Learning Communities In Practice

253 Pages·2009·4.17 MB·English

by  Ian Mitchell

Learning Communities In Practice
EXPLORATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE
Volume 4
Series Editors
Joe L. Kincheloe, Canada Research Chair of Critical Pedagogy, McGill University, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada
Shirley R. Steinberg, Montreal, Canada
Editorial Board
Barrie Barrell, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Rochelle Brock, University of Indiana, Gary, USA
Stephen Petrina, University of British Columbia, Canada
Christine Quail, State University of New York, Oneonta, USA
Nelson Rodriguez, College of New Jersey, USA
Leila Villaverde, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA
John Willinsky, Stanford University, USA
Series Scope
In today’s dominant modes of pedagogy, questions about issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, colonialism,
religion, and other social dynamics are rarely asked. Questions about the social spaces where pedagogy
takes place - in schools, media, and corporate think tanks - are not raised. And they need to be.
The Explorations of Educational Purpose book series can help establish a renewed interest in such
questions and their centrality in the larger study of education and the preparation of teachers and other
educational professionals. The editors of this series feel that education matters and that the world is in
need of a rethinking of education and educational purpose.
Coming from a critical pedagogical orientation, Explorations of Educational Purpose aims to have the study
of education transcend the trivialization that often degrades it. Rather than be content with the frivolous,
scholarly lax forms of teacher education and weak teaching prevailing in the world today, we should work
towards education that truly takes the unattained potential of human beings as its starting point. The series
will present studies of all dimensions of education and offer alternatives. The ultimate aim of the series is
to create new possibilities for people around the world who suffer under the current design of socio-political
and educational institutions.
For other titles published in this series, go to
http://www.springer.com/series/7472
Anastasia P. Samaras (cid:127) Anne R. Freese
Clare Kosnik (cid:127) Clive Beck
Editors
Learning Communities
In Practice
Editors
Anastasia P. Samaras Clare Kosnik
George Mason University Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Fairfax, VA University of Toronto, ON
USA Canada
Anne R. Freese Clive Beck
University of Hawai’i Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Honolulu, HI University of Toronto, ON
USA Canada
ISBN: 978-1-4020-8787-5 e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-8788-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008932852
© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written
p ermission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose
of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
Printed on acid-free paper
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To Costa, Gabriella, Lucas, Amelia,
Athena, Rohan, and Lucia
To Ralph, Jim, Julie, Jason,
Amanda, and Alexis
To Bertha and Tony
To David, Neil, and Trixie
“This is an extraordinary collection of theoretically sound and practical ideas
for teachers and teacher educators. The authors present fascinating accounts
of down-to-earth practices tested in experience. Priceless!”
Nel Noddings
Lee Jacks Professor of Education Emerita, Stanford University
“This book provides a wealth of information on how learning communities
function in practice and, more importantly, how they are sustained over time.
The chapter authors document a wide array of international programs located
in different institutional settings, including cross-institutional and cross-
national programs. I recommend this book for both university-based and
school or district-based educators who are serious about improving instruc-
tion based on locally available data.”
Renée T. Clift
Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“As the title announces, this wide-ranging collection of chapters shows learn-
ing communities actually at work, as their members– in schools, universities,
and professional networks – describe what got them started and what keeps
them going, despite the wider educational community’s general lack of sup-
port. Common to all chapters is a strong awareness of the benefits of learning
communities not only for the teachers and researchers who share, critique and
improve their own professional activities, but also for the students they teach;
indeed, in several cases, the authors’ classrooms also metamorphosed into
powerful communities of student coresearchers. Thus, for those who have
been involved in a learning community such as those described here, the
answer to the question the editors pose, “Are learning communities essential
in education?” the answer is an unequivocal “Yes.” Hopefully, this book will
enable others to see why this is so; it will certainly provide guidance for those
who decide to embark on the kinds of journey that are so eloquently and per-
suasively presented in all the different sections of this book.”
Gordon Wells
Professor of Education
University of California, Santa Cruz
vii
Acknowledgments
Our many thanks to Joe L. Kincheloe, Series Editor, for his brilliant conception of
the need for this book and his generous invitation to us to serve as editors. His pro-
fessional leadership and advice, informed by his many years of innovative writing
and publishing experience, along with his good sense of humor, are very much
appreciated. A book of this magnitude and scope would not be possible without the
contributions and support of many individuals working collaboratively. Marianna
Pascale, Assistant to Senior Publishing Editor Education, and Harmen van Paradijs,
Senior Publishing Editor Education, Springer, have kindly and patiently responded
to our many questions as they guided us through the publishing process with
excellent efficiency.
Our gratitude is extended to each of the book authors for taking the time to write
about and share their work so others might benefit from its application in their
educational setting. We appreciate their cooperation and professionalism – from
their early manuscripts to their final chapters. We would like to also acknowledge
the participants in the schools, universities, and professional networks included in
these chapters whose dedicated and innovative work in building learning
communities made these stories possible.
ix
Contents
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... ix
An Invitation To Learning Communities In Practice ................................ xv
Anastasia P. Samaras, Anne R. Freese, Clare Kosnik, and Clive Beck
Part I Learning Communities in School Settings
Introduction .................................................................................................... 3
Anne R. Freese
1 The Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL):
22 Years of Praxis .................................................................................... 7
Ian Mitchell and Judie Mitchell
2 DICEP: Promoting Collaborative Inquiry in Diverse
Educational Settings ................................................................................ 19
Barbara Bell-Angus, Greta Davis, Zoe Donoahue, Maria Kowal,
and Monica McGlynn-Stewart
3 Pre-Service Teachers and Sixth Graders Explore Social
Justice as a Community of Inquiry ....................................................... 31
Monica Taylor and Gennifer Otinsky
4 Lights, Camera, Action! Using Slowmation as a Common
Teaching Approach to Promote a School Learning
Community .............................................................................................. 45
Garry F. Hoban
5 Growing Our Own: A Learning Community Partnership
between a University and a Public Middle School ............................... 59
Cristy Kessler and Caroline S. Wong
xi
xii Contents
6 A Whole-School Approach to Urban Educational Renewal:
Community, Collaboration, and Leadership ...................................... 73
Clive Beck, Clare Kosnik, and Yiola Cleovoulou
Part II Learning Communities in University Settings
Introduction .................................................................................................... 87
Anastasia P. Samaras
7 Fellow Travelers: New Teachers and Their Graduate
School Faculty Take a Journey to the Land of Peer
Discussion Groups .................................................................................. 89
Barbara Stern
8 Establishing a Learning Community as a Site to Explore
Our Multicultural Selves ....................................................................... 103
Anne R. Freese and Amber P. Strong
9 Dissertation Support Groups: Building a Community
of Practice Using Noddings’ Ethic of Care ......................................... 117
Emily J. Klein, Megan Riordan, Amanda Schwartz,
and Stacey Sotirhos
10 Collective Creativity: A Learning Community
of Self-Study Scholars ............................................................................ 133
Anastasia P. Samaras, Mary Adams-Legge, Deanna Breslin,
Kavita Mittapalli, Jennifer Magaha O’Looney,
and Dawn Renee Wilcox
Part III Learning Communities in Professional Networks
Introduction .................................................................................................... 151
Clare Kosnik and Clive Beck
11 A Learning Community for Teacher Induction .................................. 155
Ellen Moir and Susan Hanson
12 Creating an International Learning Community
for Teacher Education Scholars ........................................................... 165
Melissa L. Heston, Deborah L. Tidwell, and Linda M. Fitzgerald
13 Role of Teacher Research Communities and
Cross-Culture Collaboration in the Context of Curriculum
Reform in China ..................................................................................... 179
Gaalen Erickson, Chanyung Kang, Ian Mitchell, and Janette Ryan
Contents xiii
14 Creating Stages for Development: A Learning Community
with Many Tasks and No Goal ............................................................. 193
Lois Holzman
15 Supervisors of Teacher Interns: Building a Learning
Community Through Inquiry-Based Practices................................... 205
Patricia S. Tate, Marian H. Jarrett, Ann C. Lawlor,
Lois M. Page, and Anita S. Ramsey
16 Funny, This Does Not Look Like a Community:
Working Collaboratively Across Borders and Institutions ............... 219
Clare Kosnik
About the Authors .......................................................................................... 231
Author Index .................................................................................................. 241
Subject Index .................................................................................................. 245