curriculum, learning and teaching

International teaching staff as a community of practice

How international schools can encourage quality networking for their teachers, by Kennedy Bwanga

A human being is a social animal that craves and appreciates a sense of belonging. With the prevalence now of social networking, it is important for international schools to take an active role in identifying good professional (social network) groups and encourage their faculty to network both internally and externally. Why? Because there is a direct relationship between employees’ social and professional groups and performance at work. One way of encouraging employees to network is through a community of practice. What is a community of practice? Community of Practice (CoP) comes from the term Learning Community. Learning communities are comprised of people linked either by geographical space or some shared interest who work together in order to enhance their learning (Kilpatrick, Barrett & Jones, 2003). Practice-based learning communities are commonly called Communities of Practice.

Teachers will face challenges while forming or participating in a CoP, as is expected in any social grouping. Knowing and maybe expecting these challenges can go a long way in

becoming well prepared to face them or avoiding them at all. Some of the challenges could be time management, size of CoP, financing, focus, empowerment and inclusion (outsiders vs insiders). Realistic and effective timelines need to be put in place, maybe using project management tools. The size of CoP is largely inversely proportional to the success of the CoP (Chalmers & Keown, 2006). CoP will also need to have a well-thought-out budget. The members of CoP will need empowerment within their domain so as to be effective and to have the depth and breadth necessary to perform their duties; however, Schlager & Fusco (2003) warn that empowerment has to be controlled so that the CoP does not acquire an amorphous, ineffective life of its own which basically goes against institutional rules and practices. The members also need to devise ways and means of ensuring that colleagues who are not part of their membership do not feel excluded totally; after all, it is to the benefit of the members and the institution at large to allow later on as many employees as is necessary and possible to gain from