TEIS Newsletter - March 2021 (Plain Text Version)
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COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE PROVIDING A SPACE FOR VOLUNTEER CONNECTIONS AND LEARNING Debbie Goldman and Rachel Fuchs, Intercambio Uniting Communities, Boulder, Colorado, USA
At Intercambio Uniting Communities (https://intercambio.org/), a non-profit organization in Colorado, USA, creating communities of practice runs through our core. As a community-based program, we have offered volunteer-taught adult English classes since 2001. Prior to March 2020, we enrolled approximately 500 students each quarter in our one-on-one and group classes being taught by about 200 volunteers. In April, we shifted quickly to online classes, in which approximately 150 students and 100 volunteer teachers participate. Intercambio shares its resources with other programs through our national program (see Intercambio Uniting Communities, n.d-a), and we are currently piloting an online platform to connect students and volunteer teachers across the country for one-on-one classes. According to E. Wenger-Treyner and B. Wenger-Trayner (2015), communities of practice are “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (para. 3). We see ourselves facilitating communities of practice by centering our programming around the values of relationships and learning, values which are fundamental to the growth of our volunteers. We initiate building communities of practice in our on-boarding of volunteer teachers. Our teacher training, which is offered in-person and online and takes approximately 7 to 9 hours to complete, provides many opportunities for volunteers to get to know, share with, and learn from each other. We incorporate various community-building activities—some more simple than others. One such activity provides a prize for anyone who at the end of the training has learned everyone’s name, to encourage volunteers to get to know each other during the session. Another more structured learning opportunity requires that volunteers work together to present part of a lesson, after which their peers provide feedback. We elicit feedback at the end of training, and our volunteer teachers regularly express feelings of confidence and belonging—both to their training cohort, and to the larger Intercambio network. For example, one teacher who attended training in August 2020 shared that the training was, “very well written and [included] lots of great information. I wish I'd had this course when I began to teach ESL!” Our volunteers may teach an individual student online or in a student’s home, or they may teach a group online. Group teachers go through an additional orientation, during which they connect with other teachers teaching the same term. Regular learning opportunities such as training on using Zoom and debriefing sessions during the term are facilitated by our Volunteer Teacher Manager. Teachers eagerly share their challenges and offer solutions to each other. An additional opportunity for peer-to-peer learning occurs when groups are led by two teachers, typically a lead teacher and an assistant. We have found that having two teachers in our Zoom classes leads to greater student and teacher satisfaction as volunteers learn from one another and gain confidence for their future classes. Both group and individual teachers have a chance to connect with others through our private Facebook group. Since 2017, this group has grown to over 250 members where staff take turns monitoring and posting. We have found that engagement is higher when posts occur at least weekly, in the evening, contain an image—not just text, and ask a question. Posts range from funny cartoons related to teaching and learning to public service announcements for teachers to share with their students, online resources, teaching tips, and questions. Recently, a teacher requesting suggestions for virtual field trips received many great ideas from other teachers. Additionally, we host regular opportunities for teachers to connect during what we call “Teacher Coffee Hour.” Previously, these drop-in sessions took place once a month. Since March, sensing a need for additional connection, we have hosted the events twice monthly. During these informal 45-minute gatherings, teachers once again have the chance to share challenges, provide solutions, express successes, and learn about resources. Since COVID regulations have moved these gatherings online, they have become an important way for our more isolated teachers to connect with others. Based on our local experience, we have developed a six-level ESOL curriculum, Confidence and Connections (Intercambio Uniting Communities, n.d.-b) that we now sell nationwide. Our typical partner (i.e., organization purchasing our materials) is a program using volunteer teachers, and we strive to support these programs through several initiatives, including helping them create their own communities of practice. Partners can join Intercambio at three levels depending on their programming needs. For those who join at the “Family Level,” we offer the chance to participate in our informal “Teacher Coffee Hours” and quarterly “Networking Calls” that are topic-centered and tackle administrative issues. We recently adopted an online learning management system (LMS) to allow us to provide asynchronous training across the country. This training includes video footage from actual classes, which allows our partners a chance to “observe” local teachers in action. Partners are invited to create a community within the training for their own teachers. In these “communities,” teachers are then encouraged to connect with and learn from one another in the same way that we’ve fostered communities of practice at the local level. Over the past several months, we’ve hosted well over a dozen online learning opportunities for free at a national level. Webinar topics have included strategies for teaching pronunciation, making corrections, supporting classroom conversation activities, getting students engaged and active in online class, and techniques for developing mutual learning in classrooms. The goal for these opportunities is to provide a way for individuals and organizations to connect, which we believe inspires communities of practice, where groups of passionate individuals engage in the pursuit of teaching adult ESL. We will continue to offer regular webinars on a variety of teacher and administrative-focused topics based on the needs expressed by our participants, providing opportunity for individuals to interact and share experiences with each other. Creating communities of practice is at the core of everything we do at Intercambio. From informal gatherings to share successes and challenges, to formal learning opportunities, we believe that providing avenues to connect makes our volunteer teachers stronger at what they do. References Intercambio Uniting Communities (n.d.-a). The Intercambio network. https://intercambio.org/curriculum-and-resources/icnetwork/ Intercambio Uniting Communities (n.d.-b). Ready, set, go! https://intercambio.org/curriculum-and-resources/confidence-connections-curriculum/ Wenger-Trayner, E. & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses. https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ Debbie Goldman has an MS in TEFL and is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer. She has taught learners of all ages and trained teachers both in the US and abroad. She is currently the Teacher Training Manager at Intercambio. Rachel Fuchs has worked as a trainer and in management for Intercambio’s local program since 2008. She now works with partner programs helping them to develop their own successful “communities of practice.”
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