EDUC 805 Research and Scholarship in Education

Final Paper

Rebecca L. Caufman

George Mason University

December 9, 2008 Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 1

Introduction

Communities of Practice

Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger coined the term Communities of Practice while studying how people learn in apprenticeship settings. In their research, Lave and Wenger discovered that learning through an apprenticeship was much more complicated then simply an expert modeling for a novice how to do something. Instead they noticed how social the act of learning was in these settings. As soon as the idea of a Community of

Practice was created, Lave and Wenger began to see these “living curriculums” outside of apprenticeships too (Wenger, n.d.).

Viewing learning as a social event certainly demonstrates a different way of thinking than most educational settings today. Wenger describes several assumptions most educational settings have on learning: “…that learning is an individual process, that it has a beginning and an end, that it is best separated from the rest of our activities, and that teaching is required for learning to occur” (Wenger, 1996, p. 21). Learning in this prescribed way often takes the fun out of learning, makes learning more difficult, and makes it hard for the learner to transfer their learning into practical settings.

In contrast to traditional prescribed learning, Wenger’s research challenges that learning is a very natural process done in a social matter within our various Communities of Practice. Wenger (n.d.) defines Communities of Practice as, “…groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (p. 1). Wenger also cautions that not all communities are

Communities of Practice. What sets these second communities apart is that they have a Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 2 shared area of knowledge upon which they interact and learn together through a shared practice.

The College of Education and Human Development’s Community of Practice

In our first class of EDUC 805 we met Dr. Jeff Gorrell, the Dean of the College of

Education and Human Development, who shared with us how the college is working together to establish a Community of Practice among its faculty. The first step they took in forming their unique Community of Practice was to create a core value system. From a long list of possible values, the faculty trimmed the list down to five essential values that they hope to work to uphold: collaboration, ethical leadership, innovation, research- based practice, and social justice. This core value system is proudly displayed on the college’s web site, along with specific examples on how different faculty members are working toward each value.

With this introduction, Dr. Gorrell asked us to watch and observe throughout this semester how each of the faculty members that came before us demonstrated their membership in the College of Education’s Community of Practice. Since the format of the class is for different professors to present to the class, previous students have affectionately called the class the Parade of Professors. Dr. Gorrell cautioned us not to view the class through this lens. Instead, he requested for us to consider the class as watching a flower unfold and to examine the professors as petals which when all placed together create the many layers of the flower.

Our weekly assignment this semester was to write a journal entry after each class documenting our understanding of the concept of Community of Practice and learning at

George Mason. This paper demonstrates the common themes I heard among faculty Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 3 members regarding their membership in a Community of Practice. I hope to use my knowledge of these themes so that I too may be a successful member within my chosen

Communities of Practice.

Common Themes

Follow Your Passion

In her discussion with us, Dr. Julie Kidd defined Communities of Practice as groups of people who share an experience and have a joint passion. This concept of passion was echoed throughout the semester by each faculty member that presented to us.

They all commented on the importance of being passionate about what you research, especially about your dissertation topic. This passion helps the researcher investigate their topic deeply, and it also provides stamina to sustain the often long and tedious research process.

Dr. Joan Packer Isenberg encouraged us to use our doctorate program to help us discover our individual passions and to follow these passions throughout our program.

To help us identify our passions, she encouraged each of us to think about our personal stories in a narrative style. Through this process we should acknowledge where we have been and what has brought us to the place we are now. Dr. Kmt Shockley explained how going through the process of writing our narratives will help us to understand how research is natural, especially when you are following your passion. Dr. Isenberg built on this comment by explaining that reflecting also helps us to identify our belief system.

Thus, our stories and belief about a topic often reveal to us our passions.

One story of a career blossoming from a passion is that of Dr. Carol Kaffenberger.

Prior to earning her doctorate, Carol was a high school counselor. When her youngest Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 4 daughter was diagnosed with cancer, she took a year of absence from her job to care for her. Through the process of caring for her daughter, she realized just how short life is, and she was determined to make the most out of her time on this planet. She had always wished to obtain a PhD, and so she began taking classes to pursue her doctorate.

Through her dissertation research, she learned to combine her own personal story about her family dealing her daughter’s cancer with that of other families’ survivor stories. She is currently using this information to help inform others how to respond to families in this crisis.

Dr. David Anderson is another faculty member who turned his passion and interests into a very successful career, and his story proves that a lot can be done with a passion. Dr. Anderson is the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public

Health. His passion and research focus began as a professor at Radford where he and another colleague wondered what other universities were doing about alcohol use on their campus. They took this question, developed a survey, and mailed it out to learn more.

Three years later, they once again mailed out the survey to see if anything had changed.

What they learned was that many people were interested in the results of their research.

The results ended up being published in the New York Times, and they were invited to be guests on the Phil Donahue Show! He explained how his initial unfunded curiosity led to many other funded endeavors.

An important note about identifying our passions is that we should not feel we are limited in identifying just one. Dr. Shahron Williams va Rooij modeled this when she explained how she has three passions. Identifying with multiple passions and following them allows her access to participate in multiple Communities of Practice. Dr. Lorraine Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 5

Valdez Pierce explained the multiple Communities of Practice that she is involved with and how she participates within each. As a Program Coordinator, she gets a chance to help develop the English as a Second Language (ESOL) program at George Mason, which includes working with others to create the classes that will be offered. In the

Graduate School of Education, she is on the program assessment committee that works together to ensure that the program continues to meet its accreditation requirements.

Locally she works with the Fairfax County Assessment Team to develop valid and reliable Assessment Tools & Procedures for ESOL students, which is set up as a 15 year project. Finally, she work nationally with the University of Wisconsin at Madison on an assessment consortium. Dr. Ilham Nasser explained that she too has multiple passions and uses them to shape her research studies. She also encouraged us to think of our dissertations not as an end, but the beginning of our research lives.

Collaboration With Others

Another theme that was repeated throughout the semester by the speakers was the importance of collaborating with others. A new Community of Practice may be created to suit the members’ needs, or collaboration can be done within an already established

Community of Practice.

Establishing new communities of practice. Creating a new Community of Practice must be done with care. Dr. Julie Kidd discussed the care that was taken to establish the faculty writing club that she participates in. The group began by meeting socially. This social interaction allowed them to get to know each better and develop trust. With trust, established members were more open to feeling vulnerable in the group and could provide each other with kind, yet honest feedback. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 6

The professors from the Center for International Education also talked about forming new Communities of Practice and the extra challenges they face in establishing relationships with those from a different culture. Not only must these researchers work to develop trust, but they must also learn each others’ cultural norms and work out a way to communicate. One researcher spoke of how she individually works to speed up the getting to know you process by researching it at home first. To do this, she reads the culture’s literature, seeks out restaurants so that she can try their food, and locates domestic organizations from the same culture to meet and speak with.

Throughout the semester, several original Communities of Practice were shared with us. As mentioned above, Dr. Julie Kidd is part of a faculty writing club. Five faculty members from four different specializations in education are all members of this club. They meet together in order to help each other share, revise, and refine their writing work. This group has allowed these professors to produce better writing, and as a result, they are finding that they are more successful in their attempts to be published.

On a similar note, Dr. Jennifer Suh, Dr. Pamela Hudson, and Dr. Peggy Sears have teamed together with another professor located at a different university to create their own unique Community of Practice. This partnership was formed in order to obtain a research grant. They explained how each person on the team brings to the project their individual expertise and experiences which, when joined with the group’s, serves to strengthen the project and increase their marketability.

Dr. Peter Barcher, the Associate Dean for the Office for Research, commented on how joining forces like these ladies did can really improve one’s chances of obtaining a grant. In his lecture, which I term Grant Writing 101, he informed us that the hardest Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 7 grant we will ever get will be our first one. The reason for this is because when grants are awarded they are not done blindly, which means that the committee looks at who is writing the grant and their reputation. This explains why forming an alliance of researchers from different fields with different experiences can serve as a selling point for a grant. To illustrate this point, he explained how a baseball team is not made of all third baseman, but instead of players with different specialties. As a result, program officers look for diverse teams, knowing that these can provide rich research opportunities.

Dr. Carol Kaffenberger is another professor who formed her own unique

Community of Practice. In her presentation she explained how she was having little success sharing her passion with others individually, however, when she partnered with a

Fairfax County principal and several people from different fields, doors started to open.

Together through this newly formed Community of Practice, they were able to accomplish some amazing tasks, such as revising homebound regulations for Virginia, developing computer technology, and providing appropriate support settings for families in need.

Collaboration through existing communities of practice. It is not always necessary to create an original Community of Practice in order to find others to collaborate with; many relationships can be formed through existing Communities of

Practice. Dr. Joan Packer Isenberg is a faculty member who used her membership in an existing Community of Practice to befriend a colleague at a national conference. Sitting outside the main lecture hall, she met another doctoral student. When they began talking to each other, they quickly learned that they were interested in the same things. As a Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 8 result, they exchanged information and started a correspondence together. Through this chance meeting, Dr. Isenberg has had the opportunity to co-author several books.

Dr. Isenberg’s story helps to explain why so many professors commented on the importance of joining the professional organizations connected to our specialties and passions. These memberships provide access to the most up-to-date information found in journals, on web sites, and through other networking forums. Most professional organizations also hold a large national conference once a year, as well as several regional conferences. What set several of the professors that came to talk to us this semester apart as being true members in these Communities of Practice is that they viewed their attendance at these conferences as mandatory. They discussed going to these conferences with a purpose, whether it be to learn, to present, or to network.

In her presentation, Dr. Shaharon Williams va Rooij discussed her membership within both a large and a small existing Communities of Practice. She explained how being a member in these communities helps her to do her job better. The large

Community of Practice that she is a member of is a global community whose interest is in

Open Source Software. She explained how this Community of Practice is comprised of a variety of individuals from different fields, such as software developers, Chief

Information Officers, faculty members, and commercial partners. She commented on how she entered this community as a commercial partner, but was able to retain her membership when she became a university faculty member. The members of this community have several forums through which they interact, including professional organizations and various Internet sites. She uses these forums to get her questionnaires answered, ask for feedback on her research, share her research findings, and read other Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 9 members’ research. The small Community of Practice she is a member of consists mainly of project managers who are interested in project base learning. Through membership in this organization, she can get feedback on her templates and methodology and discover what others are studying in this same field.

Journals are another way that members within a Community of Practice are given a forum to communicate, share ideas, and learn from one another. Dr. Peggy Early created a journal for her Community of Practice for just this purpose. The International

Journal of Educational Policy and Leadership was created in order to enrich education policy and leadership, create a knowledge base, and promote exploration and analysis of policy alternatives. Another important way that journals aid researchers was explained by Dr. Erin Peters, who uses the feedback she receives from her journal submissions to help her refine her research.

Sometimes professors do not have to travel far to find others within their

Community of Practice to collaborate with. This was the case with Dr. Stephen White and Dr. Rebecca Fox. These two professors in the literacy department have offices right next to each other at George Mason. Although they have different interests within the field of Literacy, they are currently working together on a research project. They have also teamed up with two Graduate Assistants to help them code the qualitative data they are collecting. Their Graduate Assistants are from different specialties, education psychology and early childhood education, and at times struggle in matching their data analysis. Dr. White and Dr. Fox both saw this struggle as a positive towards their research, which results from each of them approaching the data with a different lens.

These multiple perspectives help to strengthen both their research results and its validity. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 10

Take Advantage of Opportunities

A third theme I noticed upon reflecting on my journal entries was the number of times different speakers encouraged us to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way. Dr. Penny Early was the first to do so. In her discussion with us, she stated that you never know when things will come your way, and encouraged us to take advantage of opportunities when they do come. Dr. Early was a lobbyist in Washington for many years, and then she got a call from George Mason informing her that they were going to start up a Center for Education Policy and encouraged her to apply. She did, and she got the job!

Dr. Kelly commented in one class on how we should always keep our eyes open for possibilities. Dr. David Anderson was doing just this at a conference when someone commented on how the university professors never seem to get a chance to talk. He took this small comment and created a retreat to provide university professors an opportunity to talk with one another. Dr. Anderson has found that one research project often leads to another, and things come out of things.

The PhD students from the PhD panel that came to talk to us said we should take advantage of assistantship opportunities if we are able. These assistantships often provide doctorate students with tuition, dissertation ideas, research experience, and publishing opportunities.

Dr. Kelly also challenged us to take advantage of the opportunities that our classes offer us. He explained that as doctorate students we should not be thinking like undergraduates whose focus is often, “how can I do as little as possible to get an A?”

Instead, we should be fully participating and learning in our classes at this level. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 11

Advice for the Future

What was interesting about this class was the knowledge that the people standing before me each week were once in my shoes. In a sense, they were the skilled training me a novice on how to be successful within a PhD Community of Practice. In our class discussion with the professors from the Center for International Education, Suprea stated that we would meet lots of people through our doctorate programs who will give us pieces of information. She continued on to say that as members in a Community of

Practice, it is our job to take these pieces of information and not let them just fall on the floor unused. Therefore, this section of my paper is a collection of these pieces of information or advice that were given to us as throughout the semester.

Dr. Kelly encouraged us to take an odd course in something. Doing this, he suggested, would allow us to step outside of our small bubbles and provide us an opportunity to see what is going on around us in a different field. As a Reading Recovery teacher, I feel my professional bubble is extremely small. What is nice about being a member of such a specific Community of Practice is that we all “speak the same language” when it comes to instructing struggling readers. This makes all the publications and materials presented at conferences practical and applicable. I can see, however, how this is a bit of a double edge sword because our view of literacy instruction and treatment is very narrow. I will definitely keep Dr. Kelly’s suggestion in mind as I plan my program of study next semester.

Through their presentation, Dr. Jennifer Suh, Dr. Pamela Hudson, and Dr. Peggy

Sears provided us with an example of how we can create our own unique Communities of

Practice. This group defined Communities of Practice as a group of people who create Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 12 and act on opportunities to work together. They continued by stating that for a

Community of Practice to work well, people need to be responsive and responsible when the work needs to be done. They offered this advice for us to consider in creating our own Communities of Practice:

1. Identify what we can bring to a Community of Practice (our strengths).

2. Identify what we need to be successful (our weaknesses).

3. Identify others who can help us (those who are strong in our weaknesses).

To add on to this information, Dr. Julie Kidd encouraged us to create a unique

Community of Practice and learning with other PhD students that we meet at George

Mason. One of the PhD students on the PhD Panel agreed with this, stating how having such a Community of Practice comprised of other PhD students can provide valuable support, especially at the end of our programs. She explained that when all the coursework in a PhD is completed, things can become very lonely. Having a Community of Practice during the dissertation process can provide much need motivation and resilience to continue.

Dr. Peter Barcher gave us advice on how to secure grant approval. His first piece of advice was to form a personal relationship with the program officer by calling, emailing, or visiting them. Through these relationships we should get questions answered, often saving valuable time. Dr. Debra Sprague and Dr. Lynne Schrum commented on calling or emailing journal editors as well. Asking them questions prior to submitting a study can ensure that a study is right for the journal and save time.

On a similar note, many of the professors encouraged us to call, email, or introduce ourselves to others, both in and out of our Communities of Practice, no matter Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 13 how superior they may seem. Dr. Kelly told us to think big in terms of who we ask to participate in our research because people often say yes when asked to help. This is precisely what Dr. Erin Peters does when she goes to conferences. She purposefully looks at the conference program to see who will be attending and then searchers for people to network with them. She uses the interactions she has with other conference attendees to run ideas by them, which helps her to refine and improve her research.

On a different topic, the members of the math panel gave us some words of wisdom to think about when reading research. They surprisingly said to take it with a grain of salt because all research is biased. To help us understand the researchers’ bias, they commented on how we should always look to see who is serving on the committee that conducted the research. For example, they pointed out that when looking at the

National Math Report, the lead researcher was a chemist who was not even involved in education! They also challenged us to look at the reference list and think of whom the intended audience is for the research and why they would want to know the results.

Identifying the researchers, their backgrounds, the references they used, and their intended audience helps the reader to understand the researcher’s perspective and potential biases. To add to this notion, Dr. Kelly discussed the idea of conducting scientific research in an educational setting. He explained to us how random experimentation was created by Fisher, who was testing mineaur in different soil. Then he asked us to consider why this random assignment is necessary in an educational setting in order for it to be considered rigorous science, and yet astronomers and anthropologist do not have to conform to this type of research to be termed scientific. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 14

The final group that met before us this semester was the PhD student panel. This group was comprised of four doctorate students who were either in the process of writing their dissertation or who had very recently graduated. They provided lots of advice to us throughout the evening. I thought one of the most interesting pieces of advice came from

Jenny, who mentioned that a research project will not result in a problem being fixed, but instead in understanding the problem more deeply. I think that this is an important fact for me to remember. I believe I entered this program thinking that I could solve and answer many of the questions I had about struggling readers by obtaining my PhD.

Instead, I now think that obtaining my PhD will help me to better and more deeply understand these struggling readers without necessarily solving all of their reading problems.

Conclusion

As a second semester doctorate student, I find that I am learning my way into a new Community of Practice. I am walking down a path that is common to all PhD students. The results of this learning will hopefully allow me to be both a productive and active member this Community of Practice. As stated earlier, Wenger defines a

Community of Practice as, “…groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, n.d., p. 1). Through our doctorate programs, my classmates and I are learning how to be both researchers and leaders within our specializations. Although our interests and specialization within this community differ, we have a common language and understanding of the research process. Thus, fitting Wenger’s definition that the College of Education and Human Development’s doctorate students share a common passion to Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 15 understand and improve the education process through research. Through our interactions, both in and outside our classes, we help each other to shape and refine our thinking towards becoming PhD graduates.

Throughout this semester I have been both amazed and encouraged by the stories that each professor has told us about their collaboration with others. It is obvious that the professors who spoke with us this semester truly believe in the concept of Communities of Practice. This makes me wonder if this belief system is unique to George Mason, or how many other colleges and universities have a similar belief system?

The comforting fact I have learned through this class is that I do not have to know everything upon graduation. Instead, what I do need to do is be able to identify my passion(s) and find Communities of Practice in which I can be an active member.

Knowing both my strengths and weaknesses within a given Community of Practice will help me tp identify how I can best participate and with whom I should seek help.

A Final Thought

With all that has been said and modeled throughout the semester about

Communities of Practice and how social learning is, I find it surprising that the final project for this class is requiring me to sit at home, by myself, to write a paper at my computer. Reflecting back on Wenger’s description of traditional educational institutions’ assumptions of learning as individual processes that, “…assess learning with tests with which students struggle in a one-on-one combat, where knowledge has to be demonstrated out of context, and where collaborating is cheating” (Wenger, 1996, p. 21), this final assignment seems to fit this assumption. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 16

This class was definitely taught in the traditional prescribed learning format.

Each week we entered our crowded classroom, sat in rows, and listened to different professors talk about how learning socially has improved, strengthened, and informed their practice. When these professors finished explaining how being a member of a

Community of Practice has helped them, we were excused from the class to go home and independently write a journal entry, never being afforded time as a class to participate in social learning.

It seems to me that if George Mason’s College of Education and Human

Development professors truly believe in the learning philosophy behind Communities of

Practice, this knowledge would serve to both challenge their current view of higher education learning and produce change the structuring of their classes and teaching styles. Now, I know that this is the first time that this class has been offered in this two credit format, and perhaps not all the bugs have been worked out as a result.

It is therefore my wish for EDUC 805’s future students that they not only hear about Communities of Practice, but are also afforded an opportunity to create their own unique Community of Practice and participate in a social learning environment. I believe that one of the main objectives for this Community of Practice class should be to know the names and specialties of their classmates. This will help the members to identify each others’ unique way of knowing, each others’ strengths, and each others’ possible research bias. Knowing this information can serve to create powerful networking tools for the students. However, in order for this to be accomplished, a social interaction time must be provided in class. Perhaps, if it is deemed that class time is too limited, an online forum could potentially be created that would allow for this interaction. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 17

More importantly, I believe that the final project for this class should not be individual, but rather should reflect the College of Education and Human Development’s understanding that learning is social and requires participation. It is my hope that future students leave this class with not only a strong knowledge of what a Community of

Practice is, but also with experience in establishing and participating in a new

Community of Practice. Perhaps, as an extra benefit, the established Community of

Practice would continue to grow and develop even when the class is complete. Final Paper EDUC 805 Rebecca Caufman 18

References

Wegner, Etienne. (n.d.). Communities of practice a brief introduction. Retrieved

December 4, 2008, from the Etienne Wegner Web site:

http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm

Wenger, Etienne (1996, July). Communities of practice: The social fabric of a learning

organization. The Healthcare Forum Journal, 39(4), 20. Retrieved December 4,

2008, from http://www.ewenger.com/pub/pubhealthcarefowum.htm