4.4 Community of practice and ecosystem

… the practicum learner to take this evaluation, maybe he could even do it as a pre and post [practicum] kind of thing … because it sort of opens them up to think about curriculum … [where] practicum learner and the supervisor sit down and they have a … developmental conversation … That would be very good use of this tool … You can also do it in DCI, there is time for that.

The idea of developmental conversations was also picked up by Halley, who felt that facilitated discussions would deepen the reflections and extract greater value from the Model and heuristic. He commented:

I think what is really missing was a discussion … looking at this, it may not be an exercise you want to do alone … you want to do with a group of people … that will probably flesh out more, more issues, better angles ...

Chels also added that a workshop under the Adult Education Network (AEN) could also work:

You can also do as AEN ... we are also targeting those people who have gone through whether it’s ACTA or DACE, and then this would be another step-up as part of their continuous professional development.

This was also a suggestion by Yip to have a short workshop for practitioners who have gone through the ACTA or DACE programme. She said:

Maybe a post-DACE … workshop … half a day kind of training … like CPD [continuing professional development].

While it is not clear how much support is needed, the call for some form of support is clear. The type of support is likely to vary based on learner profiles in order for learners to benefit fully from the suite of programmes, from formal training and workshops to facilitated discussions. There were also suggestions for providers to use the Model and heuristic for the professional development of their staff and adjuncts, as proposed by Ginny:

… [IDeA Model] can be further unpacked … in version two, how we use this model, and then use it as a tool for in-class, watching what’s happening in class, so that we are actually using this tool as a form of possibly staff development … Another suggestion by the reference group touched on providers or those who engage curriculum designers using the heuristic to identify the curriculum designer/developer’s perspectives on curriculum before engagement of his or her services. By taking the Model and heuristic upstream to the pre-curriculum development stage, training managers may have at their disposal a useful tool to inform the developer selection process.

Participants also suggested that the IDeA Model and heuristic could be a tool which special interest groups on curriculum design may pick up to drive. Leela mentioned:

… we’ll just have a community that … [will] come back and tell us how he or she managed to make use of the features [and the] solutions … made on his job … something like [an] eco-system … We still rely on the community to give us an idea of what’s out there, what’s already there and how we [can] improve it [IDeA Model].