COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: SUPPORTING FACULTY LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT THROUGH ORGANIC, DECENTRALIZED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
KRISTA HISER & CHARLES SASAKIKAPI’OLANI COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The Card Deck
Choose a facilitator to use the first technique in your card
deck. Please discuss some of the problems with professional
development on your campus. You have 5 minutes.
Problems with Professional Development
Limited impact Lack of follow through on new ideas Not enough time Low participation, esp. from seasoned
faculty Expensive Who chooses topics?
Models of Adult Professional Learning Based on social science & adult learning
theories: Professional Learning Communities Communities of Practice Apprenticeship Andragogy
Communities of Practice
“Self organized and selected groups of people who share a common sense of purpose and a desire to learn and know what each other knows” (Lave & Wenger, 1991)
Organic, sense of agency, self-motivating
Andragogy
Self concept Ability to self-direct Experience as a reservoir of
knowledge, readiness to learn as tied to social roles,
Problem- centered orientation to learning
Internal motivation to learn (Knowles,1984)
The Irony
“Professional learning communities are postmodern organizational forms struggling to survive in a modernistic, micromanaged, and politicized educational world” (Giles and Hargreaves, 2006)
How to institutionalize while keeping the organic quality
How is a c4ward not a committee? Has an organic beginning and ending Members decide how long the
commitment will be Members determine the goal of the
group Two goals: learning, while achieving a
task C4wards have members, a concierge,
and a host
The Host
The host is a campus leader, enthusiast, or expert in the topic of the C4ward.
Provides expertise Understands campus
history & direction Enthusiastic “driver”
& “mover” & “shaker” for the topic
The Concierge
A trained facilitator who uses techniques to neutrally guide the goals of the group: Scheduling Summarizing meetings Reframing issues Inviting guests Communication on behalf of the group Connecting to campus resources Concierge is committed but unattached Facilitative leadership experience
Lifecycle of a C4ward
Determine a schedule and timeframe Discuss technology (meeting online, use
of email, Laulima, etc.) Create a goal Learn from & encourage each other Assess and share Renew or disband
Current C4wards
Hawaiian Pedagogy Social Networking in
the classroom PBL & S-L Health & Meditation Developmental Ed CCSSE measures iPad power users Parents of small
children Tenure & promotion
ePortfolio end users Social networking Sustainability Across
the Curriculum Gaming & Play New Faculty Lecturers Academic Writers
Groups New STEM faculty Gatekeeper courses
(Vanguard)
The Vanguard Faculty Initiative Data on Gatekeepers were released in 2008
and success rates announced as an institutional priority
Funds were available for “gatekeeper” course redesign but some eligible faculty felt singled out and stigmatized. There were only two takers – both were relatively new faculty
Vanguard was an effort to recognize and reward those faculty willing to innovate and take risks
How did it work?
35 applications were received from those seeking designation as Vanguard Faculty
Proposed interventions needed to be data-informed and directly tied to student success – 18 Vanguard Faculty were selected
Vanguard Faculty were provided release time to redesign their classes Dean leveraged four funding sources to cover
costs FT and associate faculty are all eligible
Vanguard Faculty Initiative
Faculty could redesign courses as they saw fit
Project focus is internal and focused on faculty behaviors
Interventions included: Collaborative study Peer-Assessed
homework Capstone project International Café Accelerated Courses Problem-Based Learning
By design, everyone was doing something different!
Vanguard C4ward
C4ward clusters (time, discipline, method)
C4ward shapes faculty’s release time: supportive, productive, & accountable
All Vanguard faculty participated in a c4ward except one
Culture of Inquiry
“Create an environment in which faculty and staff come together and speak from their hearts about issues of substance: student learning, new roles, and new learning strategies. These conversations of consequence can be part of a general culture of inquiry and quality…” (Mellow, Minding the Dream, p. 132).