Activity 4: My professional community
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Community of
Practice- So, what is it?
‘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, 2015, p. 1).
Wenger discusses the three crucial and defining
characteristics of communities of practice as being the domain (a shared domain of interest where members are committed
to the domain), the community
(members interact and learn together) and the
practice (members are practitioners whose interaction develops knowledge).
Today I intend to explore and share my community of practice
through the following questions:
- Who are the stakeholders of your professional community? In what ways do they influence your practice?
- What are the core values that underpin your profession and how?
- What changes are occurring in the context of your profession at this time? How would you address them?
1). The stakeholders of my professional community are the
people who make Willow Park School.
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They include:
- Principal
- 2 Deputy Principals
- 27 Teaching Staff
- 6 Specialist Teachers
- 6 Teacher Aids
- 650 Students
Within this community, I believe I am part of a smaller
community made up of my syndicate team of 4 year 6 teachers. The above stakeholders
influence my practice because we share the same domain of educational interest
and the staff are passionate about and committed to this profession. We
interact on a daily basis with intent to share experiences and learn off each
other. As educators, we are practitioners where our interaction is our main
source of knowledge and develops a shared repertoire of resources:
‘experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems- in
short a shared practice’ (Wenger, 2015, p. 2)
This community supports me by allowing me to use the group’s
strengths to improve and develop my professional practice while supporting my
weakness through a shared source of knowledge and skills.
2). Core values that underpin my practice are positive
relationships and acceptance of diversity.
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My teaching philosophy strongly believes in positive
relationships with teachers, students and classmates, which leads to a safe
learning environment. On top of that, I teach acceptance and tolerance to my
students so that there is trust and respect in all forms.
There is no doubt that “relationships between teachers and
students are at the core of every classroom” (Bochner, Duchesne, Krause &
McMaugh, 2010, p. 507) and that this be a positive one. This positive relationship
is the beginning of an effective learning environment that leads to higher
levels of student engagement, positive attitudes towards school and investment
in class work (Phelan, 1992). Pianta (1999) says that this positive
relationship between students and teacher can be characterized by
communication, and emotional and academic support. In order to build, maintain
and improve this relationship, it is necessary for teachers to learn and
appreciate students’ personal interests and their backgrounds and provide
meaningful learning by making these connections in class.
These core values that underpin my practice are important to
me as an educator in my community because it supports and builds towards the
values outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007).
These values are excellence; innovation, inquiry and curiosity; diversity;
equity; community and participation; ecological sustainability; integrity and
respect. I believe I do encourage, model and explore these values to my students
and my community of practice.
3). Some changes occurring in the context of my
profession at this time are future focused, 21st century skills and
digital competencies.
In this rapidly changing digital world, the importance of effectively
integrating digital technologies to educate young minds is widely being
recognised. My students today live in a world where their lives are surrounded
by technology and to some degree, dependent on them. I believe my generation
was the beginning of this change and I strongly support this change in
education as it promotes the positive relationship technology has with
education and its potential to be used at its best.
As a result, our school now has a unit for Future Focused
Learning and professional development meetings to effectively integrate
technology in our teaching. Some examples for content delivery are Skoolbo,
Studyladder, Mathsbuddy and Matheletics, with sharing and presentating tools
such as blogs, Kahoot, Booktrack and more.
To further address this change in my context, I am currently
undergoing a Post-Graduate Course at The Mindlab on Digital and Collaborative
Learning, which has fed into my classroom and my community of practice.
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Reference:
Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., Krause, K., McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational Psychology
for learning & teaching (3rd ed.). South Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia: Cengage
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington:
Learning Media
Phelan, P., Ann, D., Hanh, L., Cai, T. (1992). Speaking up: Students’ Perspectives on
School. Phi Delta Kappan. 695-704.
Pianta, Robert, C., (1999). Enhancing Relationships Between Children and
Teachers. Washington. D.C.: American Psychological Assn.
Wenger,
E. (2012). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from
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