Communities of Practice for Independent Learning Practitioners at Capable NZ, Otago Polytechnic

Abstract

This paper explores a range of face-to-face and online communities of practice (CoP) that are used to support groups of learners or mentors at degree and diploma levels using Independent Learning Programmes at Otago Polytechnic's Capable NZ. The six writers each create a narrative linking the purpose of specific CoPs to their observable outcomes. The narratives demonstrate such CoP features as mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire. The value of the CoPs, over and above uniting colleagues in times of disruption, is outlined in each narrative of practice. Ahi kä ki uta, ahi kä ki tai, kia horahorahia, purapura o ahi kä | Let your home fires be seen inland, let your home fires be seen along the coast, and may the sparks from your fires rise up and be seen throughout the world. Capable NZ is a college of work based-learning within Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. Established as the Centre of Recognition of Prior Learning, one key focus is to work with experienced candidates who gain qualifications through an Independent Learning Pathway (ILP) which uses prior experiences to frame new learning through reflection. Ker (2017) interviewed graduates, concluding that many Capable NZ learners benefit from engagement in communities of practice in their professional contexts (Ker, 2017). It is logical, then, for community of practice pedagogies, with their capacity to embed resilience in times of disruption (Andrew, 2020, forthcoming), to inform the learner experience. Malcolm (2020, this issue) describes their value in one such programme, the Bachelor of Leadership for Change. In such contexts of work-based learning, where learning from reflecting on, in and for practice is key (Schön, 1987), CoPs become valuable sites for the exploration of facets of learning and teaching from practice for both learners and for their mentors.

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“…This approach recognises Mason Durie's (1998) Te Whare Tapa Whā model of Māori health which includes the spiritual, the mental/emotional, the physical and the social aspects of every participant's life. CoPs provide a richness and exchange that raises the repertoire of the entire group as explored in a series of narratives (Henry et al, 2020).…”

“…Meeting the responsibilities inherent in these values was a major undertaking, so I adopted a whakatauk ī (Māori proverb) to guide me through the degustation project: "Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei" (Woodward, 2020): "Seek the treasure you value most dearly and if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain." The message of this whakatauk ī is to be persistent and not to let obstacles stop you from reaching your goal.…”

“…Our CoP therefore set out to investigate which constructivist models/theories were employed in teaching practice and why they had been employed by teachers, and to identify the most effective constructivist pedagogical techniques used to engage learners across a range of subjects taught. Henry et al (2020) identified Communities of Practice (CoP) as an effective social constructivist tool for building trust and a sense of belonging, sharing of enterprise and enhancing the reflectivity that is a precursor to independent learning. We therefore employed this social constructivist (Palincsar, 1998) approach to mine information from interviewees, all OP teachers/facilitators, using an autoethnographic (Maréchal, 2010) approach involving reflection on teaching experience.…”

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“…In 2020 we investigated key evidence-based (Cullen et al, 2017) theories and models that link to teaching practice (Woodward et al, 2020) and then considered constructivism and reflective practice as an evidence-based approach to tertiary teaching (Woodward et al, 2021). Henry et al (2020) have identified communities of practice as an effective social constructivist tool for building trust and a sense of belonging, sharing of enterprise and enhancing the reflectivity that is a precursor to independent learning. We therefore employed this social constructivist (Palincsar, 1998) approach to mine information from interviewees, all OP lecturers or facilitators, using an autoethnographic (Maréchal, 2010) approach involving reflection on teaching experience.…”

“…It is important that educators are scaffolded into tertiary teaching, in manageable steps, using a supportive secondary teaching model and a constructivist approach of learning by doing and reflection, supported in a community of practice of like-minded, experienced educators (Henry et al, 2020) to bounce ideas off -rather than a traditional approach that represents outdated assumptions about the teacher's identity, ability and role.…”