Hope, Collaboration, and Growth: Faculty Participation in a Community of Practice to Re-Vision Educator Preparation

• In Event: 75.024 - Righting Imbalances in Teacher Education: Centering Community Knowledges and Perspectives

Abstract

Faculty members representing four of five departments in the College of Education at a major southwestern university in the U.S. have been involved for four years in a grant-funded project to: 1) Transform teacher education and other professional courses through collaboration; 2) Leverage the transformation to assist schools to improve K-12 instruction; and 3) Design integrated field experiences to support cultural competency. The paper includes the findings from analyses of the faculty’s reflective writing about their experiences in a nurtured, sustained, multidisciplinary community of practice. The information gained from this study provides insight into the benefits to university faculty of reflecting on their practice and participating in a community of practice to re-vision educator preparation.

Authors

• Allison M. Borden, University of New Mexico

• Viola E. Florez, The University of New Mexico