Let's get together and inquire our hearts out

For this final  blog post, and as a feedforward into my Research assignment I have chosen to focus on two possible topics for my teaching inquiry:

1) Do the digital tools I have used actually improve student outcomes - particularly writing?

2) Does collaboration actually improve educational outcomes - particularly for boys?

These are both important issues to explore within my current practice. They are both particularly relevant to one community of practice that I exist within - the Otahuhu Community of  Learning. The Ministry of Education (2017) produced a set of achievement challenges for our community and one of the fascinating revelations in the data is how poorly boys perform - once they start year 9, 64 % of them are below the national average in writing.
When I consider the first topic, often using digital tools is seen as an 'easy way' to keep students occupied and on task. I have used a variety of tools this year - including edpuzzle , OneNote and google forms in my teaching. I would like to construct an inquiry that explores the effects of these tools and analyses whether they have proven effective.

The second topic is one I discussed with a member of my community of practice who I collaborate with often. We want to explore whether collaboration works to improve educational outcomes for these boys. As part of this I would like to explore some more explicit teaching of the Key Competencies so that students understand the why we teach collaboration instead of seeing it as another mundane task.

How will these topics contribute to learning within the (multiple) communities of practice that I work in?

Wenger et al. (2002), suggest that a community of practice  is a ‘group of individuals participating in communal activity, and experiencing/continuously creating their shared identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities.' 
 This means that my teaching inquiry will cross over many different communities of practice. The most immediate will be within the classes that I implement the research. I would hope that by dedicating my extra time and effort to these classes - particularly the focus on writing - there will be a beneficial outcome for these students. I know that next year I have a low ability and literacy class, and hope that some of the tools we have explored will help with this.

Secondly, there are a small group of teachers within my school who are also undertaking the mindlab course - one of whom shares one of my teaching as inquiry goals and we will be able to discuss our findings throughout the course of the inquiry. For this group, we will be having what Knox (2009) terms a shared 'domain' - in which we share common issues and an inquiry. I  believe this will become my focus 'community of practice' and that we will build a strong identity as we work through our teaching inquiry.

 Thirdly, as part of the Community of Learning, and as a member of the writing team, my inquiry could have ramifications across multiple schools depending on how successful the inquiry is.

I look forward to the next exciting stage of the mindlab course and am looking forward to strengthening my relationship within my community of practice.

References:

Knox, B.(2009, December 4). Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Ministry of Education. (2017).Otahuhu Community of Learning Achievement Challenges. Wellington, New Zealand: Author. Retrieved from https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Investing-in-Educational-Success/Communities-of-Schools/AC/99151-ACHCHA.pdf

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.