Week 25 - Communities of Practice
Communities of Practice
When I read about the community of practice and what made it a community it was a timely moment to consider what defines a community compared to a team. A CoP in our school is usually referred to as a 'team'. It got me thinking which one is a better definition of how we work and learn together in my school? In our teams we meet regularly to reflect and plan and look for best practice, how we might support each other and what we re doing to achieve our goals for student achievement.
Etienne and Wenger-Trayner(2015) succulently state what a community is 'Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn and how to do it better as they interact regularly'. It is helpful to have this definition here as I consider what are my communities of practice. Wenger (2015) states there are three defining characteristics to a community of practice. These are domain, community
and practice. I will explore these through two communities.
As a member of the leadership community of practice (CoP) I work closely with this group which consists of senior leaders and team (middle) leaders. We meet weekly to engage in conversations to address learning and reflect on what has been successful within teams and what next learning steps may be necessary. We spend time discussing practice and ensuring there are common understandings across all areas of the school. Most of the time these meetings would be reflecting level 2 and 3 (repair and review) with occasionally some level 4 (research) when their are some aspects of practice that need understanding further to move forward Finlay (2009).
Another community of practice I am a new member of is the Community of Learning Kāhui Ako. My part in this is as both a large group and a sub group, as we have formed a smaller group to identify the achievement challenges. As a group we are developing and building relationships which require trust and respect to enable the community to move forward in an honest and purposeful way. As we are from different schools we are not in daily contact but rely on emails, shared docs and Google+ and fortnightly meetings to interact and learn.
Communities of practice seem to work well for both these groups as we each come with some knowledge already and hence we are able to contribute in a constructive way. I think a community of learning will be successful when the group has a purpose going forward.
Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file…
Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.
Wenger-Trayner, E. and Wenger-Trayner, 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/.
When I read about the community of practice and what made it a community it was a timely moment to consider what defines a community compared to a team. A CoP in our school is usually referred to as a 'team'. It got me thinking which one is a better definition of how we work and learn together in my school? In our teams we meet regularly to reflect and plan and look for best practice, how we might support each other and what we re doing to achieve our goals for student achievement.
Etienne and Wenger-Trayner(2015) succulently state what a community is 'Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn and how to do it better as they interact regularly'. It is helpful to have this definition here as I consider what are my communities of practice. Wenger (2015) states there are three defining characteristics to a community of practice. These are domain, community
and practice. I will explore these through two communities.
As a member of the leadership community of practice (CoP) I work closely with this group which consists of senior leaders and team (middle) leaders. We meet weekly to engage in conversations to address learning and reflect on what has been successful within teams and what next learning steps may be necessary. We spend time discussing practice and ensuring there are common understandings across all areas of the school. Most of the time these meetings would be reflecting level 2 and 3 (repair and review) with occasionally some level 4 (research) when their are some aspects of practice that need understanding further to move forward Finlay (2009).
Another community of practice I am a new member of is the Community of Learning Kāhui Ako. My part in this is as both a large group and a sub group, as we have formed a smaller group to identify the achievement challenges. As a group we are developing and building relationships which require trust and respect to enable the community to move forward in an honest and purposeful way. As we are from different schools we are not in daily contact but rely on emails, shared docs and Google+ and fortnightly meetings to interact and learn.
Communities of practice seem to work well for both these groups as we each come with some knowledge already and hence we are able to contribute in a constructive way. I think a community of learning will be successful when the group has a purpose going forward.
Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file…
Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.
Wenger-Trayner, E. and Wenger-Trayner, 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/.
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read the comparison between the two CoP you are involved in. I agree that one of the hardest parts of the COLs will be determining the shared purpose. Do you think that the COLs might end up only being true communities of practice between the leaders involved? Or could it realistically extend out to all staff members?
Steve
Hi Michelle.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting reading your blog and Steve's comment. The more i read the more I wonder, like yourself, as to what constitutes a community compared to a team.