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.
