I've written before about Communities of Practice and how powerful they are in all spaces, whether the community is one involving ākonga(students), or adults - or even better, ALL ages and stages. See here, here, and here for a few previous posts.
The power of a well-designed CoP means that it is a space for all voices to be heard, they have a place and space to contribute and it is not reliant on a certain level of experience. Everyone has something important to offer.
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu
At Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu - The Correspondence School, we are spread across the whole of Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond, so it can be challenging to find ways to create a sense of community. From the time I began teaching at Te Kura, I quickly became focused on how I could help create this sense of community through something like a Community of Practice as I had in many previous spaces I had worked in as well as during my Masters' study.
The perfect opportunity arose this year when I took on a new role as a Kaiarahi-a-motu - National Leader of Learning in the Curriculum Wāhanga (team). Another kaiako (teacher) was also interested in creating an online group of some type - a book group or club - to focus on professional learning and development as well as personal growth and development, and so the plan began.
We are a term into the group now. Akoako@TeKura has become our online community of practice where we can share and collaborate in a safe space. Currently, there is one session in Weeks 3, 6, and 9 of the Term. The sessions are a 'Breakfast Club' and run from 8.00am - 8.45am.
Our format is the same each time:
Pre-reading or viewing - never longer than 15-20 minutes at the most (often a TEDTalk or TEDxTalk)
Focus questions to prompt thought and discussion for our sessions
We also have other rauemi/resources available if our people want to delve deeper into the topics. These are released on the day of the sessions so that we don't overwhelm people beforehand.
The sessions are never recorded - even though we've been asked many times to do this. We have been firm in our thinking on this as we wanted to create a safe and open space where people don't feel constrained in what they can share by the fact of it being recorded. This has meant that we have had some incredibly personal stories shared and we've been really humbled by this. A well-designed CoP relies on being underpinned by a sense of respect and trust and I think we have worked hard to develop this.
During the sessions, the focus is on discussion and creating new learning together - another important aspect of a CoP. We start with an icebreaker - often just a quick thought-provoking or funny video. We then open a Jamboard - we have one for each session and they are consistent in format so that people know what to expect:
3 Important Points (from what we've read, watched, etc)
Something that Squares with Your Beliefs or Practice
Something Still Circling Around Your Head (thoughts, wonderings)
A Call to Action
Moving Forward - Ideas for Future Sessions (to give a voice and choice/agency in what we share and learn about)
One of our other main goals was to create opportunities for leadership in the CoP - another important part of a well-designed CoP. We are gradually widening the group of leaders in the space and this is something that we will always have as a goal and focus.
Everyone has something to offer and contribute in a CoP
Some of the topics for discussion in Terms 1 have included:
My Identity: Mana: The Power in Knowing Who You Are - Tame Iti
Where to Next?
Heading into Term 2, we are focusing on leadership and knowing our 'why' or purpose in what we do at Te Kura. One of our main goals is to increase participation and ownership of the community. It is already strong but we know we can do so much more to create this sense of belonging and ownership. We've already increased the number of people who are keen to develop sessions and lead with us supporting. Our goal is still to create a CoP where people know they belong and are keen to take leadership of discussions with us in support roles.
