Week3, Blog #6-Communities of Practice

Community learning has been around for several years, however in the classrooms of the United States, they call it "co-operative learning," and it is presented based on the teacher's notion of what it should look like. As a teacher who has used cooperative learning groups in the classroom, I know factually, that most teachers have no clue what-so-ever how a cooperative assignment should look, or how the resulting assessment should look.

Bringing this tools into the classroom, through the use of computers, iPods or cellphones would revolutionize learning. So, the technology iPods and cellphones are banned from campus, the computers are all being used for traditional testing. In addition, the websites that might offer our students a fresh, real-life look at a problem that could be solved through discovery on the internet, are blocked from use by both students and teachers.

It seems as if everyone in education has a new idea about where education should be headed, but, as stated in Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, by Etienne Wenger(1998), "students go to school and, as they come together to deal in their own fashion with the agenda of the imposing institution and the unsettling mysteries of youth, communities of practice sprout everywhere..." This paragraph continues to name the places where these communities of practice are held, but anyone who has driven past a community park can see evidence of their existence.

Through researching the concept of Communities of Practice, I was able to find several papers and articles on the subject through Sharedwork.org, a National Community of Practice site where educators, administrators, and parents may access and share information on what makes a highly qualified teacher. I found several articles concerning the ability or lack of, for co-teachers to step into each others shoes when needed. I think this site would be great for my co-teachers at school to read and learn from.

This site offers information and resources to evaluate teachers, the outcomes the produce in student achievement, and does it all in a community of practice environment. I am currently going through my annual evaluation, and this site has information on this type of evaluation, and how it may not be fair to co-teachers to be evaluated in the same manner as single-teacher classrooms. I should show this site to my supervisor!

Reference List

Wenger,E (1998) Communities of Practice: learning, meaning, identity,Cambridge University Press, New York, NY http://books.google.com/books?id=heBZpgYUKdAC&dq=communities+of+practice&printsec=frontcover&source

Retrieved September 21st, 2009

http://www.sharedwork.org/