Preparing Education Doctoral Students for Epistemological Diversity NOTES
Community of Practice - consists of (1) Participation and (2) Reification
Cocktail Hour as Research Practice
In order for research students to succeed, they need to function in a community of practice. Pallas describes what this looks like when applied and the possible outcomes. The concept of professional conversation stood out because it always benefited me more than some formal education. Being in the trenches of the classroom highlighted my weaknesses and I learned quickly how to ask for professional advice from veteran teachers. I read a lot of advice books on teaching but not even Harry Wong fully prepared me.
Instead, I learned classroom management and discipline from the veteran social studies teacher neighboring my classroom. She was very comfortable letting me know exactly what I was doing wrong and suggesting/telling me how to fix classroom challenges. I was like a stray cat and she made the mistake of feeding me because I continued to bring her questions and theories and brainstorms. It’s worth mentioning that she wasn’t even my assigned mentor teacher during my first year! We didn’t even teach the same subject but she was my community of practice.
Eventually my community grew as I started asking everyone - from other English teachers to the benevolent copy room team - for teaching advice. part of the College of Education curriculum requirements should include attending and observing the Community of Practice that occurs at The Mont during happy hour each payday in Norman. This is where the hardest working teachers congregate and discuss their month in intimate detail. They freely share accomplishments and failures while supporting each other with critical input, hunches and humor. Besides making me reminisce of swirls and The Mont, the reading made me reflect on this cock tail hour practice as a business model. Allegedly, GOOGLE and ATLASSIAN software practices this with employees while on-the-clock and it results in higher productivity and new products. Am I the only teacher that developed a great lesson plan - my reification - on a flimsy bar napkin?
- Accountability is necessary (p.4)
- Shared experience resulting from interaction
- Need to be local as shared experience can be effected in different settings
- Professional Conversation - my favorite aspect of the Community of Practice
- Process of the community to produce a product of practice
- Lesson plan, rules, documents, symbols, tools, etc.
- Activities in which teachers engage and...
- ...conditions or problems encountered.
Cocktail Hour as Research Practice
In order for research students to succeed, they need to function in a community of practice. Pallas describes what this looks like when applied and the possible outcomes. The concept of professional conversation stood out because it always benefited me more than some formal education. Being in the trenches of the classroom highlighted my weaknesses and I learned quickly how to ask for professional advice from veteran teachers. I read a lot of advice books on teaching but not even Harry Wong fully prepared me.
Instead, I learned classroom management and discipline from the veteran social studies teacher neighboring my classroom. She was very comfortable letting me know exactly what I was doing wrong and suggesting/telling me how to fix classroom challenges. I was like a stray cat and she made the mistake of feeding me because I continued to bring her questions and theories and brainstorms. It’s worth mentioning that she wasn’t even my assigned mentor teacher during my first year! We didn’t even teach the same subject but she was my community of practice.
Eventually my community grew as I started asking everyone - from other English teachers to the benevolent copy room team - for teaching advice. part of the College of Education curriculum requirements should include attending and observing the Community of Practice that occurs at The Mont during happy hour each payday in Norman. This is where the hardest working teachers congregate and discuss their month in intimate detail. They freely share accomplishments and failures while supporting each other with critical input, hunches and humor. Besides making me reminisce of swirls and The Mont, the reading made me reflect on this cock tail hour practice as a business model. Allegedly, GOOGLE and ATLASSIAN software practices this with employees while on-the-clock and it results in higher productivity and new products. Am I the only teacher that developed a great lesson plan - my reification - on a flimsy bar napkin?
