According to Knox (2009), a community of practice is defined as a group of people who share a passion, this community then creates, expands, exchanges ideas and develops together. Wegner (2011) expands on this by reinforcing that these groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder (2002) adds further to this that it is when this group of individuals partake in a communal activity and create a shared identity that they become even more successful.
I currently have several CoP which can be inter-connecting and that impact on my professional practise;
I currently have several CoP which can be inter-connecting and that impact on my professional practise;
My school community, which in this case is my teaching colleagues rather than whanau, the E-learning team I am a part of, which is focused on both innovation and sustainability, the ADE (Apple Distinguished Educators) global community, which is leading and impacting on those using Apple devices, and Social Networking communities (such as Facebook and Twitter), where I am part of focussed interest groups. Each of these CoP have 3 key areas as defined by Knox (2009) a Community, which is built on relationships, a Domain which is the shared inquiry involving key issues and the Practice which is the body of knowledge or resources generated within it. The inter-connection of my CoPs is when Community collides for example two members of staff are also ADE’s but our Domains are often parallel rather than connected as we inquire into different areas, our Practice may be stored in a shared area and drawn on by others but sits in seperate pods. When relating this to the garden analogy of Knox (2009) we are all gardeners with the goal of feeding the community but may all plant or choose to tend to different crops.
When reflecting on possible teaching as inquiry topics I would like to focus on “Growing and sustaining a Maker Culture beyond a dedicated Makerspace” and “Moving from a 1:1 digital school environment to a 1:1 home school partnership”.
I chose “Growing and sustaining a Maker Culture beyond a dedicated Makerspace” as I currently facilitate a dedicated Makerspace (with a current goal to build teacher capacity) and my future goal is to see the maker space culture infused into every classroom where curiosity, creativity and innovation is encouraged throughout everyday and that I step back from my current role to see teachers, students and community using the Makerspace as more of a ‘drop in centre’ to support learner driven projects. For the purpose of this inquiry I would pose my wonderings to and draw on the global experiences of my ADE community.
I chose “Moving from a 1:1 digital school environment to a 1:1 home school partnership”as in our current 1:1 iPad environment, where our devices are school provided, students have access to the technology only during their school day. I would like to inquire into how the devices could go home each day to support flipped learning and strengthen home school partnerships. For the purpose of this inquiry I would first look to New Zealand schools that may have done similar initiatives (although they are more likely to be BYOD rather than school provided so I may need to think differently). The research within the 2020 Communications Trust report “Schools as digital community hubs” (2014) could be a starting point when considering connectivity needs. No point sending devices home if homes don’t have internet access! I would begin by utilising the CoP across social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
These two topics closely align to our school’s strategic plan and direction in relation to engaging community to work collaboratively to enhance student outcomes and hauora.
References
Communications Trust (2014). Schools as Digital Community Hubs, A report on governance, technology and commercial options.
Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk
Wenger, E. (2011). STEP Leadership Workshop. University of Oregon, October, (2011) (6).
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
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