From dream to reality: Sustaining a higher education community of practice beyond initial enthusiasm
Book chapter
McCormack, Coralie, Gilchrist, John, Hancock, Eleanor, Islam, Jesmin, Kennelly, Robert, Northcote, Maria and Thomson, Kate. (2017). From dream to reality: Sustaining a higher education community of practice beyond initial enthusiasm. In In J. McDonald and A. Cater-Steel (Ed.). Communities of practice: Facilitating social learning in higher education pp. 599 - 622 Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2879-3_28
Authors | McCormack, Coralie, Gilchrist, John, Hancock, Eleanor, Islam, Jesmin, Kennelly, Robert, Northcote, Maria and Thomson, Kate |
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Editors | J. McDonald and A. Cater-Steel |
Abstract | This chapter is set within the complex context of academia where challenges facing sustainability of learning communities are yet to be explored in detail. It presents a narrative of one such exploration with a focus on the personal experience stories of community members who have taken their vision for a sustainable higher education community of practice called Talking about Teaching and Learning (TATAL) from dream to reality. The focus of this chapter, the 2009 and 2011 TATALs, are two of seven on-going TATAL communities. Their journey suggests that to maintain long-term sustainability, learning communities need to be both individually sustaining places and collectively sustainable spaces. These places and spaces are characterised by connection through professional and social relationships, engagement through purposeful collaborative reflective inquiry, ownership through shared commitment to each other, safety based on multiple trusts and permissions, and holistic facilitation as weaving. Knowing more about individual and collective sustainability enhances individual, community, and institutional understanding of the value of informal learning for teachers. This knowledge better positions individuals to negotiate the challenges of the shifting higher education landscapes. |
Keywords | Community of practice; Collaborative reflective practice; Narrative; story writing; Teaching philosophy |
Page range | 599 - 622 |
Year | 2017 |
Book title | Communities of practice: Facilitating social learning in higher education |
Publisher | Springer |
Place of publication | Singapore |
ISBN | 9789811028779 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2879-3_28 |
Research Group | Thomas More Law School |
Publisher's version | File Access Level Controlled |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8823z/from-dream-to-reality-sustaining-a-higher-education-community-of-practice-beyond-initial-enthusiasm
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