EDUX 590 – Community of Practice
The EDUX Community of Practice is an online community made up of eleven students completing their Masters of Teaching degree and the course supervisor.
Although there are eleven students in this group there has been no participation by two members of the group.
The role of this community was to provide its participants with the opportunity to engage in professional reading, share and respond to each others their ideas around these reading and get feedback specific to their individual professional development projects.
Over the course of the year four conferences were held, each with a specific intention of guiding and challenging thinking and developing skills that would support the implementation and completion of the professional development project.
I managed to participate at each conference session throughout the year but felt that I still had far too much preparation to do in the writing up of my project, to participate fully in the final conference. I was able to read and critically evaluate the set readings prescribed for each of the four conferences. I found that I was able to relate many of the readings and the resulting discussions to my own professional practice and to the completion of my project. I found this specifically useful in the work that we did on the purpose of and writing of a Literature Review. I was also able to clarify my thinking on a number of issues through the posting of questions and my own ideas in these conference sessions, once again, particularly in the sessions on Literature reviews.
Being involved in this Community of Practice has helped met to develop my practical knowledge through discussion with other professionals. I have also become more critical in my thinking and
Conference 1 – March 2nd - 13th
Developing a personal development plan
This conference focused on thinking about teacher professional development and guiding us in developing some goals and objectives that we would like to achieve in our own professional development for the duration of this course. There was also a strong focus on critical reflection of our own teaching practice and beliefs on teaching and learning as well as the value of professional development.
Total number of participants: 5
Total number of postings: 32
Personal postings: 7
Conference 2 – March 23rd – 3rd
April Conducting a Literature Review
This conference focused on the writing of a Literature Review. The guiding principles for developing our knowledge and skills in this writing genre was underpinned by the fact that when completing any research base course of study or project, it is important not only to be conversant with the literature on the topic but also being able to critically evaluate readings in relation to ones own experiences and to supporting body of knowledge.
I found the readings for this conference quite difficult but at the same time, extremely valuable. I found that through my reading of these prescribed texts I was challenged in how I approach critical reading. I realised that I had no specific method or plan when critically evaluating a piece of writing. In the reading by Wallace and Wray (2006) ‘Critical reading and writing for postgraduates’, they highlighted some important pointers to guide the critical reading process. I worked at developing the 5 critical synopsis questions to give my critical reading a more detailed, focused approach.
Total number of participants: 5
Total number of postings: 39
Personal postings: 4
Conference 3 – May 1tth – 22nd
Implementing Practicum 2
The focus for this conference was the sharing of ideas and plans for implementing Practicum 2. The guidelines for this conference required us to focus on refining and defining our research projects. Issues of scale, achievability, clear questioning, measurable outcomes and ethical implications were highlighted for discussion. This conference session also required that the participants outline the focus for their individual research projects and share challenges or difficulties that they may have experienced in developing these. Participant were also asked to comment on each others research plans, discuss how critical evaluation of supporting literature supported research projects and suggest new and different ways of documenting, analysing and evaluating projects.
Total number of participants: 7
Total number of postings: 19
Personal postings: 6
Conference 4- - November 30th – 11th December
Presentations
This conference session gave community members the opportunity to share their experiences and findings from Practicum 2. As some participants had not yet completed their projects or were still in the final stages of writing, this conference session also provided an opportunity for sharing project progress
Total number of participants: 7
Total number of postings: 16
Personal postings: 2
The EDUX Community of Practice is an online community made up of eleven students completing their Masters of Teaching degree and the course supervisor.
Although there are eleven students in this group there has been no participation by two members of the group.
The role of this community was to provide its participants with the opportunity to engage in professional reading, share and respond to each others their ideas around these reading and get feedback specific to their individual professional development projects.
Over the course of the year four conferences were held, each with a specific intention of guiding and challenging thinking and developing skills that would support the implementation and completion of the professional development project.
I managed to participate at each conference session throughout the year but felt that I still had far too much preparation to do in the writing up of my project, to participate fully in the final conference. I was able to read and critically evaluate the set readings prescribed for each of the four conferences. I found that I was able to relate many of the readings and the resulting discussions to my own professional practice and to the completion of my project. I found this specifically useful in the work that we did on the purpose of and writing of a Literature Review. I was also able to clarify my thinking on a number of issues through the posting of questions and my own ideas in these conference sessions, once again, particularly in the sessions on Literature reviews.
Being involved in this Community of Practice has helped met to develop my practical knowledge through discussion with other professionals. I have also become more critical in my thinking and
Conference 1 – March 2nd - 13th
Developing a personal development plan
This conference focused on thinking about teacher professional development and guiding us in developing some goals and objectives that we would like to achieve in our own professional development for the duration of this course. There was also a strong focus on critical reflection of our own teaching practice and beliefs on teaching and learning as well as the value of professional development.
Total number of participants: 5
Total number of postings: 32
Personal postings: 7
Conference 2 – March 23rd – 3rd
April Conducting a Literature Review
This conference focused on the writing of a Literature Review. The guiding principles for developing our knowledge and skills in this writing genre was underpinned by the fact that when completing any research base course of study or project, it is important not only to be conversant with the literature on the topic but also being able to critically evaluate readings in relation to ones own experiences and to supporting body of knowledge.
I found the readings for this conference quite difficult but at the same time, extremely valuable. I found that through my reading of these prescribed texts I was challenged in how I approach critical reading. I realised that I had no specific method or plan when critically evaluating a piece of writing. In the reading by Wallace and Wray (2006) ‘Critical reading and writing for postgraduates’, they highlighted some important pointers to guide the critical reading process. I worked at developing the 5 critical synopsis questions to give my critical reading a more detailed, focused approach.
Total number of participants: 5
Total number of postings: 39
Personal postings: 4
Conference 3 – May 1tth – 22nd
Implementing Practicum 2
The focus for this conference was the sharing of ideas and plans for implementing Practicum 2. The guidelines for this conference required us to focus on refining and defining our research projects. Issues of scale, achievability, clear questioning, measurable outcomes and ethical implications were highlighted for discussion. This conference session also required that the participants outline the focus for their individual research projects and share challenges or difficulties that they may have experienced in developing these. Participant were also asked to comment on each others research plans, discuss how critical evaluation of supporting literature supported research projects and suggest new and different ways of documenting, analysing and evaluating projects.
Total number of participants: 7
Total number of postings: 19
Personal postings: 6
Conference 4- - November 30th – 11th December
Presentations
This conference session gave community members the opportunity to share their experiences and findings from Practicum 2. As some participants had not yet completed their projects or were still in the final stages of writing, this conference session also provided an opportunity for sharing project progress
Total number of participants: 7
Total number of postings: 16
Personal postings: 2