Abstract: This presentation is a descriptive study about the positive impact of communities of practice groups during the TESOL 2021 Conference. Findings focus on teacher’s challenges, the benefits of these communities, and best practices for creating future community of practices for teachers around West Africa so that they can develop teaching skills and receive professional development. Link of the West Africa TESOL Conference recording in the Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvoV33di4RDoQgKny44FkgA It was a great event to interact and share our passion as English practitioners. Mine is https://youtu.be/O15Lw0FiIc4 Thanks.

1. CULTIVATING COMMUNITIES of
PRACTICE to SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT in TESOL
Saman Ange-Michel Gougou
Côte d’Ivoire
West Africa TESOL Conference / September 2021

2. Outline
Introduction
I. TEACHING CHALLENGES
II. COMMUNITIES of PRACTICE for TEACHERS
III. REFLECTION on LINCS
Conclusion
Bibliography
2

3. To enhance teachers and educators’ skills by cultivating communities
of practice.
3
Objective:

4. Introduction
Context
• Digital revolution and societal disruption (Riel & Polin, 2001)
• Diversity of teaching approach
• Transformative teaching and learning approach in the 21st century
4

5. Theorical background: Virtual ethnography (Hine, 2000)
Participants: 9 TESOL attendees from the International
TESOL Virtual Convention 2021
Analysis Methods: Conversation analysis (Sacks, 1992: 339)
5
Study

6. I. TEACHING CHALLENGES
• Teaching approach
• Class size
• Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Integration
• Multilingualism
• Lack of resources
• Lack of opportunities of practice
6

7. • “The curricula are not adequate to today’s realities.”
• “Not teaching listening / speaking.”
• “Lack of time for planning (overloaded hours)”
• “Respecting expectations from school administrations. ”
Consequences: Low learning achievement and teaching effectiveness.
TEACHING APPROACH
7

8. • “Large classes result in a lack of
motivation and confidence to speak.”
• “Large class mean less opportunities
for interactive activities.”
• “A lot of paperwork”
• “Overcrowded classes”
Consequences: Very low participative
and communicative learning.
8
CLASS SIZE
Source: https://www.lsi-africa.com/fr/actualite-
africaine/guinee-equatoriale-education-coronavirus-.html

9. • “Making all students use new technology in
the classroom. Making the schools
administration buy in to using tech tools at
school and in class .”
• “Network problem and timing .”
• “Lack of ICT application in class
management.”
Consequences: Low application of ICT
activities to enhance learners’ proficiency and
teacher practices.
INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) INTEGRATION
9
Source: https://d7ieeqxtzpkza.cloudfront.net/wp-
content/uploads/2016/06/tic.jpg

10. Mother tongue interference :“Over-use of
native language (mother tongue) in the
classroom”
Students’ attitudes: “Not practicing English.”
Consequences: Learners lack confidence to
use English language daily.
“l'm obligated to speak both French and
English while teaching for my students have
poor vocabulary in English. As consequences
their proficiency in English decreases, hence
weak performance at school.”
MULTILINGUALISM
10
Source: https://1specialplace.com/2018/02/28/raising-a-
child-in-a-multilingual-environment/

11. • “Lack of teaching materials”
• “Lack of resources, time, and opportunities for curriculum design.”
• “Unable to make the photocopies of the students' books.”
Consequences: Limited materials result in limited teaching
effectiveness and learner motivation.
LACK of RESOURCES
11

12. • “Collaboration between English teachers.”
• “Lack of training for teachers.”
Consequences:
Limited teachers training and collaboration negatively impact
the effectiveness of English teaching.
LACK of OPPORTUNITIES of PRACTICE
12

13. • Theory
• 3 elements of CoP
• Impact
II. COMMUNITIES of PRACTICE for TEACHERS
13

14. “A sociocultural perspective arguing that people construct and
develop their identities and understanding through their active
participation and engagement with others in cultural practices
that are situated in a particular social communities, such as in a
teacher education .“ (Wenger, 1998)
THEORY
14

15. • Learning is social and comes largely from our experience of
participating in daily life.
• It is a process of engagement in a community of practice.
THEORY
15

16. • The domain: defines the issues
• The community: people who care
about the domain
• The practice: shared ideas, tools,
information, goals
3 ELEMENTS of CoP
Source: https://stangarfield.medium.com/what-are-the-most-important-
elements-of-a-community-48890bce033c
16

17. How can communities of practice help to overcome
all of these teaching challenges?
Source: https://catlintucker.com/2018/10/communities-of-practice/
17

18. In a community of practice, there are many benefits such as:
• Getting support network from members.
• Improving professional development.
• Sharing knowledge and building better practice.
• Reusing information.
• Learning from previous mistakes.
IMPACT
18

19. • LINCS (Literacy Information & Communication System)
• Cultivating your CoP
19
III. REFLECTIONS on LINCS

20. • Community of practice (CoP) for adult education practitioners,
• Professional learning space providing high-quality, evidence-
based learning opportunities to adult students,
• Access to professional development materials,
• Support from experts and peers, collaboration, networking,
participation in special events.
LINCS (LITERACY INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION SYSTEM)
20

21. Source: https://lincs.ed.gov/ 21

22. Domain of knowledge
• What do we want to learn?
• What topics and issues do we really care about?
• How is this community connected to the parent organization?
CULTIVATING YOUR CoP
Adapted from Wegner, McDermott, & Synder (2002) in NESA WTI January 2019
22

23. Domain of knowledge
• What is in it for us?
• Are we ready to take leadership in promoting and developing
our domain?
• What kind of influence do we want to have?
23
Adapted from Wegner, McDermott, & Synder (2002) in NESA WTI January 2019
CULTIVATING YOUR CoP

24. Community
• Who can be a member?
• What roles do members play?
• How often does the community meet?
• How do members connect?
24
Adapted from Wegner, McDermott, & Synder (2002) in NESA WTI January 2019
CULTIVATING YOUR CoP

25. Community
• How are new members introduced to the community?
• How do members exit the community?
• What kind of work will generate energy and build trust?
• How can the community balance the needs of various members?
• How will members deal with conflict?
25
Adapted from Wegner, McDermott, & Synder (2002) in NESA WTI January 2019
CULTIVATING YOUR CoP

26. Practice
• What knowledge will members develop, share, investigate,
document, etc.?
• What kinds of learning activities will the community undertake?
• How will the community’s knowledge repository be organized to
reflect the community’s unique contribution?
26
Adapted from Wegner, McDermott, & Synder (2002) in NESA WTI January 2019
CULTIVATING YOUR CoP

27. Practice
• How will the community access its knowledge repository?
• What projects will the community undertake?
• Where will the community find sources of knowledge and
benchmarks outside of the community?
27
Adapted from Wegner, McDermott, & Synder (2002) in NESA WTI January 2019
CULTIVATING YOUR CoP

28. Conclusion
TESOL teaching challenges:
Teaching approach -Environment-Resources & opportunities of practice.
Communities of practice:
Learning is social, and comes largely from our experience of
participating and sharing in daily life (e.g. domain, community, practice).
Cultivating a CoP
• LINCS Community (Literacy Information and Communication System)
• Face to face or online teacher community approach.
28

29. CALL to ACTION
• Build a community of practice with your peers
• Create a communitie of practice with your students.
29

30. • Garfield, S. (2017). Knowledge
Management, https://sites.google.com/site/stangarfield/
• Hine, C. (2000). Virtual Ethnography, SAGE Publications,
https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/virtual-ethnography/book207267
• Killion, J. (2019). Community of Practice, NESA Winter Training Institute, American
International School Chennai, January 25-26,
https://www.nesacenter.org/uploaded/conferences/WTI/2019/Handouts/Joellen_
Killion-Community-of-Practice-Handout.pdf
• LINCS Home page, https://lincs.ed.gov/
• Riel, M., & Polin, L. (2001). Communities as places where learning occurs.
In Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268225530_Communities_as_Places_
Where_Learning_Occurs
Bibliography
30

31. • Sacks, (1992: 339) in Bloor, M. & Wood, F. (2006). Conversation analysis.
In Keywords in qualitative methods (39-43). SAGE Publications Ltd,
https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781849209403
• Seavey T. and Tucker C. ( 2018). Cultivating Communities of Practice,
https://catlintucker.com/2018/10/communities-of-practice/
• Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems
thinker, 9(5), (2-3),
https://www.academia.edu/download/56672918/Learningasasocialsystem.pdf
Online Teaching resources
• https://americanenglish.state.gov
• https://padlet.com/mbtamb/tesol2020
Bibliography
31

32. Question?
Please ask:
Please reach out: michelgougou1@gmail.com