"If I knew what I know now back then."
Coming into the end of the Mindlab course through Unitec I am starting to realise that I have undergone significant growth. As 8 teachers continue to battle on juggling the demands of school, life, and the mindlab course we all feel enlightened and better off for the experience. I feel fortunate that I am in a school which is able to support a community like this, as there are teachers taking part in the same course from 3 or 4 teacher schools, with no one to bounce off.
I would say that the main community of practice that I am part of is our school, Masterton Intermediate, as a whole. As a sub group of like minded people are the 8 mindlabbers within the school. I would consider being part of a syndicate of 4 teachers is a significant community of practice which impacts my daily life. Being part of the literacy team is another community of practice which I am passionate about.
The reason why I opened up with the quote about the advantage of hindsight, is because I feel I have undergone a growth spurt as a teacher and as a person in the last few months. If had a different mindset and set of skills 5 years ago would it make a difference to my students, or did I have to grow naturally to get to the position I am in now?
When I think about the educators that have captured my attention there are some common qualities; They are always thinking, searching, and reflecting. They are the kind of people that are immersed in multiple communities of practice.
Ever since I was a young boy I guess I was involved in communities of practices in the form of sport. I guess the objectives and mindsets were already decided for us when we were young whipper-snappers running out onto the fields on cold Dunedin Saturday mornings. As I got older I had more input. It got to the stage that, through sport, we would work collaboratively (engagement) to reach our objective; to win (mutuality) Wenger (2000). Similar things happen frequently in educational settings, although it always seemed to be easier to achieve in sport!
A bit of a walk down memory lane, although not too heavy for a first blog reflection.
Wenger, E.(2000).Communities of practice and social learning systems.Organization,7(2), 225-246 (Link to the article in Unitec Library).
