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Community of Practice - Surrounding yourself with Marigolds

Today's post is brought to you by Mindlab, who have set up a series of topics and reflections over the next few weeks in order to assist us teachers in becoming critically reflective. I think I am both critical, and reflective, but not always at the same time and not always in the constructive ways that Mindlab is promoting.

This first year is flying by, and one huge thing that has become very apparent is how important it is who I choose to surround myself with while I move through the challenges and struggles that seem to crop up on a daily basis. The community of practice is defined as those groups of people who use their shared passion or voca
tion to deepen each others' knowledge and skills through that ongoing interaction - both in an unofficial sense (e.g. a coffee in the staff room) as well as through more structured interactions such as team planning sessions.

Communities of practice that I belong to include my colleagues from last years study, with whom I interact with online on a daily basis when we debrief on our days, share challenges as well as resources or ideas. There is also my school as a whole, and the community that they have developed, and lastly the rich  community of practice that has been facilitated through Mindlab.

The community of practice that has made the biggest difference for me so far this year has been my immediate team of 5 teachers, and so this is what I will focus on here. We all have incredibly different levels of expertise, either through years spent in the job, specialities in areas such as maths or enviro schools, and personal qualities. Wenger (2000) entails that for a community of practice to be successful there has to be a strong sense of purpose and belonging, and a regular basis for interactions. I know that for our team we interact on a daily basis, not just in weekly meetings, and this makes a big difference in terms of me feeling part of a strong supportive team.

As a first year teacher I would have expected to feel like a complete newcomer, however one thing our team is very successful in doing is sharing leadership and responsibilities around various tasks. Throughout the last three terms there have been many opportunities for us to take on projects, and get support from those who might have prior experience. This has been a huge help in giving me confidence, as well as support. I think another strong aspect to our team is that there is a feeling of equal contributions, and we all do our part to help our team as well as our students thrive.

It is easy to take my amazing team for granted, and yet I know that my practice as a teacher would be hugely different if I had been placed into a less cohesive, and functional community of practice. What comes to mind after this weeks critical reflection is a blogpost I read before starting as a teacher. It discusses the importance of finding the "marigolds" or the people who encourage and support others. It seems like the perfect match when discussing communities of practice, and is a great reminder for myself to choose the right people to surround myself with. Read it here at Finding Your Marigold.

References:

Jennifer Gonzalez (2013). Finding Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/

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

Comments

  1. Mrs Farley28 October 2017 at 04:32

    Thank you so much for your post Lizzy. It is great to know that you feel supported and challenged within our community of practice, both team wide and in our very special class who may be challenging, dynamic and deeply emotional all at the same time or spread across the day. You bring a huge amount to the team also which is respected and appreciated, especially your caring nature with ALL students that you interact with, in class, the playground, extra curricular groups and lunch time groups that you participate in or run. I look forward to a time that things calm a bit (fingers crossed) so I can have some time to read through the recommended book, as it sounds like it would be of great benefit to any teacher, but also anyone really. Thanks for sharing your experiences, and thank you for all your contributions to our 'amazing' team ... Kelley

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  2. Anonymous29 October 2017 at 20:58

    Hey Lizzy you have made some really great reflections in this post. It is fantastic to hear that you feel supported in our team and that you are being challenged. Year 5 and 6 can be a very demanding year level and you have handled like an experienced teacher. Your loving and caring nature towards students and staff makes working in the team really easy. I to would like to read the book you have suggested as like you I am taking on some challenges as well. I look forward to seeing you grow as a teacher and sharing more of your experiences with you. Thank you so much for the amazing contributions you make to our team and your enthusiasm to support and learn....Heidi

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  3. Anonymous30 October 2017 at 21:11

    You raise a good point with the sharing of knowledge and expertise. It is often those coffee conversations that are the most meaningful and constructive.
    I like how you are able to sift through the information that is constantly flying at you every day and are being thoughtful with what you choose to build into your repertoire.
    Your community extends beyond the boundaries of the school and you have been building it with your connections you made during your time training and in your past roles as well.
    I found this post to be insightful Lizzy, I often wish I saw things the way that you do.

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