Communities of Practice
What are communities of practice?
A community of practice can be described as "a group of professionals and other stakeholders in pursuit of a shared learning enterprise, commonly focused on a particular topic" (Buyesse, Sparkman, & Wesley, 2003, p. 266). In other words, a community of practice could involve educators, such as a group of special education faculty – both from Humboldt State University and various Humboldt County Schools – who meet regularly to discuss, explore, and investigate common teaching and learning issues and dilemmas.
Who might wish to participate?
Mentor teachers and credential candidates in any of Humboldt State University's education programs will be invited to participate with interested faculty members from the School of Education as well as other departments..
What are the benefits of participation?
Teaching is a challenging and often isolated experience. Through participation in a community of practice, which will serve as a peer support and action network, educators from both the schools and the university will grow professionally and collaborate to identify and begin to better understand and be able to solve complex classroom challenges.
How will the community of practice operate?
Different communities of practice will set their own meeting schedule but will likely meet once a month throughout the school year. At the first few meetings the following activities are likely:
- Identification of issues/concerns
- Grouping/clustering of related issues/concerns
- Prioritization of issues to address
- Development of an action plan
Once classroom issues of greatest importance have been identified and prioritized, various community of practice groups will then develop action research/collaborative inquiry projects, read, collect data, and subsequently share their results and insights with group members and other interested educators. Through this approach we will be establishing a "best practices network" which can serve as a resource to other educators.
Are resources available to support this work?
In 2003 the Special Education Credential Program and the Center established a Community of Practice in Special Education. Center funding provided support for books/materials, duplication, guest speakers, refreshments, stipends, substitutes during the inaugural year. For additional information please contact Cathleen at cdr11@humboldt.edu, David at dae11@humboldt.edu, or Peggy at BPKirk@aol.com.
If you would like to explore creation of a Community of Practice for your grade level or content area, please contact Cathleen (cdr11@humboldt.edu).