Week 19: Contribution of teacher inquiry topics to my communities of practice
My two possible teacher inquiry topics:
1. How can we effectively use our class iPads as a tool to support personalising learning in our junior classrooms?
2. How can we use the digital technology we have to promote and support whanau engagement?
Both the inquiry topics above come out of my desire to see my students achieve to their fullest potential. I believe that personalising learning and strong whanau engagement are keys to student success.
In regards to my first topic, looking at my current use of my iPads in my classroom, using the SAMR model (see below), I am generally using my iPads as a substitution or augmentation. They are being used to enhance but not transform the learning of my students. To some extent I am using the iPads as tools to personalise the learning of my students in regards to different app choices for different ability levels but this is a very shallow form of personalising learning and not the "deep personalising learning" (Ministry of Education, 2012) I am aiming for.
My second topic relates in many ways to my first in regards to fostering student achievement. At present we have a number of ways we try to engage our whanau, but not all whanau, for a range of reasonable reasons are able to engage in the ways we currently provide. An inquiry that seeks to find out what else we can do or what we can do better will be beneficial for our students, our whanau and our school.
Using Wegner's model I have identified communities of practice which would support both of these inquiries. My first community of practice would be my syndicate team because we are, as Wenger, McDermott and Snyder (2002, p.4) state, a group "of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis". We have frequently discussed the need to improve both the use of digital devices in our classrooms and the way we engage with whanau.
The second community of practice could be my students. If my aim is to personalise learning in my classroom then it most certainly needs to be an inquiry that involves my students. Future-focused learning includes both the teacher and the students building knowledge together (Ministry of Education, 2012).
Both inquiry questions also contribute to and link strongly to my current communities of practice, with our school and CoL focus being around raising student achievement and my Mindlab community of practice being related to digital and collaborative practice.
I'm looking forward to giving both of these inquiries a go. Exciting times ahead!
Ministry of Education.(2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306
Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business Press.
