Towards a ‘Community for Practice’—A Narrative Analysis of the Evolution of Higher Education Scholars

Jennifer Scott; Josephine Pryce; Nicole Reinke; Dongmei Li; Mary-Ann Shuker; Rachelle Singleton; Angela Tsai; Ann Parkinson

doi:10.3390/educsci13121239

Back

Towards a ‘Community for Practice’—A Narrative Analysis of the Evolution of Higher Education Scholars

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Towards a ‘Community for Practice’—A Narrative Analysis of the Evolution of Higher Education Scholars

Jennifer Scott, Josephine Pryce, Nicole Reinke, Dongmei Li, Mary-Ann Shuker, Rachelle Singleton, Angela Tsai and Ann Parkinson

Education Sciences, Vol.13(12), pp.1-18

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13121239

Files and links (1)

pdf

education-13-01239313.32 kBDownload View

Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access

Abstract

higher education

collaborative

community

reflection

teaching practice

professional development

professional learning

collegial engagement

narrative analysis

In higher education (HE), collaborative activities that revolve around a core idea, practice, or knowledge base, such as learning circles, communities of practice or inquiry, peer observation, and peer-assisted teaching, are known to support professional learning. This paper explores the experiences of eight HE scholars from Australia and New Zealand, across four years, as they recognized a new means of collaborative professional development that transcends known approaches and extends beyond an immediate focal point. The group originally formed to support the development of HE fellowship applications, but evolved to what they now consider a community for practice (CfP), where the purpose of collaboration has changed to meet the unique learning needs of each member. During their four years of collaboration, meeting discussions were recorded, and individual and community narrative reflections about participation in the group were created. A thematic analysis of these collective data sources revealed the group’s evolution, and the authors draw on their experiences to tell their story with an aim to enhance professional learning in HE. The study highlights that individuals’ distinct and varied needs can be developed and supported through scholarly, collegial engagements such as a CfP, which does not necessarily require an immediate point of practice.

Details

Title: Towards a ‘Community for Practice’—A Narrative Analysis of the Evolution of Higher Education Scholars
Authors: Jennifer Scott (Corresponding Author) - Massey University
Josephine Pryce (Author) - James Cook University
Nicole Reinke (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Biomedicine
Dongmei Li (Author) - The University of Melbourne
Mary-Ann Shuker (Author) - Griffith University
Rachelle Singleton (Author) - University of Auckland
Angela Tsai (Author) - University of Auckland
Ann Parkinson (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Biomedicine
Publication details: Education Sciences, Vol.13(12), pp.1-18
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2023
DOI: 10.3390/educsci13121239
ISSN: 2227-7102
Copyright note: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Data Availability: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy of personal reflections and audio-visual recordings of meetings.
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Biomedicine
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99985098502621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

1 File views/ downloads

59 Record Views