Communities of Practice

Curious minds coming together for a shared purpose, to grow and extend their (and other's) learning, AKA Communities of Practice.

Well, that's my definition of this concept. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a social anthropologist and an educational researcher and practitioner respectively, were the first to coin this term (Wenger Traynor, 2015).

Wenger (2002) highlights three key elements of a CoP

• Joint enterprise: is a shared domain which is the “collectively developed understanding of what the community is about”. The topic of interest shared by the group. 
• Mutual engagement: the members engage through interactions within the community, building mutual trust in the relationships. The shared activities and interactions members have concern the domain. 
• Shared repertoire: is “the communal resources” that the community of practice produce (Wenger, 2000, p.229). Shared tools, language, and practices of the community etc.

I personally find being involved in CoP's important. Not just for the personal and group growth of knowledge and learning, but for the other aspects as well. Being involved in a mutually respectful team with people who have similar passions helps to motivate and drive the profession (or interest) forward. These sorts of organic groups are vital (in my opinion) for personal satisfaction and the challenge they can provide. There also seems to me, to be a vital element of choice within a CoP which makes the CoP seem more a more authentic group to participate in. The domain is not mandated by 'others' but driven by participants themselves to improve their 'practice'.

My main CoP would center around the Year 8 team members I work with, in my school. We are a very collaborative group and gain a lot from sharing our teaching and learning experiences together. We are led by a very capable leader who helps push and challenge us. We have a group vision based around doing the best we can for our students and who they are as people. Within this CoP and throughout our school other CoP's occur based on interest and need.
So how does teacher inquiry contribute and link learning in our CoP?
By interacting and endeavoring to learn, working together, sharing, researching and discussing we will construct new knowledge and understanding which should work towards improving our practice and the outcomes and benefits for our students.


Issues (or ideas for exploration) in my professional practice:

• As a team, we are always looking for ways to authentically engage our students in their learning. To grow and foster their academic and social growth. 
• Using digital learning tools in more creative ways. 
• Continuing to develop more opportunities for students to create digital content instead of mainly consuming content. 
• Using and applying higher levels of the SAMR model within classroom practices. 
• Helping students understand that mistake and decision making, as well as forging their own learning pathways is a key element to their learning. 
• Improving student autonomy and agency. (Probably a bit broader than the idea above). 
• Developing programmes that employ more problem solving and 21st-century thinking skills for students to engage with.

After sifting through a multitude of ideas (and believe me there were MANY) I have narrowed my inquiry ideas down to the following:


1. How can Augmented Reality be used to enhance student learning and curiosity during inquiry?

2. Can design thinking processes be used to improve student autonomy and agency within the classroom? 

Each of these topics for inquiries can be used to grow the shared understanding and knowledge of our CoP and address some of the issues currently faced. Moving forward from this and applying Kotter's change model (Kotter, 1996), early adopters will also be keen to take on and use what has been found out to help make the technological changes that can help grow our CoP's teaching/knowledge repertoire. This, in turn, should help equip students with more if the 21st-century learning skills (Lichtman, 2013) and fulfill the expectations of the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) that have been highlighted as being so important for students have and use in their futures. There will be both short and long term benefits.


What will we need to be aware of in a CoP?

• Time limitations- teachers are busy people and making an inquiry a priority can be challenging. 
• Researching and inquiring broadly (thanks lit review!). At times CoP's could be in danger of being 'blinkered' because those involved often think and act similarly, (Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2004), we (or I) will need to stop and check in for academic rigor in the work done and the knowledge grown. 
• Critiquing work, highlighting potential biases and expanding perspectives. 

References:

Hodkinson, P., & Hodkinson, H. (2004). A Constructive Critique of Communities of Practice: Moving Beyond Lave and Wenger. (Seminar Paper). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from Oval Research 2004 website: http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/18014

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

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press.

Lichtman, G. (2013). What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills: Grant Lichtman at TEDxDenverTeachers [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZEZTyxSl3g

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/

Puzzle [Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/intro/cop_approach.html

Too Many Choices [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from http://awordywoman.com/1102/

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

Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice. Retrieved December 04, 2017, from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/