"Since the beginning of history, human beings have formed communities that share cultural practices reflecting their collective learning.....Participating in these 'communities of practice' is essential to our learning. It is at the very core of what makes us human beings capable of meaningful knowledge." (Wenger, 2000, p. 229).
RTLBs vary from classroom teachers in a number of ways and I am only as yet scratching the surface in my understanding of these. Stepping into this position and being allowed to "shadow" other RTLBs as they go about their busy daily schedules has allowed me the space to learn from those who have valuable experience. Watching how others deal with situations and in particular establish trusting relationships has been invaluable and at the same time given me the head space to really reflect on how I myself tackle such issues. My community of practice is now a much wider group - incorporating RTLBs, Team Leaders, Sencos, teachers and a raft of other professionals all wanting the very best for our precious tamariki. This wide and varied community of practice allows for wonderful snippets of learning and reflection. From the RTLB Rotorua Cluster website: "Learning is about teacher inquiry and reflection . It is about ... (connecting) ... professionally for the purpose of challenging each other's basic assumptions, to explore previously unseen opportunities for growth and to tap into the richness of what resides in the heads of colleagues as tacit knowledge." With every connection I make I am struck by the commonality of our goal to provide opportunity for the next generation to reach their best, and I am greatly heartened to know we are all learners in this journey - prone to making mistakes but capable of learning from them and moving constantly forward. Etienne Wenger defined “communities of practice” as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion or about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002, p.4).
RTLBs vary from classroom teachers in a number of ways and I am only as yet scratching the surface in my understanding of these. Stepping into this position and being allowed to "shadow" other RTLBs as they go about their busy daily schedules has allowed me the space to learn from those who have valuable experience. Watching how others deal with situations and in particular establish trusting relationships has been invaluable and at the same time given me the head space to really reflect on how I myself tackle such issues. My community of practice is now a much wider group - incorporating RTLBs, Team Leaders, Sencos, teachers and a raft of other professionals all wanting the very best for our precious tamariki. This wide and varied community of practice allows for wonderful snippets of learning and reflection. From the RTLB Rotorua Cluster website: "Learning is about teacher inquiry and reflection . It is about ... (connecting) ... professionally for the purpose of challenging each other's basic assumptions, to explore previously unseen opportunities for growth and to tap into the richness of what resides in the heads of colleagues as tacit knowledge." With every connection I make I am struck by the commonality of our goal to provide opportunity for the next generation to reach their best, and I am greatly heartened to know we are all learners in this journey - prone to making mistakes but capable of learning from them and moving constantly forward. Etienne Wenger defined “communities of practice” as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion or about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002, p.4).
What are the core values that underpin your profession? Evaluate your practice with regard to these values. As an RTLB, I believe our core values are ones that we should all adhere to as teachers:
Kindness,
Mutual respect,
Honesty,
Hard work,
Reliability,
Initiative,
Transformational change: a belief in the power of children to make good choices and to change when necessary,
Support: a belief in the power of whanau to sand by their tamariki and strive for the very best for them,
A love of learning: belief in the power of learning to make a difference in the lives of our tamariki and the community around them
and the umbrella for it all ... Aroha.
For the job we do as RTLBs - seeking to add capacity to the teachers at the chalk board when for whatever reason they encounter problems with a child (or children,) I believe all of the above core values are needed if we are to achieve valid and lasting results.
What is your specialist area of practice?
I feel my specialist area of practice is to increase that sense of capacity in the teachers we are dealing with - to leave them at the end of our intervention with a sense that they have greater clarity over the direction to take with their students and that they have the tools they need to do just that. Of course I am just beginning on this RTLB journey and still feel like I am somewhat drowning in the information overload that I have hit, but that's not a bad place to be after all challenge should be what it's all about in our learning.
References:
Jurasaite-Harbison, E., & Rex, L. (2010). School Cultures as Contexts for Informal Teacher Learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(2), 267-277
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems. Organization May 2000 7: 225-246
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
It appears you are in a transition phase as you enter a new community of practice. I would be interested to know how this differs from that of a classroom teacher and school leader. When I think of a community of practice, the key feature that stands out is relationships. How we interact with others in different contexts and how we engender strengths based approaches to addressing needs of different peers and students. How does the shadowing process help you establish these as you prepare to branch out on your own and are there any noticings that you can share to help those of us who interact with RTLB as to how we can best collaborate? Thanks Liz
ReplyDeleteHi Liz, what an exciting opportunity you have to join the RTLB service. I agree with you that the values that underpin your current role would be the same ones that would underpin the teaching profession as a whole. I think its these shared values and beliefs that means RTLBs are very much a part of the different schools they interact with. It will be interesting for you to see what differences there are within different school communities.
ReplyDeleteYour preface quote is quite perfect for this reflection Liz. I agree with the feedback above that recognises the importance of relationships. Sometimes in our work as RTLB there is little time to build relationships with each other so it is something that I need to create spaces for working with and alongside other RTLB.
ReplyDelete