact daily. Reflective practice is part of who we are, we all have professional blogs, we meet regularly formally and informally, we all belong to professional learning groups - subsets of the larger Community of Practice. Dawson (2012) states that reflective practice leads to better learning. We are working hard to develop a culture of continuous improvement and this shared goal keeps us focused. The purpose of this community of practice is to work together to build a collaborative learning culture for all learners in the community. As part of the SLT I contribute to this in many ways.
... providing systems and structures that allow teachers to get on with their core business with as few disruptions as possible
- provide each team with collaborative "thinking time" - we take over their learning hubs for an afternoon a fortnight so that they can spend some time as a team talking about the next steps in collaboration
- providing just in time PD
- providing coaching and mentoring for staff
What are the core values that underpin your profession? Evaluate your practice with regard to these values.
"We need to build more organisations that prioritise the care of human beings. As leaders, it is our sole responsibility to protect our people and, in turn, our people will protect each other and advance the organisation together." Simon Sinek
I love this quote as I think it clearly indicates what has to be at the centre of everything - relationships. Spending time building relationships and building trust is important - this is what we as a Senior Leadership team have set as our highest priority this year - in order to build a culture of continuous improvement we have to build relationships with each other, our students and our families.
We need to build trust, and create an environment where everyone feels valued and supported. We are making great headway in developing this community of practice.
I agree that as teachers and especially as senior leaders we are naturally part of some communities of learning. I believe that it is essential that we continue to seek out and develop communities as this is the way that we stave off complacency and continue to challenge our own and others thinking and thereby continue to grow as we share our knowledge and wisdom. I also agree with you that relationships are indeed the heart of everything.
ReplyDeleteTo be effective practitioners in our chosen field, active participation in communities of practice needs to be ongoing and purposeful. Trust is a key part of any community in order to work and grow effectively together. Reflectime practices must be embedded for individuals and the collective to achieve desired goals.
ReplyDeleteI agree with til680 that trust is a key component in communication between whanau and iwi when it comes growing together. Akonga particularly benefit from seeing these models of trust and communication between educators and community. Children are more likely to thrive in their education when they experience trusting relationships between their school world and their home world.
ReplyDeleteWow, you belong to many communities indeed. I am sure each community offers new insights, ideas and perspective to your job. It is great to read that as a senior leader you see the importance of providing systems and structures that allow teachers 'just in time' PD that offers best practice opportunities. Love the fact you you offer release on a fortnightly basis to allow for team collaboration. Let that become common knowledge :) Amanda
ReplyDeleteHi Jo
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing when you start to think about it how many communities you (or we as educators) belong to. I, perhaps like yourself, just viewed these as 'groups we belonged to' but looking at them with a 'community focus', you realise how important these connections can be either standing alone or intertwined through our educational settings. Lastly, I so agree about the importance building relationships and trust within your team as without that you will only have people working alongside each other without being connected.
I have worked in a setting (in Australia) where people work along side each other without connecting was the culture of the community of practice I was in. It was very different to the strong culture of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga between staff, teachers and students, students and with whanau. As pleasant as the staff and school community were, I felt quite isolated and did not experience the kind of professional growth or sense of achievement in my work that I have done elsewhere.
DeleteI did not realise what it was that made this one school so different to others I have worked in until I examined my current communities of practice.
He aha te mea nui o te ao ? He tangata he tangata, he tangata.
ReplyDeleteI agree relationships are the most important thing.
With a strong foundation of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga between staff, teachers and students, students and with whānau continuous improvement will flourish .
Jo I agree with Matt about your metaphor of interlocking circles being right on point. What a great way to describe how our learning communities interact with each other. It also makes me think of the responsibility we have as members of these various learning communities to contribute positively to the thinking and learning of those communities. “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.” - old proverb.
ReplyDeleteLove the quote - how true! Love it.
DeleteLove the quote - how true! Love it.
Delete