My community of practice

Community of Practice Definition

Wegner (2000) defines successful communities of practice as a group of people who share mutual passion and understanding in a defined area. The purpose of this group is to meet regularly to reflect, discuss and improve the outcomes of their chosen practice through accountability and critical reflection. Knox (2009) discusses how members of the group must be actively engaged and motivated to participate in a community of practice group as opposed to participation being enforced by management.

Wegner (2000) identifies three key elements of effective communities of practice:

1. Group members are joined together and share common understanding of expectations and accountability.
2. Group trust is established through developing guidelines and relationships that allow members to participate in a safe learning environment.
3. Groups develop a shared pool of resources and expertise.

My Communities of Practice

Purpose and Participants

I belong to a Community of Practice group who shares a common goal of reflecting on and improving our teaching practice with the desired result of increasing student outcomes. Our CoPs group consists of a range teachers from all areas of the school, part-time staff and a member from the senior management team. These groups have been constructed by management to ensure there is a cross-pollination of teachers throughout the different levels and roles within the school. We meet every four weeks to share personal reflections that relate to the development of our own specific goals in our teacher inquiry.

Structure and  Developing Shared Expectations

Initially, each meeting was structured and directed by the senior management representative who provided us with guiding questions that prompted us to think and succinctly articulate our learnings focusing on ourselves as a teacher. Group members were encouraged to actively listen and to ask thought provoking questions that prompted the speaker to consider other approaches or resources to further deepen their knowledge. At the beginning this was difficult for all involved as some teachers naturally wanted to solve the problem by giving their answers, perspectives and suggestions. As time evolved with this group we challenged each other to become more active listeners and provoke other’s thinking in order to deepen our ability to critically reflect on our own practice. The confidence and trust to expose our own teaching weaknesses in front of our colleagues continued to develop over time. This was made easier by establishing a shared set of expectations regarding trust, privacy and the commitment to growing professional relationships.

My Reflection

My teacher inquiry focused on developing my teaching strategies in order to increase student ownership of their learning and for them to be able to clearly articulate ‘why’ they are learning what they are. It was important that I kept my own teaching strategies at the forefront of the conversation as this linked directly to my goal. The opportunity to have time allocated to sit and talk to other colleagues was very refreshing and I gained so much from being an active participant in my CoPs group. Hearing what other teachers are being challenged by opened my eyes to other possibilities and way of thinking while also reaffirming that I am not alone in this ever changing world of teaching which sometimes feels very overwhelming. I feel that many teachers follow the CoPs cycle without even knowing that they are doing it. However, when a school values this professional development and learning as important by structuring groups and making the requirements manageable, there can be some much to celebrate.

References

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.(2000).Communities of practice and social learning systems Organization,7(2), 225-246 (Link to the article in Unitec Library).