Community of Practice

(Mindlab - Week 25)

In Te Reo Maori, the concept of “Ako” means to both teach and to learn. This philosophy of reciprocal learning acknowledges the way that new knowledge and understandings can grow out of shared learning experiences.

The shared learning I have experienced over the last seven months through the Mindlab course, our shared communities of learning and through a personal change in mindset have encouraged what Finlay (2008) refers to as reorientation. This requires looking at new and innovative ways of thinking, taking time to plan, implement and refine our ideas and collaboration with colleagues who share a passion for “Ako”.

My community of Practice

Two years ago I was asked to join the team which would be steering the literacy review at our school. They included teachers with a specific interest in literacy within a MLE, our literacy leader, the SENCO and reading recovery teacher and me. I have been managing the school library for several years now and have an interest in literacy as well as a focus on improving information literacy throughout the school.

The Domain

This joint enterprise had the purpose of redeveloping the literacy progressions with a view to improving literacy throughout the school. Part of this process required the team to reflect on individual roles and how these might enhance our present and future programmes. The strength of our team lay in individually diverse roles but a shared passion for literacy. This combination of experience and passion produced a wide body of knowledge. Reflecting on Finlay(2008), Knox (2009) and Wenger (2000 and 2011), it was clear to see that our love of literacy and the shared goal of wanting to improve outcomes for our learners created a passionate and focused community of practice.

We hold regular meetings throughout the school term to consider the sources of evidence from the different teaching teams. These help to determine our needs for review and development. This includes student voice, teachers’ needs, observations and reflections. In the course of these meetings we consider our strengths as a group and individuals and how we might move our learning forward. As well as our formal meetings we also meet on a more informal basis once a week to reflect on how the programmes we have implemented are progressing and meeting the required outcomes.

Some of the programmes we have implemented have been aimed at accelerating progress and achievement for priority students, including students with special needs. Together we acknowledged the need to improve reading engagement within this group of students. We set up a system where student learning became more student led and students were given more autonomy in their reading selection. We recognised the need for a better selection of non-fiction reading material at appropriate levels in order to better engage our boys and struggling readers who preferred this genre. We created topic boxes to drive inquiry led projects. These topic boxes were aimed at students and teaching staff.  

Contribution

This project has been a collaborative project from the start and although there is always plenty of discussion around what we can improve on and how, we tend to agree on the direction we are heading and the steps we are taking to achieve the desired outcomes. If there is one area of improvement which we need to improve on as a group it is in sharing our ideas with the wider school community. My Mindlab reading and constant reflection has provided me with a better insight into collaborative learning and given me the confidence to share my ideas with my CoP and ultimately the wider school community.

References:

Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on reflective practice. The Open University.

Knox, B. (2009, December 4). Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.               Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of Practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2), 225-246

Wenger, E. (2011). Communities of practice: A brief introduction.