Collaborative Professional Learning and Communities of Practice

Collaborative professional learning affects adult learning through knowledge development around what a community of practice is and the purpose of a functional practice. When addressing the purpose of a Communities of Practice (CoP) it’s important to understand the research and purpose first in order to dig deeper into the benefits that will influence adult learning, moreover affect student success in the classroom.

“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” (Wenger-Trayner, 2015). According to Wenger-Trayner’s 2015 article, Communities of Practice A Brief Introduction, the theory of educational CoP’s derives from three dimensions including internal, external and over the lifetime of students:

• Internally:How to organize educational experiences that ground school learning in practice through participation in communities around subject matters?

• Externally: How to connect the experience of students to actual practice through peripheral forms of participation in broader communities beyond the walls of the school?

• Over the lifetime of students: How to serve the lifelong learning needs of students by organizing communities of practice focused on topics of continuing interest to students beyond the initial schooling period?

Through these three dimensions, communities of practice offer a unique opportunity for adults to come together collaboratively to address problems of practice within the educational system and beyond. Currently, I am working towards the progress of student mastery based on the community's need for immediate feedback in the classroom to assess CA State Standards and essential questions. By allowing myself to work closely with a group of colleagues, we are able to develop specific strategies to allow this progress to unfold within the school year. Meeting regularly allows the group to collaborate professionally, evaluate cause and affect of strategies, and provide improvements to our implementation plan.

These communities of practice are also associated with Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s). PLC’s are defined as, teams of educators who share ideas to enhance their teaching practice and create a learning environment where all students can reach their fullest potential (Serviss, 2022). I personally associate PLC with elementary school systems in order to coordinate with Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) training, while I am noticing that communities of practice are more focused around secondary and above to accommodate more collaboration strategies for post-secondary success.