Abstract:

There is considerable evidence that the development of Communities of Practice (CoP) in education results in improvements in teaching and learning (for example, Levine and Marcus (2010); Vescio et al. (2008); Berry et al., (2005)). The reality far too often, however, is that academics remain isolated in their practice with a culture of individualism rather than collaboration the norm (Mercieca, 2016. Adopting a case study approach, this research explores the perspectives of academic staff in one department in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) on CoP. Specifically, the research explores how communities of practice might develop in a third level teaching environment; the type and nature of communities of practice that might develop and if those communities of practice have a resulting impact on teaching and learning.

Overall, it can be concluded from the research, that there is a significant willingness to engage and improve the level of collaboration within the department. The challenges of the role itself can impede on staff willingness to engage in CoP. However, involvement in CoP activities should assist in empowering educators in third level education and subsequently add value to the teaching experience, with educators who are more student centred. This in turn should enhance the quality of the overall student experience, which then closes the circle by further motivating educators to continue to engage in beneficial and rewarding communities of practice.

References:
[1] Berry, B., Johnson, D., and Montgomery, D. (2005), The power of teacher leadership [electronic version]. Educational Leadership, 62(5), 56.
[2] Levine, T. and Marcus, A. (2010), How the Structure and Focus of Teachers' Collaborative Activities Facilitate and Constrain Teacher Learning, Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 26 (3), 389-398
[3] Mercieca, B. (2016), What is a community of practice? In J. McDonald & A. Cater –Steel (Eds.), Communities of practice – Facilitating social learning in higher education. Singapore: Springer.
[4] Vescio, V., Ross, D. and Adams, A. (2008), A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning, Teaching and Teacher Education, 24 80–91

Keywords:

Communities of Practice, Third Level Education.