My Community of Practice

I belong to two communities of practice. One is the group comprised of four colleagues at school with whom I have common curriculum interests. The other is the community of physics teachers I belong to both locally and nationwide. After comparing each community against the three elements, I feel I have a more frequent and stronger role in the latter community of physics teachers. 

My teaching area at senior curriculum level is physics and therefore the ideas, developments and activities related to the subject that happens within the physics teaching community is of high relevance to my teaching. As a field of science that has frequent changes in terms of the NCEA framework as well as advancements in real world research, it is important to be aware and informed of these. Being the only senior physics teacher at my school, my connection to the physics community is of great importance.

At local level, I have close and frequent contact with physics teachers in my area. Depending on the need, we meet at school or via email. Majority of these are related to NCEA assessments but we also meet to discuss our plans with regards to Units of Work or introducing new topics, teaching and learning resources, etc.

At a national level, I engage with the wider physics teaching community through the New Zealand Institute of Physics (NZIP). By registering with the NZIP, I am included into an online physics discussion mailing list. Any questions or inquiries a physics teacher might have are shared with all those who have signed up to the list. Those who have ideas to share reply to the query which is then shared with the group. The list is also used by teachers to distribute and share resources and information about upcoming professional development opportunities. There is at least one discussion or shared resource every week, sometimes more. The NZIP holds a national annual physics conference which is attended by both secondary and tertiary teaching communities.

My connection to the local physics community is stronger than the wider NZ physics community. The physical proximity and familiarity of the other teachers in nearby schools makes interacting with them easier and I feel more confident sharing my ideas and resources with them. My role therefore at a local level would be a mix between a facilitator and an active member.

In terms of the wider physics community, I feel a strong connection to the group but I would describe myself as a cautious active member at this point. After attending the national conference a few years ago and seeing what was shared, I gained more confidence in my capabilities and ideas as a physics teacher. I have since shared my own resources with the mailing list group twice as well as posting a few questions to gain some ideas. As a result, I am now a member who has been "accepted" by the community, therefore my connectedness has increased. But I admit I need to become a more active member of the community. The richness of the discussions provide valuable words of wisdom and better ways of doing things and also provides opportunities to question my own practice and how I can develop my teaching.

This year I have set myself the goal of becoming a more active member of the physics community, which will include the NZIP forum but not limited to just that. I have made some links with physics teachers at tertiary level and have shared with them my ideas of how to incorporate their resources at secondary level. The feedback I have received has increased my confidence and I will continue to pursue those opportunities whenever possible.