When I think of communities of practice after reading the two
articles, I think of an active community. Meaning, the members of the community
are actively involved and growing their knowledge/interest together. I also
think of constructivism in that we are all learning together, actively, and
constructing our own knowledge within the topic of interest. Our interest, or domain,
would be education. The community would be USD students, more specifically, a
majority MCC One Year students. Our practice is our literal practice, student
teaching.
The activities described by Etienne Wenger are all practices
that we as a domain actively participate in. A few are listed below in relation
to our domain as educators:
Problem solving – Do you have ideas on a better way that I can
assist a particular student?
Request for information- What teaching resources did you use for
PACT?
Discussing- Classroom discussions
Visits- Observing each others teaching classroom.
I like how the Jean Lave article mentions lifelong learning.
Lifelong learning is something that is stressed when entering into the field of
education. Teachers need to be flexible, adaptable and willing to continuously
learn. Society, communities and people change, therefore teaching has to
change. We have to be willing to change our understanding of how to best teach
the students that enter into our classroom. One way to do this is by
participating in communities of practice.
The
University of San Diego does a great job of creating classrooms that promote
communities of practice. Students are encouraged to participate in social
interactions, not just sit and listen to lectures. This relates to what Mark
Smith says, “Learning is, thus, not seen as the acquisition of knowledge by
individuals so much as a process of social
participation” (Smith, 2009).
Reference:
Smith, M.
K. (2003, 2009) 'Communities of practice', the
encyclopedia of informal education,
I agree that part of being a great teacher is being willing to continuously learn and change. I have come across teachers who get too "comfortable" with their routines and lesson plans and often continue the same activities and curriculum for years. While it is appropriate to reuse ideas and teach lessons that have proved to be successful in the past, I also think it is important for teachers really get to know their students, their place in the time, and ensure lessons are meaningful and relevant to them.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you said that a community of practice is a community of active learners. It really is about being active.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that as teachers we need to be flexible with the changes in education. However, I think it is easier said than done for many of us. That is why we have to remember that we are in this for the students interest, not our own.
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