Reflective Practice

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE - Week 25

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Wenger, 2011, p1). The purpose of the community of practice is create, expand and exchange knowledge and to develop individual capabilities (Knox, 2009). With this in mind, it’s fair to say that each and every one of us belong to some community of practice, either through our profession, with friends and families or other interactive communal groups. It is within these communities that we learn in our everyday lives as we interact and share in the aim of enhancing learning and managing knowledge with like-minded practioners. Wenger suggests that some of these communities are ‘so familiar that they often escape our attention (Wenger, 2011, p3). I guess we take these communities of practice that we are immersed in for granted and in the past I guess I have been guilty of not recognizing or fully understanding the part that I play in these practices. Wenger (2011, p3) goes on to say that ‘when the community of practice is given a name and brought into focus, it becomes a perspective that can help us understand our world (and our student’s worlds) better’. I think that within our practices particularly in an educational context it is about being aware of and recognizing those interactions and conversations we have with each other and our students where we ‘share experiences and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways that foster new approaches to problems’ (Wenger and Snyder, 2000).

Wenger suggests that the Community of Practice has three elements. The domain, the community and the practice. Within the domain we have a group of people who have shared interests and are committed to these interests. The community involves these domain members engaging in collaborative activities and discussions, helping each other, and sharing information. These people build relationships that enable them to learn from each other; they care about their standing with each other. The practice element is where this group of people develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice (Wenger-Trayner, 2015).

My Community of Practice

I guess in reality, I am a member of a number of communities of practice. As Wenger points out; in some we are core members, while in other communities we are merely participating on the periphery (Wenger, 2011, p3). With this in mind, The Mindlab group is a prime example of a community of practice. I am extremely fortunate that within our school there is a group of five of us are participating on this shared learning journey together and while we have a diverse range of teaching backgrounds, experiences, skills and ages, we all have a shared vision and vested interest in improving the learning of both our students and ourselves. Being part of the Mindlab community of practice has also been outstanding in its capacity in creating networking opportunities with colleagues from other schools and backgrounds.

The other community of practice I resonate with in a somewhat greater capacity still is that of Taupo Primary School. I have been a teacher at the school for the past 15 years and during that time have taught at all levels at some point in time or another and also taken on many other roles and responsibilities. It has been an interesting journey and I have gained a wealth of knowledge from some inspiring and dedicated members of this ‘shared community’. Within this community at present, my role is somewhat diverse in itself. I have a rather unusual role where for the first two hours of the day my time is taken teaching Reading Recovery to a small group of students. For the remainder of the day I teach Maths and Reading to a number of small targeted intervention groups. This puts me in the position of being an ‘independent’ and while I don’t have the joy of being part of a syndicate (and therefore have no team meetings!) I still have a great deal of interaction with my colleagues through staff meetings, professional development and such occasions as informally sitting around gas-bagging in the staffroom or around the photocopier.

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. (2011). Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction. Retrieved from https://www.vpit.ualberta.ca/cop/doc/wenger.doc

Wenger, E. and Snyder, W. (2000). Communities of Practice: The Organisational Frontier
Harvard Business Review. January-February 2000. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2000/01/communities-of-practice-the-organizational-frontier

Wenger-Trayner, E. & B. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/