Communities of Practice

I belong to a large community of teaching professionals, consisting of 24 intermediate teachers, 5 technology teachers, 1 Principal and 2 Deputy Principal’s.  I identified with this group as we share a common interest in providing effective programmes for emerging adolescents, our motto being ‘striving for excellence.’ 

According to Wenger (2011) ‘Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do better as they interact regularly” (p.1).

On reflection, I identified with many communities that I belonged to at my school namely; Team Tauhara (a group of six Year 7 teachers); Co-H.O.D. Literacy and being involved with the CoL, and mentoring a 1^st year teacher.   However, I realised that the most significant ‘Community of Practise’ that I belonged to is with my Mindlab colleagues.  According to Wenger-Trayner (2015), three elements of domain, community and practice need to be used collectively for a Community of Practice to thrive.

DOMAIN:

I have been fortunate enough to have three colleagues with me on this new learning journey with Mindlab – Charlene, Jess and Nikki.  We are a diverse group of teachers with different teaching backgrounds, ages and range of skills and experience; two Year 7 teachers, 1 technology teacher and 1 release-ORS teacher.  I was motivated to learn and develop my capabilities and I was lucky to have others share the same vision.

THE COMMUNITY:

Throughout this year we have developed a close professional relationship due to our shared interest in many of the digital and leadership topics covered.  

Mutual engagement:   Initially I worked with Charlene, Nikki and Jess during our weekly Monday night sessions, where we supported each other during the theoretical and practical activities.  Later, we carried on our learning conversations at work, communicated via e-mail and phone conversations.  Our sense of belonging developed further as we often shared a similar interest in topics such as mindset and we provided each other with professional readings and advice. Our regular catch ups and meetings enhanced our sense of belonging.  At times, I was overwhelmed with the workload but with the support and encouragement of many of my Mindlab colleagues, I developed the desire to keep going, knowing that I wasn’t doing it alone. 

THE PRACTICE:

As part of the TIS Mindlab Community of Practice, we identified with similar ideals and aimed to upskill ourselves in new knowledge, theories and practise that would support our learners.  We all had a desire to develop our digital fluency and competency.  I especially wanted to learn how to use meaningful digital programmes in my class since we operate a laptop programme.  I wanted to develop learners who were confident and passionate about their learning, and to teach different ways to show their understanding as 21^st Century learners which I felt I was not doing to the best of my ability.  Jess supported our team with her profound understanding of information technology and supported myself often, with her expertise.  We all acted as a sound board when trialling new programmes in our classroom such as Scratch and Screen-cast-o-matic. 

Our joint enterprise:  After some staff development sessions on digital technology and collegial conversations, it was identified that many new staff (and some existing staff), were unsure about using many Microsoft and OneNote programmes.  As a Community of Practise, we decided to support our staff to develop their fullest potential in the digital environment by developing a digital and collaborative plan together for our Leadership 2 assignment.  We met regularly, shared professional readings, and devised a PowerPoint to showcase our ‘TIS Digital Guide to the Galaxy.’  This was the perfect opportunity to assist our staff and further develop my followship-leadership style.  It was a very satisfying experience.

References:

·         Wenger, E. (2011). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/11736/A%20brief%20introduction%20to%20CoP.pdf?sequence%E2%80%B0=%E2%80%B01

·         Taupo Intermediate School. Retrieved from http://www.taupointermediate.co.nz/taupo-intermediate

·         Wenger, E. & Tryner, B. (2015) Introduction to communities of practice. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/07-Brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf