Building a community of practice around higher ed for sustainabiltiy in asia webinar 14 oct 2015
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Building a Community of Practice around Higher Education for Sustainability in Asia Hosted by Michelle Y. Merrill Environment and Sustainability Research Cluster Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Webinar 14 October 2015
Building a Community of Practice around Higher Education for Sustainability in Asia Hosted by Michelle Y. Merrill Environment and Sustainability Research Cluster Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Webinar 14 October 2015
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The regions of Southeast Asia, India and East Asia hold half the world's population, and are likely to be increasingly implicated in both creating and responding to sustainability challenges. Higher education institutions (HEIs) within many of these nations are growing rapidly. However, there is not yet a regional organization for HEIs in Asia focusing on sustainability efforts at the undergraduate level, such as there are in Europe (e.g. COPERNICUS) and North America (e.g. AASHE). A multi-disciplinary community of higher education practitioners and advocates has formed to share information and ideas on how Asian HEIs can better serve the need for innovation and continuous improvement in Education for Sustainability (EfS). This talk will describe how our EfS Asia community began, and how it continues to grow. We discuss some of the existing research and philosophy around communities of practice. We provide details on the kinds of opportunities available and challenges faced as we formed such a geographically extensive community of practice, with recommendations for ways to ease or enhance the process for others interested in developing such communities.
How do you build a Community of Practice?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The community of practice model for learning organizations is particularly useful for generating the shared meaning necessary for productive group efforts such as we are proposing. The concept of a community of practice emerged from the study of business organizations and learning models such as apprenticeships, but has been widely applied to other contexts, including education (Wenger 1998, Seaman 2008, Rathnappulige and Daniel 2013, Wenger 2012). A community of practice must negotiate the common sense that underlies their efforts through socially engaged interactions of mutual accountability in creating and maintaining a coherent community and defining their joint enterprise (Wenger 1998). Documentation of a successfully created community of practice with over twenty educators based on collaborative inquiry suggests that community-building, facilitated by the lead researchers, was integral to that project’s success. It also suggests that being both familiar to the community of practitioners and still an outsider in their work arena is an ideal situation for facilitating collaborative inquiry (Dyer and Loytonen 2012).
Wenger Domain, Practice, Community
eps644.wikispaces.com
Presenter
Presentation Notes
CoPs 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. Becoming a member of a CoP is a process of both identity construction and competence acquisition - becoming a practitioner Starts with peripheral participation (initiating new members) Can’t just hang out and talk about it, must actually DO it together (‘reification’)
“…a community of practice acts as a locally negotiated regime of competence.” Wenger 1998, p137
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Presentation Notes
CoPs can answer specific questions (collection of experts, with different but overlapping domains of expertise) filter out incorrect information (through peer group review) capture and distribute tacit knowledge share knowledge to prevent “reinventing the wheel” share successful practices facilitate collaboration (from http://www.slideshare.net/eric_yh_tsui/developing-sustaining-communities-of-practice?next_slideshow=1)
Constituents of a Community of Practice (CoP)
(Wenger 1998)
Mutual Engagement
Joint Enterprise
Shared Repertoire
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Joint Enterprise: must actually be about doing something (not just an interest group) Mutual Engagement: social network with some accountability Shared Repertoire: common vocabulary and “know-how”
Joint Enterprise • Negotiated meanings
and communal responses to shared goal/task
• There must be allowances for surprises, divergence and conviviality
mycelium.is Joint
Enterprise
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Negotiated meanings and communal responses to shared goal/task There must be allowances for surprises, divergence and conviviality (“white space”)
Mutual Engagement
Dense and complex interaction of both working and sociocultural activities
susievickery.com
Mutual Engagement
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Presentation Notes
Dense and complex interaction of both working and sociocultural activities (beyond Bilson’s (1995) concept of a ‘performance-centred community’) Congealing/gelling as a community – true sense of community Mutual accountability?
Shared repertoire
“routines, words, tools, ways of doing things, stories, gestures, symbols, genres, actions or concepts that the community has adapted in the course of its existence” (Wenger, 1998, p. 83)
changeyourvibe.co.nz
Shared Repertoire
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Presentation Notes
A common culture: “routines, words, tools, ways of doing things, stories, gestures, symbols, genres, actions or concepts that the community has adapted in the course of its existence” (Wenger, 1998, p. 83)
Constituents of a Community of Practice (CoP)
(Wenger 1998)
Mutual Engagement
Joint Enterprise
Shared Repertoire
negotiated enterprise
mutual accountability interpretations
rhythms local response engaged diversity
doing things together
relationships
social complexity community maintenance
stories styles
artifacts
tools actions
historical events
discourses concepts
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Joint Enterprise: negotiation, mutual accountability, shared interpretations, common rhythms, local responses Mutual Engagement: relationships, engaged diversity (appreciate and make use of differences), do things together, social complexity, must put some effort into community maintenance Shared Repertoire: common stories, styles, tools, actions, artifacts, discourses, concepts, history - - “in” jokes and shared metaphors, jargon
Reification Participation
listening & learning
Conversation
co-work
Co-creation
Balance Reification and Participation
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Some talking about it (listening & learning) – broadcast (one-to-many lectures), group discussion (small or large), one-on-one (dyadic) discussion Some co-creation (of a novel idea or definition, or of a tangible ‘product’), or some work together on a relevant community task (washing dishes together is not necessarily building a community of practice for sustainability education) In Cousin & Deepwell 2005 If a group is too busy producing formal outputs (e.g. reports, policy documents, news-letters) to ‘share experience and interactive negotiation’, then there may not be enough ‘overlap in participation to recover a coordinated, relevant or generative meaning ([Wegner] 1998, p. 65). Similarly, writes Wenger, ‘if participation prevails—if most of what matters is left unreified—then there may not be enough material to anchor the specificities of coordination and to uncover diverging assumptions (p. 65).
Diversity for a Dynamic Learning Community
blog.latism.org
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Presentation Notes
sociocultural diversity Also Different stages of development / levels of competence in the practice New participants bring fresh ideas: Prevents complacency in established community members Need to bring them into community competence requires articulating/reaffirming community ideas (making tacit knowledge more visible) Sharing of varied competences and sociocultural perspectives to inform developing community
Varied levels of participation
Peripheral
Occasional
Active
Facilitators
Presenter
Presentation Notes
“variation in levels of expertise and understanding can expand the groups’ learning (e.g. newcomers and peripheral participants can bring in fresh, outsider ideas)” Experts in inner circles; beginners start on periphery and may make their way in as expertise and identification with the group grows
Principles to cultivate CoPs: “Designing for Aliveness” (Wenger, McDermott, Snyder 2002)
1. Design for evolution 2. Open a dialogue between inside and outside
perspectives 3. Invite different levels of participation 4. Develop both public and private community
spaces 5. Focus on value 6. Combine familiarity and excitement 7. Create a rhythm for the community
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Design for evolution Design elements should be catalysts for a community’s natural evolution “Alive” communities reflect on and redesign elements of themselves throughout their existence. Let it change and grow organically, add new elements of community structure one feature at a time Catalyze community development Open a dialogue between inside and outside perspectives Only an insider can appreciate the issues at the heart of the domain, the knowledge that is important to share, the challenges their field faces, and the latent potential in emerging ideas and techniques. Only an insider can know who the real players are and their relationships. it often takes an outside perspective to help members see the possibilities. Learn from existing/different examples to gain new ideas for design, function and strategic potential for your community. Invite different levels of participation people participate in communities for different reasons—some because the community directly provides value, some for the personal connection, and others for the opportunity to improve their skills Alive communities, whether planned or spontaneous, have a “coordinator” who organizes events and connects community members... But others in the community also take on leadership roles. Core: active participation, propose issues to address, community projects, community learning agenda (10-15% of members) Active: attend meetings regularly, participate some in forums etc. (15-20% of members) Occaisonal/Peripheral: participate infrequently, may not feel they have much authority, enough time to devote or much to contribute, but learn from their limited participation (majority of members) Outsider: not really community members, but aware of community, share some adjacent interest, may contribute and advise Members move through different levels of participation/engagement in response to own needs and community changes – this mobility is healthy and should be encouraged Develop both public and private community spaces Public: community events/meetings (all invited, maybe semi-private), Web site Private: one-on-one connections, “back channel” conversations Coordinator needs to work these private spaces between meetings, offering support and connecting members to resources in or outside of community Good community events allow time for people to network informally …use the strength of individual relationships to enrich events, and events to strengthen individual relationships Focus on value Communities thrive because they deliver value… to community members and the organizations they work in. …early value mostly comes from focusing on the current problems and needs of community members. Later, accessible systematic body of knowledge --- what is most valuable about community will change over time Create events, activities and relationships that allow value to emerge; one-on-one connections often do this well Shared insights and ideas are surprisingly valuable, but hard to track & document (intangibles like knowing who to contact with a question or problem) Encourage community members to be explicit about the value of the community throughout its lifetime Ask online group: what do you see as value of this community so far? Combine familiarity and excitement Comfort of familiar allows people to share advice and “half-baked” ideas Challenging, divergent, novel, interesting & varied enough to keep new ideas and new people cycling into the community Create a rhythm for the community Regular cycles for familiarity Too fast, people get exhausted, stop participating because they are overwhelmed Too slow, community feels sluggish, dissipated (e.g. website activity dies off between annual meetings) Direct quotes in italics. [[maybe skip slide for IGEE – it bogs down a bit, and it’s not from peer-reviewed source, but it’s good consultant-info for our group]]
CoP Stages of Development
from Wenger (http://partnership.esflive.eu/files/CoP_development_stages.pdf/)
Potential Coalescing
Maturing Stewardship
Legacy
Loose network of people with similar issues and needs
Members come together and launch a community
Discover common ground and prepare for a community
Find value in engaging and learning activities and design a community
CoP forms and identity, takes charge of its practice and grows
Set standards, define a learning agenda, and deal with growth
The CoP is established and acts as the steward of its domain
Sustain energy, renew interest, educate novices, find a voice and gain influence
The CoP has outlived its usefulness and people move on
Let go, define a legacy, keep in touch
Presenter
Presentation Notes
A CoP is a complex, adaptive system (like a living organism) - different levels of expression, energy and purpose at different developmental stages. Potential: Loose network of people with similar issues and needs – Discover common ground and prepare for a community Coalescing: Members come together and launch a community – Find value in engaging and learning activities and design a community There is often a spike of interest and energy around this time, for instance, right after a launch event. As the community seeks to find a rhythm, however, the reality of the work that community development requires sets in. After the initial interest, people’s energy for the community can fall off sharply. Other commitments pull people away from participating, leaders don’t really know what to do to keep the energy alive, people expect—and don’t always find—great immediate value. People may interpret the loss of interest as a lack of real value or become impatient. Building relationships, helping each other, discovering what knowledge is really useful to share, all this takes time and it is important to shepherd the community through this stage. It needs to build stronger bonds among community members and create enough energy and momentum to sustain members through this initial work. Maturing: CoP forms and identity, takes charge of its practice and grows – Set standards, define a learning agenda, and deal with growth Stewardship: The CoP is established and acts as the steward of its domain - Sustain energy, renew interest, educate novices, find a voice and gain influence Legacy: The community has outlived its usefulness and people move on - Let go, define a legacy, keep in touch The jagged line stands for the level of energy and visibility that the community generates over time.
How are we doing it? A case study of the EfS Asia CoP
Presenter
Presentation Notes
To foster a community of practice around EfS in Southeast Asian higher education, we have consciously chosen a research methodology that involves participatory decision-making with our community of collaborators on how to proceed with our joint enterprise. Collaborators will be engaged as experts to propose and select theoretical models, field site criteria, and other important aspects of our work together via established processes such as the Delphi technique for developing informed group consensus (Charlton 2004, Minghat, Yasin, and Udin 2012). Our collaborators will participate in developing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, providing a common understanding that will support our research as the team continues to develop as an engaged and robust community of practice.
NTU Conferences
Bridging Sustainability in Research to Pedagogy: Theory and Practice 19 – 20 April 2013
Sustainability in Education: Pedagogical Themes and Practices in
Asian Countries 27 – 28 February 2014
Post-Secondary Education for
Sustainability in Asia: Curricula, Case Studies
and Community-Building
5-6 February 2015
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We’ve already had three opportunities to bring a lot of these people together in conferences and workshops here at NTU, and we’re planning yet another for Feb 2016. While there is some discussion of general policies and theory, there is also an acknowledgement that we are all practitioners, and many talks that focus on the practice of instruction in sustainability-related higher education courses.
Website http://bit.do/EfSAsia
Newsletters
Webinar/ Online Chat
Grant Applications
Edited Book
Linked-In Group
Collaborate on Research
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Private: 5 newsletters so far 1st online chat just last week private Linked-In group (leading to) �Public: major collaborative grant applications (one rejected, revised now under consideration) edited book “Education and Sustainability: Paradigms, Policies and Practices in Asia” under consideration small research project comparing student attitudes at NTU Singapore (me), Chinese University of Hong Kong (Sally Wan), plus Liverpool John Moore’s University (with Martin Christie and Rachael Hanmer-Dwight)
How well is it working?
Key Questions (from ‘Step-by-Step Guide for Designing and Cultivating Communities of Practice ‘ Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005)
1. Foundation: Build Relationships • How regularly are members interacting? • To what extent do interactions have continuity and
depth? • Are members “opportunistic” about chances to interact
in other settings (conferences, etc.)? • Are members taking on new leadership roles? • How much and what kind of reciprocity is occurring? • To what extent is a shared understanding of the
community’s domain and approach to practice beginning to emerge?
Key Questions (from ‘Step-by-Step Guide for Designing and Cultivating Communities of Practice ‘ Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005)
2. Learn and Develop the Practice • How rich and accessible are the community’s
knowledge representations for existing practice? • To what extent does community design support deeper
learning for community members?
3. Take Action as a Community • Are collaborative efforts beginning to emerge
naturally? • Are there community structures to support
volunteering for projects and working with others? • Are members recognized and rewarded for their
contributions?
Key Questions (from ‘Step-by-Step Guide for Designing and Cultivating Communities of Practice ‘ Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005) 4. Create Knowledge in the Domain
• How open is the community to new ideas and leadership?
• To what extent is the community influential in its domain?
• Are community members being invited, as community members, to present on leading-edge ideas?
What could we do better?
Your ideas
What could we do better?
• your ideas? • Bring more into the core • Ensure sustainability of the community through
new/additional leadership (will it continue to grow and thrive if I can’t stay?)
• “[create] a predictable “rhythm” that sets an expectation around how and when to participate in the community” (Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005, p.2)
• more social media (expertise & time) • articulate purpose and benefits to participants
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Ensure sustainability of the community (will they thrive if I go?) Bring more into the core “[create] a predictable “rhythm” that sets an expectation around how and when to participate in the community” (Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter 2005) more social media (expertise & time) articulate purpose and benefits to participants
What’s next? smaller scale larger scale
Inside NTU: smaller scale
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Presentation Notes
Monthly meetings (4-10 participants, a few active “regulars,” a few occasionals, many peripherals) Some presentations of varying formality – lots of time for discussion – conviviality through snacks! Picture was a session inviting BOLD IDEAS for Global Sustainability & Visions for the Sustainability Salons Often do “big questions” – semi-structured discussions also has website and email listserv with emails ~weekly similar challenge to get a strong enough core so not dependent on single organizer (need “pilates” for community-building) wasn’t getting interest in Education for Sustainability pedagogy, started another CoP around Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with help from Teaching, Learning and Pedagogy Division
Formal Organizations for ESD/EfS … are NOT Communities of Practice (though they may contain and support CoPs)
aashe.org
copernicus-alliance.org prospernet.ias.unu.edu
talloiresnetwork.tufts.edu
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Formation of Formal Organizations for ESD/EfS in Higher Education Talloires Network: “In September 2005, Tufts University convened the Talloires Conference… 29 university presidents, rectors, and vice chancellors from 23 countries” International signatories (university presidents) to Talloires Declaration on the Civic Roles and Social Responsibilities of Higher Education Now “ over 320 members in 72 countries with a combined enrollment of over 6 million students” De La Salle University (Philippines) (Marlon Pareja) National University of Laos (Laos) (Saysamone Prasonexay) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia) (Mohammad Imam Hasan Reza) University of the Philippines (Philippines) (Perry Ong) COPERNICUS “COPERNICUS Alliance finds its origins in 1993, when the European University Association, acknowledging the critical role of universities in advancing Agenda 21….” 326 European universities signed CRE COPERNICUS Charta initially�Alliance rebrand in 2007 – 19 active member universities AASHE: American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education AASHE formed… linked to Second Nature, a non-profit organization?... Organizations supporting EfS/ESD in Asian higher education ProSPER.Net : Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research is specifically devoted to research at the post-graduate level for universities in the Asia-Pacific region - founded in June 2008 -- United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability in Tokyo Should we consider a formal organization to support EfS in Asia – perhaps get United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability in Tokyo to sponsor? Current members that have members in our CoP: Tohoku University, Japan (Shunsuke Managi – but moved to Kyushu University, Japan) Nanyang Technological University- Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Singapore Only NEWRI is a member! (Tan Soon Keat) Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Chanita, Fuangarun (Socheath is PhD student there) University of the Philippines, Philippines Perry Ong Another model is CHESC: California Higher Education Sustainability Conferences CHESC is less an organization or community of practice per se. CHESC is an annual series of conferences open to the faculty, administrators, staff and students of California’s higher education institutions: 1? Universities of California, 3? California State Universities, 11? Community Colleges and the numerous private colleges and universities in the state, representing over ??million students at these diverse tertiary education institutions.
Southeast Asian Higher Education for Sustainability: Principles and Practices Research Project Goals • Discover, develop and disseminate
innovations in EfS • Influence the next generations of
thought-leaders in Asia • Improve international coordination for
sustainability • Develop online repository for EfS in higher
education in Asia
Presenter
Presentation Notes
pending funding… Southeast Asian Higher Education for Sustainability: Principles and Practices Not only will we Establish Singapore as the hub for sustainability education in Asia, the central node in a thriving network of professional educators Discover, develop and disseminate innovations in sustainability education that will have lasting repercussions throughout Asia and the world We will: Influence the rising generations of thought-leaders in Asia to work toward a sustainable, healthy and vibrant future, by enriching the education of thousands or millions of Asia’s brightest young people (eventually billions, since most primary school educators receive some late secondary or tertiary education in the institutions we will be most directly influencing) Improve international coordination for sustainability, by providing a model of cooperation in sharing sustainability education innovations Develop an online repository of ideas, examples and techniques for sustainability curriculum development to inform and inspire current and future educators around the world I believe we can accomplish this, and I’m really excited about it. I’d love to hear your ideas about how to make this really work well… How can we connect with, learn from and teach one another, so together we can co-create a regenerative, resilient culture!?!
How can we connect with, learn from and teach each other, so together we can
