1. NOPT Conference: Practice Education & Communities Of Practice
Simon Haworth (UOB)

2. Structure of the Workshop
First just a little from me on my recent paper into PE from within a Teaching Partnership.
Then two exercises for us all to talk and think about expanding the role of practice education.
First exercise: A plus-minus exercise.
Second exercise: Thought trees.
Then five minutes at the end to bring it together and think where to go from here.

3. So, the paper... The main ideas:
Practice education communities of practice critical to progression. Such communities according to Wenger (2002) constitute ‘a group of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly’ (p.22).
Champions of PE, or Specialist Practice Educators, establish and maintain these communities to develop innovative ways forward.

4. And...
The main ideas:
Communities of Practice have three foundational elements:
Shared domain of interest (Practice Education).
Constructive relationships that transcend organisational boundaries.
Members develop a shared collection of resources, tools and problem-solving techniques.

5. The paper goes on to suggest…
The main ideas:
Caspi’s (2002) notions of structure, content and process can be used to analyse practice education.
Based upon this, PE communities of practice should receive organisiational commitment (time & resources), be linked with wider CPD and workforce development, involve champions, PEs and academics, and be founded on blended approaches.

6. So I view it like this:
Shared Domain of Interest
Constructive & Transcending Learning-based Relationships
Shared Collection of Resources & Expertise

7. Plus-Minus Exercise
In your small groups: Please consider the ideas I have briefly shared (PE communities of practice) and record positive, negative and ‘interesting’ thoughts on the separate sheets provided.

8. Thought Trees In your small groups:
Please try to complete the thought trees focussed on communities of practice:
Shared Domain of Interest
Transcending Learning-Based Relationships
Shared Collections of Resources & Expertise

9. To summarise…
PE Communities of Practice, based on shared domains of interest, relationships and development of resources and expertise.
A blended approach to achieving this.
Specialist Practice Educators (PE Champions) central to extending PE.
Or, maybe a more radical departure to community- based approach to relink the classroom with the field.

10. If you are interested… My paper is entitled:
‘Consideration of Practice Education within a Regional Teaching Partnership employing a Communities of Practice Lens’.
It is published in Practice:
I am on

11. THANK YOU