MINDLAB
– WEEK 19 – COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
For
this week's Blog, I am going to be looking at two Inquiry Topics and how they
relate to my Community of Practice. The Community of Practice is a concept that
we as teachers have been involved in, either directly or indirectly, without
realizing that there is a term to describe this practice. As a team, we plan
our Inquiry topics for the term and we try to link these topics to our
school-wide goals for the year. Communities of Practice provide an environment
for people to connect, interact, build and extend the shared resources to
shared learning goals. (Kaplan, and Suter – 2005)
In his video Knox (2009) said a Community
of Practice, requires three key areas – community (mutual engagement), domain
(joint enterprise) and practice (shared repertoire).
For my first topic, I wanted to encourage,
promote and change the mindset of the boys in my school to participate other
areas of sport, apart from Rugby Union and Rugby League. I felt that this topic
will link in well with Developing a Growth Mindset and it
will support what I have discussed in my Leadership 1 assignment in Digital and
Collaborative Learning.
For my second topic, I wanted to develop a
network of communication, support, sharing of ideas and resources between Hard
Materials teachers in Auckland and how do we get Outside agencies to support
what we do in our Technology classrooms. I want my students to see the link
between learning a Technology subject at school and how it influences their
future career choices when they complete school.
For my second topic, it is something that I
was constantly thinking about, but now I have a platform to expand all my ideas
and put a plan in place on how I could achieve this.
To
explore and unpack these two topics, I am going to be using the Jay and
Johnston reflective model.
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Descriptive
What is happening? Is this working and for whom? How am I feeling?
What do I not understand?
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Teaching at an Intermediate School provides students an opportunity to
adequately prepare themselves to be successful learners at college. At the
moment, the boys at my school only focus on 2 codes of sport, Rugby Union,
and Rugby League.
At times, it is difficult to put a team together to compete in other
codes of sport, like cricket, basketball, baseball, etc. The mindset amongst the
boys is the other sports are ‘Gay.’
This is disappointing because I find my students limiting themselves
to learning, participating and competing in other sports codes.
The challenge is how do I change the mindset of my students and my
colleagues to promote and teach these sports codes.
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After teaching for almost 3 decades, I now find myself frustrated and
uninspired by teaching the same processes and activities each year.
I want to try and do something different. Something that is going to reinvigorate
my passion and inspire my students to become the future leaders in Technology
Development.
I need to establish a network of collaborating with other teachers in
my curriculum area. To find out what they are doing differently in their
classroom.
I also need to develop a link with Outside Agencies that can showcase
to my students the career opportunities available in the Technology field.
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Comparative
How do other people who are involved or indirectly involved describe
what’s happening? What does research contribute to an understanding of this
matter? How can I improve what is not working
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This
lack of enthusiasm in not wanting to participate and learn other codes of
sport is a concern that was shared by a few of my colleagues at school. We
need to identify the reasons that contributed to this. How do we work
collaboratively with all stakeholders, students, teachers and parent
community, to bring about change?
Firstly,
I need to reflect on my leadership style. I need to create a shift from been
a Transactional Leader to a Transformational Leader.
Vera and Crossan, describe a
Transactional leader as someone who,”Set goals, articulates
explicit agreements regarding what the leader expects from organizational
members and how they will be rewarded for their efforts and commitment, and
provide constructive feedback to keep everybody on task." (Vera &
Crossan, 2004, p. 224)
While, Bass describes a Transformational leader as someone who, “has
the potential to promote a co-operative working environment, foster a culture
of trust, give regular feedback, provide solutions through times of crises
and implement a participative decision-making process." (Bass 1990)
Becoming a Transformational
leader is imperative to get all the stakeholders to be supportive in creating
a change in the mindset of our students.
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Initial
discussions with my Principal, about this change initiative, is very
encouraging. I feel reassured that my Principal and the Board of Trustees
will support any PD needed to transform my practice.
Changing your practice is about researching into
what you do in the classroom: Asking a question about what needs to change
and why, and then attempting to
enact change through a well thought out plan of action.(MOE, NZ Curriculum
Dec 2017)
Making
a connection with other teachers in the same curriculum area is going to very
important step in changing and evolving my current practice.
There
appears to be an opportunity for teachers to gather, connect, share and
develop knowledge using individually tailored pathways, unencumbered by the
school’s annual professional development calendar. (p16, Online social networking and
its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning, Karen Melhuish 2014)
Making
connections with Futureintech Facilitators to provide talks and showcase the
link between schools and Industry, will be important for my students to start
thinking about career pathways for the future.
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Critical Reflection
What are the implications of the matter when viewed from these
alternative perspectives? How does this reflective process inform and renew
my perspective?
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For
an initiative to be successful, it requires strong leadership and guided
direction. It requires all stakeholders to be supportive and committed to bringing
about a change in the mindset of our students. Working closely with the
parent community and getting the support of all teachers will be imperative
for the students to challenge themselves to try something new.
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Making
changes to my practice is not going to be easy. Reflecting on why I want to
make these changes and what I hope to achieve by doing this, will be my
motivation.
Establishing
a network with teachers in the same curriculum area and sharing ideas will be
a refreshing way of reflecting on what I am doing currently and what I could
do better.
Making
connections with outside agencies will be vital for my students see the connections
between school and what happens in the real world.
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References:
Jay, J.K. and Johnson, K.L. (2002)
Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education.
Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 73-85.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities
of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Jurasaite-Harbison, E., & Rex, L.
(2010). School Cultures as Contexts for Informal Teacher Learning. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 26(2), 267-277.
Vera, D., & Crossan, M. (2004). Strategic Leadership and
Organizational Learning. The Academy of Management Review,29(2),
222-240. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20159030
Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to
transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/009026169090061S?via%3Dihub
Making change /
Teaching as inquiry / Kia ora - NZ Curriculum Online
nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz › Teaching as inquiry
