Creating Communities of Practice: A New Culture of Professional Development
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Presentation from the Entrepreneurial Librarian Conference, October 17, 2014. Wake Forest University. Amanda Binder, UNC Charlotte and Lareese Hall, MIT libraries.
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Creating Communities of Practice: A New Culture of Professional Development
- 1. creating communities of practice A new culture of professional development Amanda Binder University of North Carolina Charlotte + Lareese Hall Massachusetts Institute of Technology entrelib october 2014 wake forest university
- 2. who are we?
- 4. this is an experiment.
- 5. what is professional development?
- 6. how do we define it for ourselves, our libraries, and the library profession?
- 7. “The phrase “professional development” is used liberally by librarians. It’s used so liberally and in so many different contexts that I’m not really sure just what it is anymore.” Cheryl LaGuardia, Library Journal
- 8. UNC Charlotte (UNCC) 1 1000 acre wooded campus. 75 buildings. 8 miles from uptown Charlotte. ● 7 Colleges Arts + Architecture, Business, Computing and Informatics, Education, Engineering, Health and Human Services, and Liberal Arts & Sciences ● Programs 80 Bachelor's degree programs 64 Master's degree programs 21 Doctoral degree programs ● Total enrollment Approximately 27,320
- 9. UNCC Atkins Library Mission The J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina Charlotte advances intellectual discovery by connecting people with knowledge. ● Library faculty 31 ● Library staff 48 ● Library Departments 7 ● Library Committees 4 o Committee on Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion (CARP) o Library Review Committee o Departmental Review Committee o Professional Activities Committee (PAC)
- 10. “The Professional Activities Committee (PAC) shall promote the continuing education and professional growth of the Library Faculty. The Committee shall develop appropriate courses, workshops and lectures… It shall also cooperate with faculty and administrative bodies concerned with university staff development.”
- 11. library research committees academic writing group peer mentoring group professional advancement group research work group tenure support group communities of practice researching funding group
- 12. A community of practice (CoP) is… a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession….It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally (Lave & Wenger 1991). Wikipedia, “Community of Practice” We love wikipedia.
- 13. PAC Communities of Practice (CoP)
- 14. presentations professional writing grant writing
- 15. benefits
- 16. challenges
- 17. the business of librarianship
- 18. individual
- 19. institutional
- 20. professional
- 21. the past + the present
- 22. the future
- 23. thank you.
- 24. questions? bibliography slides Amanda Binder - abinder3@uncc.edu Lareese Hall - lareese@mit.edu
Notas del editor
- Amanda Good morning. Today we’ll be talking about the communities of practice that we developed at UNC Charlotte and what led to that development. We’ll also discuss the theory behind communities of practice and how it and other models have been applied in academic library settings to create a particular kind of culture of professional development. While using this model may not be new to libraries, exploring this practice has led us to some interesting discussions and questions about the definition of professional development and how our approach to supporting it impacts not only individual librarians, but also our institutions, and the profession. we’re not trying to be original
- eese first. forward to image slide while we talk. Lareese and Amanda both talk Lareese - I have been an "official" librarian for over five years. Prior to entering the profession, I worked in non-profits managing people and projects and ideas. I approach librarianship from the perspective of always improving - not simply relying on the way things have worked but on what the future may hold. And I look outside of the profession for inspiration and ideas. I am currently the Architecture and Art Librarian at MIT but prior to that I worked as the Art and Architecture librarian (see, the disciplines switched places) at UNCC - until March of this year. That is where I met Amanda and where we started bouncing ideas off of one another. Our work is a collaboration and a conversation - not a statement. That is how we have approached this presentation. I think of librarianship as a profession full of promise - one that has great potential to be experimental and revolutionary and that requires people who work in it to be unafraid of change, curious, and forward thinking, always. Introducing ourselves - not the bio a small part of this is about what we did but the story and our thinking is a bigger part of this story and is harder to define and describe - which is precisely why it’s important why we do it. slide - ideas on ideas on ideas. wait, what are we talking about? an image that is out of focus or is in pieces and then slowly construct it. collaboration is fun. because our work/collaboration is a conversation, not a statement. Amanda - I am one of the social sciences librarians at UNC Charlotte. I started my library career at a small, public liberal arts university with a library faculty of 7 or 8 people. There was a lot of collaboration on research and practice because we were a small institution and the close proximity of our offices and just a desire to collaborate worked well. When I started at UNC Charlotte in 2012 I found myself in a much larger library, and I was trying to find ways that library faculty collaborated and learned about each other’s research interests… and what I found was that there was not really a space for these discussions across departments. Lareese and I started around the same time and our discussions led to us both wanting to create such a space. Class on participatory culture and social action informed my approach to professional development. Mention how Lareese and I approach things differently (big picture vs. problem in front of you) citation: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54459164@N00/8122512655/in/photolist-771FvQ-9MnYA3-hDhv7w-dnL12D-8hunKF-aEdBq3-71UThw-9EAatJ-bq7Jgh-bD2EE4-8PHxE7-5kARMB-gG5tkQ-mZjRpD-5BqqDK-5S8Eqr-65w7rq-65SbM4-8vLf9G-5TpzmF-5TtSdN-a8x4P6-3Cxme-gQZzM-fvBpia-p66pVN-5BCNBF-opDtnP-5Sn2ay-5TtQxN-bD2ETk-5Lkt8U-5WwcT2-8H21CT-5BfFpD-5TeByX-jeSU5f-995QL6-9mL2nT-65WB7d-5STkC1-65SoBF-5STmbw-nshCP9-7HYgQh-8wEEUP-bpRAPU-i76S3E-8aKSMs-67J8tF
- Lareese - From Forbes article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/brettnelson/2012/06/05/the-real-definition-of-entrepreneur-and-why-it-matters/): An entrepreneur is “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.” How does that translate to libraries? In our meetings and conversations Amanda and I frequently identified needs, built structures to support them, and watched them fail - all within the comfort of our offices. The difficulty with entrepreneurship in librarianship is there is little space built into the profession for the kinds of experimentation - and failure - that encourages true innovation. One thing we did identify - the reality that any sort of successful endeavor relies on an engaged team. Entrepreneurship can transform libraries - but encouraging risk and experimentation have to be a part of the equation. This can happen - but it will not happen by tweaking existing structures - although things will always need to be tweaked. We were interested in encouraging the kind of exchange and dialogue that we enjoyed - some space in obviously busy schedules - to actually dream about impossible futures. But how to do this in a way that gives other colleagues a platform for failure that doesn't feel like failure. Some people are simply not comfortable out in the wilds alone. We wanted to encourage a non-hierachical model for "success" as a librarian. We wanted to be transformative - however that manifested itself. We wanted the process to be iterative, for each iteration to be better than the last. We, gasp, didn't build assessment into the equation initially. We wanted to demonstrate that having an idea and building on that idea collaboratively can be both inspirational and aspirational. And it might fail. We wanted to show that too. This kind of thinking is important to manage - ways to change our profession, our organizations, ourselves. Define. Invest. Build. Repeat. you see some variation on those terms in a variety of literature about start ups and other entrepreurial endeavors. It is reminiscent of what we tell our users - find, organize, use, repeat. Applying this kind of rigourous thinking to our WORK not just our resources is what we are discussing here. ----------- RANDOM NOTES this is a case study for what we are talking about. etc… place in order story - storytelling Make this a story about our process of creating the groups - telling a story contextualize entrepreneurship. entrepreneurship as we define it in the library profession. transforming business, culture and it can transform libraries. Starting a conversation - not about the end product. How did we get to this point? We’re a different animal all together. Proposing a way to restructure librarianship from the inside. Why can’t we create a new model? THe good thing about it not being visiible is that failure doesn’t hurt you. No one will know if you don’t succeed, but it allows you to fail frequently and publicly, but it allows you to create new things that create value. Not a hierarchical model of success. we know we’re not original - we’re not trying to be. we want to be transformative, however that manifests itself. The idea of being an entrepreneur is failing and failing often and we’re not originally . The whole process is an iterative one, and we’re being entrepreneurial and aspirational thinking about ways our own development as professionals can change our institutions, our profession, and us as individuals.
- Lareese - And so we start with professional development. That term is tossed around frequently but means different things to each person saying and hearing it. To be clear, we define it literally - the development of the profession. That the ultimate goal of our growth within the context of our daily jobs, our aspirations for our futures, and even things we do outside of traditional thinking about libraries, can and should contribute to the profession. It never fails that whenever I tell someone I meet that I am a librarian, they get both a surprised and pleased look on their faces. They have an image of what a librarian is - even if librarians seem to struggle with definitions. I always approach my work with a beginner's mind (or i try to) - to be surprised by things, to not be afraid to try things, to experiment and fail. Nothing is more depressing than a librarian who has given up - and we all know at least one. I want to have a surprised and pleased look on my face at some point in every day. I have been a "general faculty" librarian, a faculty librarian, and a staff librarian. Every library I've worked in has provided some form of professional development funding - and all in the service of a review process (sometimes clearly articulated and sometimes not) that is set up to move me forward in my organization. I've attended leadership institutes that taught me a great deal about emotional intelligence and clearly identifying a path for my trajectory in the profession. I am an African American woman and an art librarian - a hot commodity, no doubt - but rarely has anyone actually engaged in conversation with me about the future of the Profession and my place in it (regardless of where I land in an institutional pecking order). I am not now, nor have I ever been interested in writing articles for or speaking only to the profession - a shortcoming on my part because I realize that if I see myself as an outsider within the profession, it is sometimes good to be vocal about precisely why I want to stay outside. So here I am. Here we are. And, as Amanda said, we are two different people with different ideas about our own development and the development of the profession. This is a conversation, as I said, an experiment. -------------------------- How did we get to this point? Contextualizing it. It’s because we copied a model from higher education? FIND OUT. Same expectations. PD as it applies to the organization, traditionally, and what it could be - the individual can still be supported but in a collective and strategic collaboration. PD as it applies to the profession - what does it mean for the profession? ? Another slide? Why can’t we create our own model. What we are proposing a way to restructure librarianship from the inside. a start up. a think tank. PAC is a test for a think tank. Bell labs think tanks depends. tends to focus on the individual. what does it mean for the profession?
- Lareese - The "It" here refers, again, to professional development - the development of the profession. Although our focus here is on academic libraries, what we suggesting applies across the profession. Within academic institutions, libraries are truly independent entities. this is what shapes our approach to the CoP creation. This presentation uses the CoPs to explore professional development. Let’s focuse on that - simply. PD as it applies to the individual, traditionally tends to focus on the individual. Professional development for librarians often relies on individual engagement and recognition as a measure of success. Amanda - this is the infrastructure for thinking about professional development… historical precedents (someone) To reconsider and restructure this thinking, librarians must consider creative professional practice with models of engagement demonstrated across multiple disciplines and platforms. Identifying new approaches to the profession allows librarians to reconsider growth within scholarly, personal, and institutional constructs. How are libraries creating cultures of professional development that support personal, academic, and institutional growth? Literature review Current models of PD support: money, time, opportunities (workshops and conferences), funding for professional association membership, etc. importance of analysis in an academic or research library setting (next slides)
- Amanda - As I was looking through the literature on professional development in libraries I stumbled upon this 2-piece work by Cheryl LaGuardia who writes an opinion column for Library Journal and it really resonated with me. The piece was called “Professional Development: What’s It to You?” If we cannot define it then we perhaps risk not achieving it. And it made me think that our definition of it would certainly determine the outcomes. So we thought it would be appropriate and necessary to really think about what it means. Professional Development isn’t just about completing a list of tasks. It requires both intense focus and stepping back to look around. It can be collaborative and experimental and iterative. It also isn’t limited by the parameters of an assignment or task. It is cumulative and ongoing.
- Lareese
- lareese comment on the structure of the committees and how none focus on the profession the intention of our project differs from other projects that led to the development of CoPs and like-groups check numbers
- AManda - Most of the librarians at UNC Charlotte have non-tenure faculty status and as such we have individual budgets for professional development and expectations to contribute in some way to the profession through writing, presenting, or other projects. Professional Activities Committee, to make professional development a grassroots and collaborative activity. When I started working at UNC Charlotte I joined the PAC and was appointed the chair of the committee. In the past, the committee had taken on various different roles within the library, but more recently they had offered brown-bag discussions and poster sessions where people could show what they had presented or worked on. In my first year as chair, I organized several workshops and panel discussions that I thought supported professional development, and I opened them up to staff. Lareese and I also started to work on a professional development blog that would post opportunities for professional development as well as highlight the professional work of library faculty. The panels were well attended but I realized that although these events created a space for discussion, it was a limited space, and nothing still existed for ongoing discussions and collaboration. We were still creating things for people to consume… rather than creating an actual living space for collaboration. And that is often how people approach professional development. You attend workshops, seminars, etc. for learning and inspiration but the process of creating often happens alone. Amanda - charge of the committee Maybe mention how PAC functioned before this (before you became head of it) and how being new to the organization maybe helped you see the need for the approach you have taken as the lead?
- Amanda - Through several conversations with Lareese, we discussed how some of the teaching faculty in our liaison departments worked and collaborated together, through writing groups, for example. We then did some research to see if any libraries were employing these practices to support professional development, and we discovered that libraries have tried various different types of groups to collaborate and offer support. These are the names of some of the groups that have been developed to support professional development in libraries. Some focus on mentoring, or very specific areas (funding, writing) while others are more inclusive (CoPs). Referred to in May 2014 C&RL article on “Fostering Research and Publication in Academic Libraries” (Sassen and Wahl at University of North Texas Libraries) we chose to investigate and expand upon what a community of practice can be or maybe how it could operate in an academic library
- Based on the anthropological concept of “communities of practice,” PAC committee members developed three “learning communities” to rethink and expand the definition of support for professional development and engagement. After reviewing the literature and discussing other professional development models - as Amanda mentionedThis thinking was grounded in models employed in academic, nonprofit, and business environments studies of other libraries that have done a community of practice - literature review that’s the case for any group professional activity in a library - but makes this different is that we are actually trying to shape the conversation in such a way that we reshape the profession. all of the challenges are actually opportunities for change and growth.
- Lareese presentations writing (mostly professional, not all) grant writing many people in more than one. Not all library faculty. Based on the anthropological concept of “communities of practice,” the committee developed three “learning communities” (later renamed “communities of practice”) to rethink and expand the definition of support for professional development and engagement. This thinking was grounded in models employed in academic, nonprofit, and business environments studies of other libraries that have done a community of practice - literature review that’s the case for any group professional activity in a library - but makes this different is that we are actually trying to shape the conversation in such a way that we reshape the profession. all of the challenges are actually opportunities for change and growth.
- Lareese Delete this slide. Will mention three groups when I introduce the COPs. picture of us working in writing group - one of the writing sessions
- Amanda how to convey to people participating the importance of the group opportunities mentorship new faculty and faculty/staff retention and promotion interdepartmental communication intradepartmental communication internal collaboration builds community face-to-face communication creating a space for conversations that are not already happening through other meetings, groups tio
- Amanda challenges? a big challenge is the lack of encouragement for risky and weird ideas in the profession. People aren’t willing to be seen as weirdos. or quirky. there’s one quirky person in the organization - to its detriment. in keeping this going and how they evolve and how do you respond to that. the reason people only think of themselves is because of how its been set up - and how that impacts the profession. it’s still about the “me” not about being invested in an institution. Building a career doesn’t have to do with the institution, necessarily. Problems in higher education and contemporary culture. Trying to cultivate a different kind of culture. From a focus on helping the individual to helping everyone. Some people only think to attend if they have something to talk about… something they need help with. The purpose of attending should also be to help others. Getting more experienced/established librarians to participate. How to format the meetings. Open discussion? Guest speakers? Themed discussions surrounding a reading? Also, what happens when there is a new leader of the Committee?
- Lareese a model for professional development and how it impacts the individual, institutional, and profession. and how this is entrepreneurial.
- Amanda What challenges do librarians face in finding broader support for professional development? I think we assume that professional development will benefit the profession but we do sometimes get caught up in what it means for the individual and we can lose meaning in the phrase. one of the challenges is how institutions narrowly define support for PD (ex. in terms of money, time, training). Everything is for the individual. challenge in how institutions narrowly define PD (forms of writing), etc.
- Amanda The creation of communities of practice proposes a model for professional development that reconsiders personal and institutional growth through community building.
- Amanda Create an evolving definition of professional development that considers scholarly, personal, institutional, and professional growth.
- lareese - how these feed into traditional structures for organizing/hierarchies how some people flourish in something more creative (that still gets at recognition and professional engagement Past - how professional development for academic librarians has historically has been structured based on traditional organizational structures and ?? higher education. Present - there is a “movement”?? afoot that encourages creativity and curiosity in organizations - particularly in the business world - and how that is filtering into the ways organizations support the professional growth of their employees. (This is a way to seed the conversation - later) about start up culture. this project. we are starting a conversation not about the end product. we have a lot of questions and are challenging things - the way pro dev has been done and has been approached. we are building this conversation as a question, not an answer. and its one answer and the beginning of getting to an answer. it can only go so far without making bigger changes in the profession. the attitude of the way we do things affects their willingness to participate. there are no “points” or outward benefits to participating.
- Lareese - it is impossible to predict the future. professional organizations work for some people - but they tend to reinforce traditional structures of recognition and promotion (which, again, support an existing structure in higher education in particular). we tend to ignore what is right outside our computer screen - our colleagues (not just as collaborators on projects but as instigators, supporters, sounding boards. does not rest with professional organizations. can be “home grown” a real time “social network” how other organizations have done it and are thinking about it. CoP at MIT - a flexible way of organizing people across disciplines. the future of librarianship from the perspective of growth and learning as collaborative, active, and engaged activities that foster community and redefine the profession start up culture