MindLab Blog Post 1: “My Practice Within The Community”



Community of practice
My school is making a gradual transition to Innovative Learning Environments. This has become my primary community of practice, overlapping with another community of practice; my Year 4 students. Next year, these students transition into a large ILE environment consisting of over 220 students - a significant change from their past learning experiences which have taken place primarily in single cell settings.
(My colleague and I have had our two single cell rooms already developed into one combined ILE space, so some elements of next year’s new environment will be familiar to our students).
Shared domain of interest
The shared domain of interest within my community of practice is that of enabling students to develop their digital fluency, whilst also refining their skills as effective collaborators; core elements of an ILE environment.
Cognizance builds competence, and for this to occur in our joint enterprise, my colleague and I need to build an understanding of the philosophies and daily fundamentals of ILEs well enough to be able to contribute. (Wenger, 2000, p.229)
Building the community through mutual engagement
Wenger also states that it is vital to “...interact with one another, establishing norms and relationships of mutuality…” and that “...to be competent is to be able to engage with the community and be trusted as a partner in these interactions.” (p.229).
A key element of mutual engagement in my community is that of collaborative planning with my colleague. A weekly sit down locks in the core features of our learning programme, setting us up for how we will manage the dynamics of 60 students during the various activities.
New to ILE’s, we have found that we develop norms as we go, depending on successes/failures we have encountered on our journey. So far we have set norms such as making sure quiet activities are at the same time, behaviour management is consistent between both teachers, messy, noisy times are combined and discussions involving the same theme for both classes are combined, saving time.
We will trial a new norm in term 4. This will involve a “1 teacher, 60 students” concept. One teacher will be the primary facilitator of a lesson. The other teacher will be in the room, either testing or working with a focus group. There is more efficient use of teacher time using this model, as formative assessment can operate the same time as teaching, while staying in “ILE mode”. It will be interesting to evaluate how effective this was at the end of term.


Another aspect of mutual engagement used to build a stronger ILE practice are visitations to the Year 5 and 6 ILE building, where my students will be next year. During these visits, I can observe management, teaching styles, ask questions and receive advice on how to navigate problematic situations.
Shared repertoire
Our routines include the informal weekly meeting between my ILE colleague and myself, to sketch out the week ahead and a formal weekly meeting amongst our syndicate. As the rest of the syndicate will eventually be in an ILE setting, a major portion of the meeting content is geared towards ideas for best practice in this field.
Core language used in our community is rooted in the Key Competencies and 21st Century Learning Skills, as well as from Professional Development sessions in the Year 5 and 6 ILE pod.
Artefacts we refer to include feedback from observations and our Quality Assurance documents; both updated each term. Feedback from ILE experienced colleagues through Appraisal Connector would also be useful referral points.


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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MindLab Blog Post 4: “Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness”

My critical understanding of indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness. Before viewing Russell Bishop’s 2012 EdTalks video, I was still a little hazy in my understanding of what indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness really was. I had heard the terms around my school, but had not yet fully investigated its meaning. From the video, I have developed the understanding that I need to: ~be open to the issue of colonisation as being partly responsible for the educational disparities between Maori and non Maori - are Maori getting their promise of their part in a good education as set down in the Treaty of Waitangi? It is not all down to other preconceived notions of Maori. ~be aware that there is a worrying connection between achievement gaps in Maori and the high percentage of Maori currently incarcerated ~ be culturally responsive is to nurture relationships with Maori; take a genuine interest in their culture ~engage in appropriate Professional Devel...
Read more
Image
APPLIED​ ​PRACTICE​ ​IN​ ​CONTEXT, ASSESSMENT 2 Blog Post 2: “INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS IN PRACTICE” * A potential interdisciplinary connection from my map as my near future goal … When discussing my connection focus, I have decided to link it to the University of Illinois Thomas & McDonaugh video, as it resonated most strongly with aspects of my practice I wish to focus on. The connection I have as a near future goal is that of working more closely with and learning from our Unique Learning Needs Co-Ordinator. She does an amazing job of implementing the AKO Solutionz Mana Enhancement Plans (MEP) for our troubled students whose learning (and the learning of others) is being affected by behaviour challenges. I have focused on this area because I currently have students in my pod who are working with a plan and next year I know there will be a group of students coming through who will present me with a raft of behaviour challenges that I need to become better e...
Read more
APPLIED​ ​PRACTICE​ ​IN​ ​CONTEXT, ASSESSMENT 2 Blog Post 3: “REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND CHANGES IN PRACTICE” Reflective practice is an organic, ongoing, demanding and sometimes frustrating process. ( Osterman & Kottkamp, 1993, p.2) It requires high levels of self critique and patience before desired results are achieved. It can be more effective when undertaken in a collaborative setting, to allow for unbiased peer critique. Reflective practice begins when we become aware of a need for an area of change . For example, when I was working on my early Digital and Collaborative assessments the need for more Professional Content Knowledge when learning how to Screencastify a slideshow was overwhelming! Next, I entered the experiential learning phase, facing considerable challenges when working out how Screencastify worked. During Digital classes, I was also confronted with assumptions that I knew how to use apps such as Scratch, which I found frustrating as I felt I was ...
Read more