Themes Can Provide a Focus
One of the challenges of developing a community of practice among members of one’s local Carnegie group is finding ways to share a common interest. While each college is approaching the development of their community in a somewhat different fashion, at Middlesex we faced the challenge of finding common ground while pursuing our individual research projects. We found that a shared theme was helpful in this regard.
Concerned about the low levels of motivation exhibited by many of our students, we used the ideas presented in Edward Deci’s book
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation (Penguin, 1996) as a starting point for our joint conversations. This led to further readings and discussions on the topic and to the integration of the theme in many of our projects. The shared theme also assisted us in addressing our role in making contributions to our larger community, and led to two college-wide presentations centered on the topic of motivation. We made use of this theme for approximately two of the five years we have been in existence.
Recently, several members have expressed an interest in choosing a new theme as a guiding and uniting force in our work. Mention has also been made about the possible value of a cluster theme that all our COPPER members might find of value.
Early suggestions have centered on the issues of transfer of learning beyond the classroom, facilitating life-long learning, and creating intentional learners. To investigate these themes we are currently reading and preparing to discuss three articles which reflect the central issues of their respective author’s recent books. The first article is by Ellen Langer author of
The Power of Mindful Learning (Perseus Publishing, 1998). A brief summary of her ideas can be found at
http://www.newhorizons.org/trans/trans_review_langer.htm
The other two articles are available at the following web sites:
http://www.ou.edu/idp/significant/WHAT%20IS.pdf
http://berger.research.claremontmckenna.edu/asl/applyingthesciencechange.pdf
If you have any thoughts about the value of a shared cluster theme or any suggestions for specific themes feel free to include them in our comments area. In addition, we’re interested in posting any strategies or ideas you have for creating community within one’s local Carnegie group.