Communities of Practice (CoPs) create conditions for teachers to exercise agency in their professional growth. The author shares how she applied CoP principles across diverse educational settings and proposes steps all teachers can use to create their own teacher-led CoPs.
Keywords: professional development, communities of practice, teacher agency
Features of effective professional development
Research suggests that the most effective professional development (PD) incorporates active learning, opportunities for feedback, and reflection; it is sustained over time and job-embedded (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Farrell, 2014). Language teacher agency represents the capacity to act purposefully to direct one’s professional growth and to find solutions to challenges in the face of ever-changing educational backdrops (Tao & Gao, 2021). Tao and Gao (2021) suggest that one means to enhance teachers’ sense of agency is through teacher communities, recognizing “language teachers as agents in charge of their own professional development” (p. 15). Communities of Practice (CoPs) encompass characteristics of effective PD and provide the conditions for teachers to exercise agency in their PD. They have been shown to lead to teacher change that improves learner outcomes in a range of English language education settings (Brinton et al., 202l; Echelberger et al., 2018).
A CoP1 is a group of people with a shared domain of practice, with common concerns and interests, coming together to explore ways to improve their practice (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015). While we are all familiar with large-scale, online CoPs through professional organizations, here I am focusing on small-scale, teacher-led CoPs. I have come to realize that the most powerful professional activities I have led over the past number of decades as a teacher educator have encompassed core CoP principles and have provided teachers the opportunity to exercise agency in their professional growth. These activities include: 1) a mentoring project I led for adult education teachers in the Twin Cities; 2) the structured teaching practice embedded in our adult education strand of the MATESOL at Hamline University, and 3) a multi-year project in Vietnam. Here I share common features of each of these professional development activities with the hope that you will be inspired to join small-scale CoPs or foster them in your professional settings.
The seeds of my realization are planted: CoPs in multiple contexts
From 2020-2023, I had the privilege of working as a US Department of State English Language Specialist on a CoP project with an expert team in Vietnam, both virtually and in person. Over the past two decades, Vietnam has sought to renovate language teaching and learning through widespread initiatives to build teaching capacity, set proficiency benchmarks, and make curricular improvements (Canh, 2020). Our aim for the CoP project was to provide English language practitioners throughout Vietnam with concrete ways to establish, participate in, and sustain their growth through teacher-led CoPs. We developed handbooks and an online course to support the creation of school-based and regional CoPs among practicing English language teachers. We developed tasks and tools for needs assessment and goal setting as well as activities colleagues can engage in within a CoP, such as peer- or self-observation, learning walks2, swap shops, study circles, and more. I then traveled to Vietnam in January of 2023 to conduct workshops with over 100 teachers to pilot the materials.
This work in Vietnam led me to realize that while I hadn’t called my earlier mentoring project or the structured teaching practice in the MATESOL “Communities of Practice,” in fact, they were! We were using many of the same practices and tools across these very different contexts. What they all had in common were these steps:
- Needs Assessment: There are many ways that teachers can determine professional needs before engaging in a CoP, including group brainstorming, informal discussions, or formal interviews. In all three contexts, the peer mentoring project with adult education teachers, the project in Vietnam, and with teachers in the MATESOL, teacher participants started with an open-ended survey of their current practices. Teachers were invited to provide examples of their current practice related to a set of key principles (See Appendix for an example focused on learner-centered practices).
- Determining a line of inquiry and crafting key questions: After completing a needs assessment, CoP members in all three of my initiatives reflected on the areas where they are most responsive to learners’ needs and identified aspects that could benefit from further exploration and experimentation. For example, one group came to the realization that they weren’t really challenging learners enough or promoting critical thinking. They reported that learners in their classes tended to reply with short answers and they didn’t extend their thinking. Once determining a general area of inquiry, CoP members crafted questions to explore as they engaged in CoP activities, whether that be reading, research, or observations, for example: What instructional practices will prompt critical thinking? What questions prompt higher levels of thinking?
- Setting clear goals: Determining key questions is a start, but an essential step is to determine specific goals and to articulate how participants will know whether their goals have been met. This took shape in different ways across the three initiatives, as shown in the section below.
CoP principles in action
The mentoring project
Many years ago, I led a mentoring project focused on transitions in adult education. Participants joined the project based on their desire to better prepare adult multilinguals to transition to further training or improved employment. So, while I didn’t call this a CoP at the time, it was a group of people with a common concern, seeking to improve their practice, in line with Wenger-Traynor and Wenger-Traynor’s (2015) definition of a CoP. As the project lead, I engaged actively with the teachers as a member of the CoP. Based on the outcomes of the initial needs assessment task (similar to the one in the Appendix), participants were asked to identify an area of focus, or line of inquiry.
One member of the CoP, Celeste, was particularly concerned that quieter students in her class were not engaging enough and believed that with the right opportunities, they would participate more. This became her line of inquiry. Her key question was: How can I prompt all my learners to participate equally? Her specific goal was to increase learner participation by applying two familiar teaching techniques that were not routine practices in her teaching: think-pair-share and explicitly teaching turn-taking language (e.g., “It’s your turn,” “Do you have something to add?” “What do you think?”). I was her peer mentor and the lesson I observed covered job routines, including the use of the simple present tense and adverbs of frequency. Although Celeste had used the textbook in previous lessons, she found that the material wasn’t always relatable for the students.
Celeste implemented think-pair-share and explicitly taught turn-taking language to create a more participatory, learner-centered classroom. She organized learners into groups based on their job types, either in their home country or locally (e.g., education, office, retail, hospitality, food service). She used think-pair-share: “Think of activities you do on the job and collaborate to create a list of at least 5 items. Each person needs to contribute at least one example.” Celeste encouraged students to use turn-taking phrases displayed on the wall to guide their discussions. The groups then shared their ideas while Celeste wrote the activities on the board. She then shifted to discussing what a good or bad day at work would be like, modeling for the students with her own examples:
- “On a good day, I plan carefully.”
- “On a bad day, I speak too quickly.”
The groups worked together again to create T-charts listing good and bad day activities. As an observer, Celeste asked me to record which students participated and how often. I noticed that two typically quieter students were among the most engaged in the activity. Celeste reflected on how the process had influenced her teaching. Over the course of a few weeks, she noted that the learners had gained more control over the direction of activities. With the turn-taking language for group work in place, students were engaging more politely and appropriately, encouraging even the quieter students to participate. This improved their confidence in using English and helped them develop valuable communication skills for beyond the classroom.
The MATESOL teaching practice
In the course Exploring English Teaching Practices in the MATESOL at Hamline, we embed Structured Teaching Practice (STP). Our students complete this either in their own classrooms if they are already teaching, or they set up a volunteer or teaching assistant opportunity. For the STP, teachers are in base groups that aren’t self-selected, but created based on the contexts in which they teach. The base group becomes their CoP during the semester-long course. Just as with the mentoring project, the teams start with a needs assessment survey of their current practices, this time related to the principles and practices we have been exploring in the MATESOL program. From there, the teams identify lines of inquiry and key questions to explore throughout their STP experience. They set specific goals for their practice and determine what tools they will use to collect evidence of growth. The CoP teams conduct peer observations with a focus on one another’s specific goals and they keep on-going retrospective field notes where they share evidence of learning in relation to their specific goals. Table 1 provides a snapshot of benefits of the process for one class member, with this teacher’s focus on giving clear instructions.
Table 1. Benefits of Goal Setting from Structured Teaching Practice
| From line of inquiry to a specific goal. | The multilevel nature of my current class makes giving instructions a complex issue (line of inquiry). I want to explore ways to improve the efficacy of my classroom instructions, through language or process, in order to ensure all students understand the purpose, method, and goals of an activity (specific goal). |
| Tool to collect evidence. | Field notes based on intentional observation and recordings will help me to remember and note exactly what I say and how I say it when giving instructions and enable me to correlate that with student responses and comprehension. |
| Reflective field notes. | This activity usually takes a lot of repetition and doesn’t often come out exactly how I want it to. However, it went really well today. I explained it carefully, with hand gestures, and then did demonstrations with my three most confident students. I wasn’t expecting it to go so well; so I guess I need to remember to do more demonstrations and hand gestures when giving instructions! The only student who had trouble is my pre-lit/early beginning (he straddles the line) student, and some quick re-instructing in Spanish helped him to grasp it with some practice. |
Table 1 shows how this teacher’s intentionality in setting a professional goal allowed her to see the impacts of her practice on student learning. This was just one of many areas she and her classmates explored.
Vietnam
As noted above, the CoP project in Vietnam led to the development of handbooks and an online course to help teachers establish teacher-led CoPs at their schools or in their regions, face-to-face or virtually. To date, my experience of implementing the CoP project in Vietnam was through my visit in January 2023. In my two weeks there, I traveled to three cities to conduct two-day workshops, and I left Vietnam very encouraged by the reaction of participants. During each two-day workshop, participants engaged in the following activities:
- Needs assessment using the task in the Appendix
- Identifying areas of inquiry and key questions
- Setting SMART Goals (Doran, 1981)
While all three initiatives included goal setting, the Vietnam project included the SMART Goal approach, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. SMART Goals
| Specific | What is the defined end-result of this goal? What steps are required to accomplish this goal? |
| Measurable | How will you measure your success? How will you know if you’ve completed your goal? |
| Achievable | Is this an achievable goal? Are you being realistic? |
| Relevant | Does it make sense in your context? Do you have the resources you need to accomplish the goal? |
| Time-Bound | When do you want to reach your goal? After three units of instruction? Over a longer period of time? |
Setting SMART goals for professional development helps teachers to refine their thinking. In asking what instructional practices will prompt critical thinking, there are many options one could explore –– probably too many. A more specific goal is likely to be more attainable, for example, what happens when we apply questioning techniques that prompt critical thinking? SMART Goals also push teachers to articulate what evidence of success might look like. How have changes in their practices impacted learner outcomes? Table 3 shows an example of a completed SMART goal planner for a team in Vietnam exploring critical thinking.
Table 3. Sample SMART Goal Planner
| What is our specific goal? | Apply questioning techniques that prompt higher levels of critical thinking. |
| What measures of success will we use? | Learners reply with complete ideas; they expand on others’ ideas and support claims with evidence. |
| What will make this achievable? | Learn more about questioning strategies that prompt critical thinking. Prepare questions in advance and include them in our lesson plans. Also provide language frames to help learners to make their thinking visible. |
| How is this relevant for our context? | Critical thinking is part of our standards; it’s essential for understanding complex texts and engaging in complex tasks. |
| What is our time frame? | Learn about and apply practices throughout fall semester. |
Working with the teachers in Vietnam, I also introduced the concept of listening without judgment (active listening) with models and practice. After engaging in the active-listening practice, one teacher reported that he felt like it was the first time he had ever truly been listened to in his entire career. We engaged in collaborative CoP activities, for example, video observation with an observation task followed by reflection on applications for their settings (see Figure 1), and a Swap Shop where teachers exchanged classroom practices related to learner-centered teaching.
The level of engagement seen in Figure 1 is noteworthy given that this was a group of K-12 teachers from throughout the region who hadn’t met before. The participant reactions presented in Figure 2 are representative of feedback from all three workshops in Vietnam.
The promise of CoPs in varied settings
These diverse experiences of fostering teacher growth in CoPs have shown me the importance of giving teachers the space to enact agency in their professional development. Each initiative started with a needs assessment in the form of a survey of current practices. From there, each group identified areas of inquiry and questions to explore in their practice. These steps allowed them to articulate clearly defined goals for professional growth. I have learned that CoPs have a place in both pre-service and in-service teacher education. Finally, these experiences highlight the importance of collaborative, job-embedded, and sustained professional development. It is my hope that you have been inspired to incorporate CoP principles and practices in your professional settings.
Notes
- For a full overview of steps to creating CoPs, see Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner (2015) and Brinton et al. (2021).
- For those unfamiliar with learning walks, see https://www.education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Documents/Learning_Walk_Protocol.pdf
References
Brinton, D., Chilmonik, K., Echelberger, A., Koi, B., & Monh, S. (2021). Establishing and sustaining a community of practice. CATESOL Journal, 32(1), 133-143. https://doi.org/10.5070/B5.35920
Canh, L.V. (2020). English language teaching in Vietnam: Aspirations, realities, and challenges. In L.V., Canh, H.T.M. Nguyen, N.T.T. Minh, & R. Barnard (Eds.), Building teacher capacity in English language teaching in Vietnam: Research, policy and practice (pp. 7-22). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429457371-2
Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M., & Gardner, M. (2017). Effective teacher professional development. Learning Policy Institute. https://www.teacherscholars.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/09/Effective_Teacher_Professional_Development_REPORT.pdf
Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives. Journal of Management Review, 70, 35-36.
Echelberger, A., McCurdy, S. G., & Parrish, B. (2018). Using a study circle model to improve teacher confidence and proficiency in delivering pronunciation instruction in the classroom. CATESOL Journal, 30(1), 213–230. https://doi.org/10.5070/B5.35972
Farrell, T. (2014). Reflective practice in ESL teacher development groups: From practices to principles. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137317193
Parrish, B. (2019). Teaching adult English language learners: A practical introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Tao, J. & Gao, X. (2021). Language teacher agency. Cambridge University Press.
Wenger-Trayner, B., & Wenger-Trayner, E. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses. https://www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Appendix
Sample Survey Used for Initial Needs Assessment (adapted from Parrish, 2019)
Principles of Learner-Centered Instruction
What are you currently doing in your teaching that you believe corresponds to these learner-centered teaching principles?
| 1. Learners’ knowledge and experiences are validated and incorporated into instruction. | |
| 2. Learner’s 1st language and culture are seen as resources for learning. | |
| 3. Learners make choices about/inform content and classroom activities. | |
| 4. Learners have active roles in the classroom and control the direction of activities. | |
| 5. Classroom interactions and tasks are authentic, reflecting how language is used in the real world. | |
| 6. Teachers use authentic language in their interactions with learners. | |
| 7. Learners acquire strategies that help them learn inside and outside of the classroom without the help of a teacher. | |
| 8. Teachers listen actively for themes as they emerge from learners. | |
| 9. Tasks challenge learners and promote higher-order thinking skills. | |
| 10. Teachers constantly assess teaching and learning in relation to learners’ needs. |
