This document discusses communities of practice (CoPs) and how teachers can become non-secret agents of change through CoPs. It explores how teachers often want to improve their surroundings but feel limitations in their roles, priorities, and potential for change. However, by joining CoPs, teachers can reflect on issues, devise practical ways to leave a legacy, and identify topics they can contribute to based on their strengths. The document also examines how teachers can choose to be more active "movers and shakers" by making changes happen within their jobs and viewing things with a fresh perspective. Ultimately, CoPs provide opportunities for teachers to do small parts that can make a big difference by connecting to colleagues and finding ways to address personal priorities

1. CoPs: 00-Teachers,
Non-Secret Agents of Change
A session on the power of the
passion for what we do!!
Andrés Ramos

2. Our Hopes And Dreams v. Our “World”
No matter how pragmatic we are:
• We take initiative.
• We want to improve our surroundings.
• We long for leaving a legacy.
What prevents us from going further is:
• Our personal and professional priorities.
• Our understanding of social roles.
• Our perceived potential to trigger change.

3. During this time together, we intend to:
• Trigger interest in, further study of,
involvement in, and engagement with CoPs
• Reflect on and discovering issues suitable for
action within CoPs
• Devise practical ways to leave our legacy in
Academia and Society.
Conference Aims
… which we’ll achieve by:
• Turning our legitimate personal concerns
about contributing to change in our
surroundings into discussion.
• Identifying topics for contributions from our
professional strengths and expertise.
• Proposing tips and making decisions for
participation.

4. Communities of practice (CoPs), a.k.a. professional
associations, trade organizations, an online groups, or
other institutional bodies, and are defined as “[…]
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.”
“Just Me” or a Teacher + a Community
Let’s be honest:
“I can barely catch up. I cannot drive change on my own.” Nevertheless,
this an appeal to explore where and how our personal and professional
activity as well as our desire to make a contribution reaching far and
beyond our immediate reality intersect in the shape of:
Wenger-Trayner, 1998
Join #CoPsVT15:
• “Nice, I’m at the convention. Do I have to do more?”
• Rather than ‘more’, is ‘more… efficiently’.
• How and why? Let’s start by ourselves and our views.

5. Join #CoPsVT15:
• “Nice, I’m at the convention. Do I have to do more?”
• Rather than ‘more’, is ‘more… efficiently’.
• How and why? Let’s start by ourselves and our views.

6. Letting / Seeing Things Happen
v. Making Things Happen
Fact check:
I let them happen.
I see them happen.
I make them happen.
“That’s just the
way it is”.
It’s not my job”.
“Why not / What
if…?”
Structuralism
Functionalism
Agency
How things happen: What I say: Worldview:
All structures
need change
to avoid
obsolescence.
Your role may
disappear if
you don’t
stretch out.
Pick your
change.
Wright Mills, 1956; Almond & Powell, 1966; Webber, 1922 [1978]; Parsons, 1935 [1991]

7. Join #CoPsVT15:
• To what extent do I let things happen, see things happen, or
make things happen?
• Do I want to make more things happen – or at least to
contribute to make them happen?
• How much of a mover, shaker, and game changer do I
choose to be?
“Nice, but what does ELT have to do with being a game
changer?”
Letting / Seeing Things Happen
v. Making Things Happen

8. Join #CoPsVT15:
• To what extent do I let things happen, see things happen, or
make things happen?
• Do I want to make more things happen – or at least to
contribute to make them happen?
• How much of a mover, shaker, and game changer do I
choose to be?
“Nice, but what does ELT have to do with being a game
changer?”

9. Different Venezuelan CoPs were polled in an attempt to
understand their action. The aspects inquired on were:
• Networking
• Grassroots
• Advocacy
In a three-dimensional approach to synergistic contributions:
• Cooperation among colleagues
• Bottom-top dynamics for volunteerism
• Initiatives towards non-government organizations
(NGOs) and governmental agencies.
The results at a glance, next!
CoPs in Venezuela
Ramos, 2014

10. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

11. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

12. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

13. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

14. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

15. Society Meets Education
Agency Social Models:
I make changes with help from
others.
There’s my society and there’s
how I act upon it.
Constructivism:
I construct knowledge with help
from others.
There’s what exists, and there’s
how I perceive it (construct it).
There’s a multiplying effect in our action among colleagues,
as the way how our peers’ contributions also benefit us and
help us all develop professionally.
Vygotky, 1926 [1987]; Dewey, 1938

16. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

17. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

19. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

20. Ramos, 2014
CoPs in Venezuela

21. Join #CoPsVT15:
• What have colleagues done for me that has helped me?
• What have I done for peers that has helped them?
• What things have I changed in my job because I’ve
chosen to view them with a fresh set of eyes?
Becoming an Agent
There’s a multiplying effect in our action among colleagues,
as the way how our peers’ contributions also benefit us and
help us all develop professionally.

22. Join #CoPsVT15:
• What have colleagues done for me that has helped me?
• What have I done for peers that has helped them?
• What things have I changed in my job because I’ve
chosen to view them with a fresh set of eyes?

23. Your choice:
• Identify a relevant CoP.
• Inquire on it.
• Join it.
Living with a CoP:
Your reason:
• Set priorities
• Set aside reasonable time.
• Check your skills set.
Your passion:
• Find a special interest.
• Engage in it.
• Enjoy.
Your reward:
• Expanding network.
• Peers to resort to.
• Development & credibility.

24. “That’s just the way it is”, “It’s not my job”, “Nothing’s gonna
change”…no longer me-or-them dilemmas ; it’s “us”. We can address
personal priorities while improving what really matters around us.
Each one of us has the potential to be a mover, shaker, and game
changer, as we engage in communities of practice (or CoPs), such as
VenTESOL. We’ve looked into them, their supporting concepts,
options and opportunities as a time and space where doing an
apparently small part, originating in our educational framework of
reference and daily endeavors, can mean a world of difference to
many colleagues, students, and fellow citizens. Yes, our approaches,
practices, and even schedule priorities of choice can conveniently and
successfully step into CoPs’ common ground for action. Today, we’ve
gained fresh perspectives on realistic ways to become a 00-Teacher,
non-secret agent of change!
Yes, we are CoPs,
Non-Secret Agents of Change!!

25. AndrsRamos
AndresRamosVE

26. CoPs: 00-Teachers,
Non-Secret Agents of Change
A session on the power of the
passion for what we do!!
Andrés Ramos