One of my Community of Practice (CoP) is year 5 & 6 syndicate of 5
teachers at Pirongia School. Our “joint enterprise” (Wenger, 2000) begun when we inquired into student self-regulation.
We genuinely wanted to know how student agency could indeed “accelerate student
learning and achievement (primarily in writing).” Our “mutual engagement” (Wenger, 2000) is meeting weekly to discuss our
thinking around student learning, student engagement, current teaching
practises and any relevant professional readings we may find and want to share
with one another. We are goal oriented following the spiral of inquiry model
(Helen Timperley., Linda Kaser., Judy Halbert., 2014.) engaging in robust,
honest discussion, which builds a mutual trust in the team. We have a “shared
repertoire” (Wenger, 2000) of communal
resources collected in our teacher drive. It is here we store our shared
planning, teaching resources and inquiry documents that each teacher can add to
during their personal reflective time or during team meetings.
Already success around shifting from “teacher directed” classrooms to
more “student centred” has been shared. Now implementing other 21st century
learning skills (knowledge constructions, the use of ICT for learning, skilled
communication, real world problem solving and innovation) and focusing on a
more blended classroom would be great contributions to our CoP inquiry. It will
be within this community that we feel empowered and supported to continue to
make real genuine change of practise.
As the team leader I recognise that my team don’t always have the same
sense of urgency as I do. They are motivated and enthusiastic about turning
their classrooms into 21st Century learning hubs and they are willing to adopt
new ideas to make this happen. However, there is also an underlying feeling of
anxiety as they challenge the traditional practises our school has done for the
past 8 - 10 years (that contradict the ideas of 21st Century Learning). During
staff meetings and impromptu conversations around challenging these traditional
practises I recognise that my CoP rely on me to articulate our vision to try
and remove any prejudices that others may have. This is possibly because I have
done more professional reading and professional development (Post-grad Mind
Lab) around our students being innovative thinkers and using technology to
prepare for the future in education. Or possibly this is because they are still
trialing new things
themselves and don’t have the evidence (yet) to support their changes
and feel some threat when management come and observe practises.
Hallinger (2003) noted that change draws attention to leadership
becoming more diffused within the school, therefore uncertainty may increase
rather than decrease. This is a result of more ‘voices’ (teachers, parents,
students) engaging in the process of providing leadership for school
improvement. As a result, school leadership requires a higher tolerance for
uncertainty from the principal and an ability to live with a messy process of
change. This is for the principal to work through. Teachers within the CoP need
to welcome visits and conversations by management and other teachers as an
opportunity to remove some prejudices and show quick wins (Kotter, 1996). It is
important teachers remember the purpose for change (accelerating student
learning) and check that this is happening because of their change of practise
(implementing 21st century skills and the blended classrooms). Making teachers
accountable for the change as they learn along students will help make the
change stick (Kotter, 1996).
REFERENCES
- Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press.
- Timperley. H., Kaser. L., Halbert. J., (2014) A Framework for Transforming Learning in Schools: Innovation and The Spiral of Inquiry; Centre for Strategic Education Mercer House 82 Jolimont Street East Melbourne Victoria 3002.
- Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2),225-246.
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