SCHOLARLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN COMMUNITIES

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#fslt14 | FIRST STEPS INTO LEARNING AND TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

3 February, 2014

Hi from my home office

almost pyjamas

online community stewardbacktherapy

my other office

Your experience?

A) I would feel lost as an educator without regular participation in communities of practice

B) I occasionally participate in communities of practice, but don’t find them essential for my professional growth

C) I never participate in communities of practice. I don’t see the value.

D) I don’t know what a community of practice is.

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.

Etienne Wenger

What are your strategies for improving your teaching?

Brookfield – 4 lenses

1. Autobiographical experiences

2. The students’ eyes

3. Our colleagues’ experiences

4. Literature

Brookfield – 4 lenses

Reach even furtherContinually shape teaching and learning environments into spaces of knowledge exchange.

Further yet?Continually shape OWN learning environments

connect – reflect – improve practice

“My students complete the required assignments and respond to my questions, but beyond that they don’t engage”

S`

Wide open. No login to read

Summaries – what we accomplished together

Archives available forever

Some ambitious projects

Forums, wikis, polls, resources, etc clustered together

by topic

How do we make this happen? Volunteers!

Design for Success

• Participation on the periphery• Community steward• Attention to history• Bridge and connect to enrich and advance dialogue• Rhythm and variety, build anticipation• Focus on people and dialogue• Ideas for activities emerge through participation• Mutual exchange of services / collaboration• Different modes and levels of engagement• The interactions both define and are defined by the

community – historically new forms of practice

Indicators of Success

• “WE” speak• We did this together• We learned together• We advanced our practices together• We accomplished this together

• Willingness to give back• Investment in the future of the community

Why Communities of Practice?

http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

Brookfield, S. (2005) Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco. Jossey Bass.

http://scope.bccampus.ca

http://vle.openbrookes.net/course/view.php?id=11

Photo credits are listed in the notes section of each slide.

Sylvia Currie scurrie@bccampus.ca@currie