Abstract
In an education system that is constantly evolving, school principals play a pivotal role, hence the importance of continuing their professional development in order to acquire the necessary competencies to perform effectively throughout their professional careers. This article examines the characteristics of a community of practice (CoP) as a professional development approach with a group of school principals (N = 10) who participated in a virtual CoP for one year. The corpus from the semi-structured interviews was analysed by considering the four components of Wenger’s (2005) social theory of learning, namely, meaning, practice, community, and identity. Our results also showed the levers of this support method during its implementation.
Highlights
This article examines the characteristics of a community of practice (CoP) as a professional development approach with a group of school principals (N = 10) who participated in a virtual CoP for one year
After one year of meeting, we examined how the participation of school principals in a virtual CoP could ensure the continuing development of the required school management competencies by analysing the main characteristics of this supervision model based on the four aspects laid forth in Wenger’s (2005) social theory of learning, namely meaning, practice, community and identity, while identifying the levers associated with the establishment of a CoP in professional development
After one year of virtual CoP sessions, when asked whether they wanted to continue for another year, seven of the 10 participants chose to do so, attesting that they had grown professionally during this first year and were looking forward to expanding their professional development the following year
Summary
With education systems constantly changing, school principals are inevitably at the heart of many reforms implemented in their institutions (Murakami, Tornsen, & Pollock, 2014; NPBEA, 2015; Pont, Nusche, & Moorman, 2008). School management has become increasingly complex, requiring that these education leaders hone their knowledge base and expand their expertise to address the challenges (Ingvarson, Anderson, Gronn, & Jackson, 2006; Mulford, 2003; Perrenoud, 2002). More than ever, school principals must possess the necessary competencies to meet the standards of quality associated with their position, considering the favourable impact principals. Bouchamma are known to have on their school’s environment (Barber, Whelan, & Clark, 2010; Bisaillon, Inchauspé, Massé, Miron, Morin, & Sauvageau, 2009; Darling-Hammond, Meyerson, LaPointe, & Orr, 2010; Pont et al, 2008; UNESCO, 2006)
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