Professional growth and learning organizations
Professions require on-going learning in order to keep up with the latest research and developments in their field. Professional growth helps to keep practitioners current, competent, proficient and progressing in their knowledge, skills and experiences. By embracing Peter Senge’s concept of being a “learning organization,” schools are better equipped to respond to challenges and changes, as well as support professional growth. In its most complete form, a learning organization is one in which individuals work, and work together, at their best. There is a willingness to be wrong and accept others’ ideas, to bring together different parts of the school to create a collective vision with the belief that the whole is something besides (and better) than its parts. To be a learning organization focused on improved outcomes for students, schools and the individuals within must embrace ongoing learning and professional growth.The best professional development available for you might be right under your nose
The concept of Communities of Practice provides the opportunity for job-embedded professional growth - whether you are intentional about it or not!According to Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trahner (https://wenger-trayner.com/intro), "Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. "
Three main components work together to create a community of practice:
- An identity is defined by a shared domain of interes
- Mutually beneficial joint activities, discussions, and shared information
- Sustained practice involving shared resources to solve recurring problems
Expertise
Student support servicesAdmissionsInstitutional navigationSkills
LeadershipCommunicationsInterculturalUnderstandings
Students in learning supportStudents from local communityThird culture studentsThe Admissions / Student Support Services Community of Practice at ISB
Jeannie Anthony (Head of Student Support Services), Robin Berting (Admissions Manager) and Sara Sulaimani (Admissions Officer) met weekly for three years to discuss learning support numbers and the status of individual inquiries in the pipeline. Little did we know it at the time, but the three of us were establishing a community of practice. We coalesced around shared concerns, interests and purpose, became authentically engaged in learning from each other, and created improved outcomes for students, colleagues and the school. We all became better at our work - and looked forward to our weekly meetings together.Bringing one’s expertise to the table and learning from others
Each of us came with our own strengths, some related to our formal roles and other more subtle expertise from our own particular experiences or passions.Developing common voice as a community of practice within a learning organization
Managing expectations coherently was an important goal of the team’s weekly meetings. As any admissions professional will tell you, it is important for all stakeholders who are involved in the admissions process to be on the same page when communicating with families. We developed our common voice as we tackled complex challenges together such as:- Interpreting documents (school reports, recommendations, and diagnostic tests) in a wide range of languages and from an even wider range of curricula or school systems
- Dealing with culturally entrenched attitudes towards learning support testing and perceived "labeling" of students, or parents in denial about their own children’s needs
- Understanding the intersection between English as an Additional Language needs and different kinds of learning support needs
- Communicating the school’s vision of support for a student’s needs with local psychologists or other local providers
- Liaising with a variety of internal stakeholders such as finance or communications departments and division principals to balance economic with pedagogical needs
Form Your Own Community of Practice
You might already be in a community of practice without realizing it - just like us! Refer to the definition on the opposite page and consider regular meetings you have with colleagues outside of admissions. It might be the learning support department (like us) or perhaps it is communications, marketing or finance... or maybe division heads or a heterogeneous admissions committee. Do you have a shared domain of interest? Do you discuss issues or situations in such a way that you are learning from each other and becoming better at what you do? Is this sustained over a long period of time and does your organization benefit from it? If the answer is yes, then you are already part of a community of practice! Or perhaps an element is missing - for example, you don’t meet regularly enough or your conversations are too limited. Discuss these ideas with your colleagues and reconsider how you meet so that you can create a community of practice and benefit mutually. Want to chat? We’d be happy to help.- Senge, P. M. (2012). Schools that learn: A fifth discipline fieldbook for educators, parents, and everyone who cares about education
- Wenger, E. and Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Communities of practice: A brief introduction