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Fit for purpose: Designing a faculty-based community of (teaching) practice
Citation
Green, WJ and Ruutz, A, Fit for purpose: Designing a faculty-based community of (teaching) practice, Proceedings of the 31st HERDSA Annual Conference, 1-4 July 2008, Rotorua, New Zealand, pp. 1-10. ISBN 0 908557 73 6 (2008) [Refereed Conference Paper]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2008 HERDSA and the authors
Official URL: http://conference.herdsa.org.au/2008/default.cfm.h...
Abstract
Based essentially on a social constructivist understanding of situated learning, the
concept of ‘communities of practice’ (CoPs) has been taken up enthusiastically in the
corporate sector as a model for managing organisational knowledge. However, the
formulaic, top-down approaches associated with this trend are particularly inappropriate
in a higher education context, where the complexities of the organisational environment
and the inextricable link between disciplinary knowledge and identity call for a more
critical approach. We engage here with current thinking about CoPs in higher education
in the light of our participation in an embryonic faculty-based community of (teaching)
practice. We take the view, with Wenger, that while any learning, including learning to
teach (better) cannot be designed, or predicted in advance, it can, and should be designed
for. Here, we outline four considerations – language/meaning, identity, access/inclusion,
and agency – that have both informed the design of our CoP, and proved crucial to its
development.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
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Keywords: | Communities of practice, higher education, academic development |
Research Division: | Education |
Research Group: | Other education |
Research Field: | Other education not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Education and Training |
Objective Group: | Other education and training |
Objective Field: | Other education and training not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Green, WJ (Dr Wendy Green) |
ID Code: | 122054 |
Year Published: | 2008 |
Deposited By: | Curriculum and Academic Development |
Deposited On: | 2017-10-27 |
Last Modified: | 2017-12-04 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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