Thursday 21 April 2016

One big community

Recently as I have been preparing to write my critical reflection and reading through the material in Reader 3. I have been thinking a lot more about networking. In particularly "Communities of Practice"


As I have been reading through, it is becoming more and more clear that we as a group are a "Community of Practice" We all share similar interests that are linked with the Arts in some way, whether it be through education, performance or creativity. We get our heads together and fly around ideas to help each other learn and to gain more experience in our field. I particularly like the three points that Wenger identifies;


  • What it is about - It's a joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by it's members.


  • How it functions - Mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity


  • What capability it has produced - The shared repertoire of communal resources.
I feel that this pretty much sums up or Skype chats that we have along with reading and commenting on other peoples blogs.


Another thing that I feel this links really well with (For any of you dance teachers on here you will probably know it well) the Facebook group "Dance Teacher Hub" https://www.facebook.com/DanceTeacherHub/?fref=ts


This is an amazing way of linking in with other Dance teachers - sharing ideas and help solving others problems that they may have from using your knowledge and experience that you already have.


It is also a fantastic place to post last minute cover jobs e.g. a teacher calls in sick and you're struggling to find a cover teacher - post it on the hub and the beauty of Web 2.0 and the internet that we discussed back in Reader 1 means that your post can be seen and shared by thousands of others who hopefully have the same interest and will be able to help you out in one way or another.


I have found it really helpful to read about others experiences on the hub whether it be dealing with difficult students/parents or trying to solved issues with room higher, and in a way I could argue has broadened my knowledge a little deeper.


Has anyone had any experience with "Dance teacher Hub" or pages similar which I know there are many. Would love to hear.




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5 comments:

  1. Unknown21 April 2016 at 05:07

    Hi Laura,

    unfortunately I can't make much comment on the teaching side of things but I do like the idea of us being a community of practice.

    I do feel that our community is slightly broader than others though as coming under the heading of arts still allows for various professions. I feel that this provides more for us to learn from each other but do you perhaps consider the possibility that the spread could distract our learning? Would we have a better or more consistent learning experience if the community were solely teachers for example?

    Nice to see your thought process leading up to your critical evaluation though, it raises some good points for me to consider in my own evaluation.

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  2. Unknown21 April 2016 at 05:23

    Hi Laura,

    unfortunately I can't make much comment on the teaching side of things but I do like the idea of us being a community of practice.

    I do feel that our community is slightly broader than others though as coming under the heading of arts still allows for various professions. I feel that this provides more for us to learn from each other but do you perhaps consider the possibility that the spread could distract our learning? Would we have a better or more consistent learning experience if the community were solely teachers for example?

    Nice to see your thought process leading up to your critical evaluation though, it raises some good points for me to consider in my own evaluation.

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    Replies
    1. LauraJayne21 April 2016 at 06:32

      Hi Ben,

      I agree - I think that maybe a broad spread could possibly be a disadvantage due to the fact that we could just all end up engaging in each others profressions just through showing interest and never actually getting anything done! - but it is good to know that there is such a wide range of knowledge and experience between us all.

      I do think a consistent learning community would be a lovely idea and something which I think would be extremely beneficial!

      Thank you for your thoughts :)

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  3. Charlie Ormerod21 April 2016 at 16:46

    Hi Laura,

    I have to say I agree with Ben. As much as I like to be part of a community and I love the fact that we are becoming a community on our BAPP journey. I agree that sometimes having such a broad spectrum can be detriment to my studies.

    I sometimes find that too much information can really cloud my thoughts and become less helpful! Then in the other hand how can we really know our industries if we do t get to know every aspect of its art form!

    I also use online communities such as dance teacher hub and the RAD teacher Hub and have found the stimulating and useful in my day to day practice!

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts I live to hear all these different views it does get my brain ticking over! X


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  4. LauraJayne22 April 2016 at 01:02

    Hi Charlie,

    Thanks for you're thoughts :) and yes like I said to Ben maybe it can be distracting, but like you have pointes out how do we get to know the industry if we don't get to know every art form - it's trying to find that balance. x

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