Week 25: Communities of Practice.

Applied Practice in Context: Week 25 Activity 1: My Community of Practice


Whakatauki: He kura tangata – He kura whānau

A person educated is a community educated

In my reflective blog post I will critically analyse and define my practice in reference to Wegner's (2000) Concept of Community of Practice. First the question that comes to my mind is: What is a Community of Practice? 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.

A strong community of practice involves the sharing of knowledge in regards to fore filling and individual or group goal. This also involves creating new knowledge to enhance a domain of professional practice. 

Identifying my community of Practice. 

My community of practice is varied as I belong to a few different groups within my School. First and foremost I am a classroom teacher. I am a very passionate teacher and take my role as a teacher seriously in terms of providing a safe and happy classroom climate for the students in my class which not only inspire them but also challenge them and motivate them in terms of their learning and growing as capable learners. As a teacher I keep a reflective teaching blog. This is where I critically reflect on my teaching practice on a regular basis as I am a life long learner and I believe that through regular reflective practice helps me define myself as a better teacher and helps me inform my planning and teaching and look at areas where I can develop on in terms of planning as well as my teaching strategies. Finlay (2009) signify's the importance of keeping a reflective journal on everyday teaching practice. 

In terms of my COP and working with teachers and students I am also part of the IT team along side a colleague within the School. I also a tutor teacher to a beginning teacher so I also work within community of practice of other Beginning Teachers and Mentors and lastly, I am currently studying my Post grad with the Mind Lab. I also part of social media forums such as twitter, Facebook and also Google+ which are also considered part of a community of practice. I enjoy being part of these social media sites as this gives me the great opportunity to interact and discuss common areas of interests as well as share knowledge as well as gain knowledge. 

I take my role as being part of the IT team seriously as this is what I am passionate about. Enger, McDermott, & Snyder, (2002) discusses the importance of imparting knowledge. I have established my school into becoming a google school. I hold staff meeting in regards to how to use google drive and the many different aspects of how to navigate around google drive. I am responsible of assisting teachers as well as teacher Aides and Admin staff when they require any help or encounter any problems in regards to google.

The shared domain at our School is in terms of looking at different ways in which we can improve our teaching practice using digital technologies and 21st Century skills. Being part of the IT team we are always reflecting and always looking at ways that we can enhance this. At the present moment we at the beginning states a we recently moved from using a School server and outlook to going google. We are using the knowledge that we have and passing it onto others who will then take that knowledge and pass it onto the next person. We run regular meetings and attend conferences where needed to gain more insight and more knowledge on the ever changing digital world.

I honestly believe that I am a valuable and contributing member of CoP and I feel that I have participated and have flourished in terms of being a teacher. It is always great seeing others with smiles on their faces and thanking me for the knowledge that I have passed on and implementing them into their teaching and learning.

References

Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file…

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

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.