Community of Practice: Pedagogical Strategies for Linking Communities of Practice to the Classroom

Abstract

As learning and research into technology education has developed, it has been recognized that providing opportunities for authentic-based learning provides students with real world learning experiences. One way to provide this authentic context is by accessing relevant communities of practice representatives in the technology classroom as this provides opportunities for deeply contextualized learning to develop. But how do teachers actually respond to this demand? From a pedagogical standpoint, what does it take for technology teachers to organize a meaningful “visit” and then turn the experience into some form of technological practice? This chapter reviews two mentoring models that create access for students to authentic learning experiences and suggestions of the pedagogy that might support these ventures. This chapter then explores the pedagogical strategies that a group of New Zealand teachers used to link communities of practice to the classroom.