Cooperative Learning through Communities of Practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Emilio Lastrucci ◽  
Angela Pascale
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Working Environments ◽  
Mutual Engagement ◽  
Common Task ◽  
Traditional Training

A community made up of a group of individuals becomes a “community of practice” when a mutual engagement is established between its members. The mutual engagement unites the participants in the carrying out of a common task (Wenger, 1998). The main aim of a community of practice is to find the solution to a problem by sharing experiences (Midoro, 2002). This paper examines the definition, characteristics, management and effectiveness of communities of practice. They are understood as being communities of self-managed learning where professional development is not based on a pre-set training course but on sharing experiences, identifying best practices and helping each other face the daily problems encountered in one’s profession (Trentin, 2000). Such communities are useful in particular working environments as an opportunity to improve digital competences. In communities of practice, it is possible to encourage ways of co-building knowledge through teaching methods such as cooperative learning. Until now cooperative learning has been limited to traditional training contexts, but it can be realised via Web technologies.

Cooperative Learning through Communities of Practice

2012 ◽  
pp. 189-199
Author(s):  
Emilio Lastrucci ◽  
Angela Pascale
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Working Environments ◽  
Mutual Engagement ◽  
Common Task ◽  
Traditional Training

A community made up of a group of individuals becomes a “community of practice” when a mutual engagement is established between its members. The mutual engagement unites the participants in the carrying out of a common task (Wenger, 1998). The main aim of a community of practice is to find the solution to a problem by sharing experiences (Midoro, 2002). This paper examines the definition, characteristics, management and effectiveness of communities of practice. They are understood as being communities of self-managed learning where professional development is not based on a pre-set training course but on sharing experiences, identifying best practices and helping each other face the daily problems encountered in one’s profession (Trentin, 2000). Such communities are useful in particular working environments as an opportunity to improve digital competences. In communities of practice, it is possible to encourage ways of co-building knowledge through teaching methods such as cooperative learning. Until now cooperative learning has been limited to traditional training contexts, but it can be realised via Web technologies.

Facilitator Toolkit for Building and Sustaining Virtual Communities of Practice

2011 ◽  
pp. 202-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Kimball ◽  
Amy Ladd
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Work Training ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice ◽  
Over Time

The boundaries of a Community of Practice (CoP) have changed significantly because of changes in organizations and the nature of the work they do. Organizations have become more distributed across geography and across industries. Relationships between people inside an organization and those previously considered outside (customers, suppliers, managers of collaborating organizations, other stakeholders) are becoming more important. In addition, organizations have discovered the value of collaborative work due to the new emphasis on Knowledge Management—harvesting the learning and the experience of members of the organization so that it is available to the whole organization. This chapter offers a practical toolkit of best practices, tips and examples from the authors’ work training leaders to launch and sustain a virtual CoP, including tips for chartering the community, defining roles, and creating the culture that will sustain the community over time.

scholarly journals "Go for Broke and Speak Your Mind!" Building a Community of Practice with Bilingual Pre-Service Teachers

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyesun Cho
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Classroom Community ◽  
Teacher Preparation Program ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Mutual Engagement

Despite the popularity of communities of practice (CoP) in education, there is a paucity of research on teacher preparation programs that are deliberately created to build and sustain CoP to help bilingual pre-service teachers’ learning. This qualitative study describes how a community of practice was purposefully developed in a teacher preparation program for bilingual undergraduates in Hawaii. Using multiple forms of qualitative data, such as classroom transcripts, interviews, online discussion posts, and reflection journals, I illustrate how a cohort of pre-service teachers and their instructor created a facilitative and reflective classroom community of practice. Using narrative inquiry and thematic analysis, I identified two overarching contextual conditions that provided a favorable learning environment for student participation: (1) sustained support and rapport within a cohort, and (2) narratives as a process of mutual engagement. Findings suggest teacher educators purposefully create CoP for pre-service teachers around shared narratives in order to foster sustained critical reflections.

scholarly journals CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE TO SUPPORT PRE-SERVICE CHEMISTRY TEACHERS

2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-132
Author(s):  
Valéria C. Santos ◽  
Agnaldo Arroio
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
Mutual Engagement ◽  
Teaching Community ◽  
Joint Enterprise ◽  
The University

The concept of communities of practice can be used in different contexts, included the educational context. The development of communities of practice where pre-service teachers work together, refine their practices and learn is a good training for these future teachers. Since communities of practice help teachers learn about teaching and improve their practices, this study aim to characterize the project PIBID of chemistry carried out at the University of São Paulo as a community of practice. On the first half of 2013 the PIBID project included 12 pre-service teachers who attended weekly meetings. These meetings consisted of theoretical training about the use of visual tools in teaching and other concepts about education and meetings to plan activities and classes about topics of chemistry to be applied in a public school at the city of São Paulo, Brazil. During these meetings was possible to notice that the pre-service teachers were engaged in a community of practice, demonstrating the three characteristics emphasized by Wenger (2008): mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire. Thus the project PIBID of chemistry could be characterized as a community of practice. Furthermore, it was noticed that the community helps in the training of pre-service teachers, since it is providing support to them learn about teaching in practice and implement their knowledge. Key words: chemistry teaching, community of practice, pre-service teacher training.

The Development and Implementation of Gathering Grounds, a Virtual Community of Practice Rooted in Indigenous Praxis

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Danielle Lucero ◽  
Rachel Scott ◽  
Christina E. Oré ◽  
Myra Parker
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Native Communities ◽  
Virtual Community Of Practice ◽  
Real World Problems

In a 2010 article, Traci Sylva, Pauline Chinn, and Charles Kinoshita note that Indigenous communities of practice generate solutions to “highly valued, real-world problems'” by connecting “science to culture, place, and community.” To provide Native American communities a collaborative space to address COVID-19, we developed Gathering Grounds, an Indigenous community of practice, or I-CP. Over one hundred individuals from Native communities nationwide participated in Gathering Grounds. We started with reviewing existing literature to identify existing approaches that honor Indigenous ways of building and maintaining relationships as well as best practices. This article discusses the I-CP’s development, shares community responses to COVID-19, and describes how the I-CP facilitates resource-sharing and growth opportunities.

scholarly journals The Effects of Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures in Teaching Subject–Verb Agreement among Rural Sarawak Learners

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong Xin Txin ◽  
Melor Md Yunus
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
Cooperative Teaching ◽  
Verb Agreement

Even after undertaking years of formal education to acquire the language in schools, having a poor command of English remains a problem faced by most Malaysians, especially students in rural schools of Sarawak. Based on the error-analysis carried out by recent research, subject–verb agreement (SVA) is one of the most frequent errors committed by students. To overcome this problem, teachers should significantly improve students’ mastery of SVA in the English language through effective teaching methods. Therefore, this research was conducted to explore the effects of Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures in teaching SVA among rural Sarawak learners. In this study, 35 Form 4 students were selected from a secondary school in the Belaga District, Sarawak as the research participants. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection tools. Overall, findings demonstrated that students showed positive feedback after the intervention was implemented. Results of this research will hopefully provide insights to secondary school students, teachers and the community in the cooperative teaching and learning of grammar.

scholarly journals A Critical Review of the Use of Wenger's Community of Practice (CoP) Theoretical Framework in Online and Blended Learning Research, 2000-2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sedef Uzuner Smith ◽  
Suzanne Hayes ◽  
Peter Shea
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
Integrative Research

After presenting a brief overview of the key elements that underpin Etienne Wenger’s communities of practice (CoP) theoretical framework, one of the most widely cited and influential conceptions of social learning, this paper reviews extant empirical work grounded in this framework to investigate online/blended learning in higher education and in professional development. The review is based on integrative research approaches, using quantitative and qualitative analysis, and includes CoP oriented research articles published between 2000 and 2014. Findings are presented under three questions: Which research studies within the online/blended learning literature made central use of the CoP framework? Among those studies identified, which ones established strong linkages between the CoP framework and their findings? Within this last group of identified studies, what do the patterns in their use of the CoP framework suggest as opportunities for future research in online teaching and learning?

scholarly journals Structuring cooperative learning methods in Ancient Greek classrooms

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Angeliki Markoglou
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Group Cooperation ◽  
Motivation For Learning ◽  
Current Article

Abstract Considering the concept of critical teaching, teachers should seek to ensure the active participation of students, emphasisng the adoption of student-centred and group-centred teaching methods, which will provide students with relevant motivation for learning. From this perspective the current article focuses on a teaching proposal for the course of Ancient Greek Language in Greece and Cyprus, presenting the method of jigsaw-based cooperative learning as a teaching practice which promotes both active student participation and group cooperation. According to this teaching practice, the teacher actively involves the students in the learning process, promoting higher-level cognitive, metacognitive and emotional functions. Not only is this method compatible with the broader contemporary pedagogical and didactic principles, which aim to provoke students' interest, cultivate their social skills and relationships, develop their personal self-perception, and create autonomous and fulfilled personalities, but also it is harmonised with the main aims of the Ancient Greek Language Curriculum in these countries, which are fully aligned with both their education policy and their societal needs.

scholarly journals Intersectionality and the social meanings of variation: Class, ethnicity, and social practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Kirkham
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Phonetic Variation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Meanings

AbstractThis article examines how the social meanings of phonetic variation in a British adolescent community are influenced by a complex relationship between ethnicity, social class, and social practice. I focus on the realisation of the happy vowel in Sheffield English, which is reported to be a lax variant [ε̈] amongst working-class speakers but is undergoing change towards a tense variant [i] amongst middle-class speakers. I analyse the acoustic realisation of this vowel across four female communities of practice in a multiethnic secondary school and find that the variable's community-wide associations of social class are projected onto the ethnographic category of school orientation, which I suggest is a more local interpretation of class relations. Ethnographic evidence and discourse analysis reveal that local meanings of the happy vowel vary further within distinctive community of practice styles, which is the result of how ethnicity and social class intersect in structuring local social practices. (Intersectionality, indexicality, social meaning, identity, ethnicity, social class)*

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