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
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/
