Interprofessional Communities of Practice Model Toward Advancing Equity in Education

• In Event: Breaking Silos: Using Collaboration to Improve Student Mental Health Outcomes and Create Equitable Education Systems

Abstract

In this paper we describe the use of a Communities of Practice (CoP) model for advancing interprofessional professional preparation towards equity in education (Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002) and the evaluation of its effectiveness across domains. We will describe the CoP framework and its use within SHPA, a graduate training program preparing school psychologists and school counselors to work with Native American & Indigenous (NAI) students. Themes derived from the adapted CoP survey of the first SHPA cohort will be described and applied to future interprofessional work between student support staff and trainees.

Scholars Supporting High-Intensity Mental Health Needs of Native and Indigenous youth: School Psychologist and Counselor Advanced preparation (SHPA), is the most recent iteration of a graduate training program. It is funded by a federal grant from the Department of Education, SHPA prepares practitioners in the following areas: (a) NAI cultural contexts, (b) evidence-based interventions, (c) culturally adapting evidence-based practice to support NAI youth, and (d) effective interprofessional consultation and collaboration. This paper focuses on scholar outcomes in content, meaning and process resulting from their interprofessional collaborations in the context of their developing culturally relevant interventions to support the academic, social-emotional needs of NAI students.

The Communities of Practice (CoP) model recognizes that deep learning occurs in social contexts in which people have common goals, and that shared identity emerges through “engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002). It is organized within the domains of (a) mutual engagement, (b) joint enterprise, and (c) shared repertoires (Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002; Wenger, Trayner, & deLatt, 2011). The framework was selected for its consistency with social justice work and applicability to interprofessional training and practice. In addition, we valued its applicability to organizational structures within education, and its centering of personal narrative through “value-creation stories” to capture the “value that networks or communities create” in their work within NAI communities (Wenger, Trayner, & deLatt, 2011).

This paper will present initial data derived from the CoP survey of our first SHPA cohort. A readability analysis was conducted prior to distributing the survey, in order to ensure internal validity. The CoP survey captures the value creation in our community of practice, specifically, what is the immediate value, potential value, applied value, realized value, and reframed value of intense interdisciplinary collaboration with SHPA?

The grant-supported specialization project took place online during the 2020-21 year to accommodate the Covid-19 restrictions. SHPA scholars collaborated to provide group interventions, consultation, and education to students and teachers in a partner elementary school located on Indigenous territory. Eight scholars participated in the CoP survey (3 school counseling; 5 school psychology).

Scholars report the meaningful impact of the interprofessional collaboration on their personal and professional development as well as the development of the community. Their value-creation stories spoke to each of the five cycles of communities of practice providing evidence of the utility of the CoP model in interprofessional collaboration of school stakeholders towards equity in education.

Authors

• Katheryne T. Leigh-Osroosh, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Carol Robinson-Zanartu, San Diego State University

• Jennica Paz