Nurse education is continually adapting to meet the requirements of employers to develop increasingly autonomous practitioners who can provide evidence-based, high quality care. The work-based project examines the support available to mentors, known as practice teachers, in their role as assessors of nursing students in higher level practice. A qualitative study: the project employs a grounded theory approach to the analysis of data elicited from practice teachers and academics. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups alongside regular reviews of the literature are utilised to elicit data, and via an inductive process, categories emerging from the analysis are constructed to present new insights and understanding of the subject under scrutiny. Whilst it is clear that a degree of support is available to practice teachers in response to a rudimentary understanding of their role in higher level practice, it is also clear that this support is limited by a number of factors. The product of practice assessment for the employer is a newly-qualified practitioner who is able to carry out a role based on a specified set of competencies. For the educator, whether within the higher education institution or in practice, the process of education is ongoing; producing a practitioner with the capability to utilise higher level practice in ever-changing contexts and situations. Support for the practice teacher can only be enhanced if recognition of the role is promoted. This requires a shared understanding of the importance of developing both competence and capability for higher level practice. Only then will the vital contribution made by the practice teacher in the student’s development be understood by those supporting them. Converging rather than competing philosophies of training for competence and educating for capability are necessary to maintain the status and commitment of the practice teacher and consequently the rigour required of assessment in practice.

A presente tese tem como objetivo conhecer o perfil dos participantes de uma comunidade de prática na perspectiva da educação inclusiva e compreender os discursos e as práticas que podem ser tecidas por eles. Esta investigação surge ao observar que o cenário educacional brasileiro sofreu recentes modificações ao implementar a Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva, o qual passou a situar alunos com deficiência também como público a ser abarcado pelo sistema regular de ensino. Dessa forma, tornou-se imperativo que os professores atuantes na rede educacional sejam capazes de contemplar a diversidade humana em suas práticas pedagógicas. Para que isso ocorra, a legislação vigente prevê a oferta de cursos de formação que capacitem os docentes frente à temática inclusiva. No entanto, ao observar-se a latente impossibilidade de as ações formais atenderem as demandas geradas por todo um coletivo de professores oriundos de diferentes regiões do país, passou-se a buscar alternativas que pudessem apoiar a construção de conhecimentos de tais docentes. Nessa procura, encontrou-se nas comunidades virtuais de prática um importante conceito a ser investigado. Baseadas em ferramentas originadas sob a lógica da participação e colaboração geradas a partir da efetivação da WEB 2.0, tais comunidades promovem a reunião virtual de pessoas que compartilham interesses mútuos, podendo, assim, revelar-se como um espaço que fomente a troca de recursos e experiências entre pares. Da identificação de suas potencialidades, instituiu-se a comunidade virtual de prática Inclusão na Educação - CPIE, ambiente implementado a partir da solução Ning Mode Midia 3.0, que angariou mais de 320 membros oriundos de todo o país. Os dados obtidos, observados a partir da metodologia de análise textual discursiva, demonstraram que o perfil do professor que aceita fazer parte de uma iniciativa como a que foi proposta, é aquele que já detém certos conhecimentos sobre o domínio delimitado e que, reconhecendo a sua importância, passa a buscar novas oportunidades de construir conhecimentos acerca do tema. Os resultados ainda indicam que iniciativas como a CPIE, podem adquirir uma conotação mais ligada à suplementação da formação docente, onde práticas desencadeadas a partir dos eixos de comunicação ou de resolução de problemas contribuem para que professores notadamente experientes sigam em contato, colaborando uns com os outros na busca pela construção de conhecimentos que subsidiem suas ações pedagógicas. / This thesis aims to know the profile of participants in a community of practice, in the context of inclusive education, and understand the discourses and uses that can be forged by them. This research emerged from the observation that Brazilian educational scenario has undergone recent changes to implement the National Policy for Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education, which has situated students with disabilities as a public to be placed in the regular education system. Thus, it has become imperative that teachers working in the educational network are able to contemplate human diversity in their teaching practices. For this to occur, the current legislation states the provision of training courses that enable teachers to address inclusive education topics. However, observing the potential impossibility that formal actions can meet the demands generated by the collective of teachers from different regions of the country, we have started to look for alternatives that could support the construction of knowledge for those teachers. In this search, we have found in virtual communities of practice an important concept to be investigated. Based on tools originated under the logic of participation and collaboration, arising from development of Web 2.0, these communities promote the gathering of people who share the same interests and they can act as environments that foster the exchange of resources and experiences among peers. Identifying their potential, we have developed a virtual community of practice called Inclusion in Education - SCRS, implemented with Ning Mode Media 3.0 solution, which has congregated more than 320 members from all over the country. The data obtained, evaluated under the methodology of discourse textual analysis, have shown that teachers that accept to take part in initiatives as the one we have proposed, already have some knowledge about the delimited area, recognize its importance and seek for new opportunities to build knowledge on the subject. The results also indicated that initiatives such as SCRS can act as a supplement to teacher education, where practices triggered from communication axes or problem solving contribute to keep trained and experienced teachers in contact, collaborating with each other in the quest for knowledge that can support their educational activities.

Nos travaux de recherche se proposent d’apporter de nouveaux éléments conceptuels dans la littérature du « leadership » des CdP. L’existence, la position et le rôle de « leader » seront mis en perspective par rapport aux théories existantes sur le « leadership » dans d’autres domaines (science de l’éducation notamment) et le concept de communautés de pratique. Nous proposons donc le concept de “leadership distribué” et évaluons différentes approches, notamment les routines organisationnelles susceptibles de répondre à notre question de recherche. Enfin nous discutons des implications du “leadership distribué” au travers d’une étude empirique. En conclusion, l’application du modèle de leadership distribué que nous avons proposé (et en considérant ses multiples facteurs), a mis en lumière l’importante influence des routines dans la pratique quotidienne des apprentissages en tant que levier principal dans la distribution du leadership. / This research claims that the current, literature of “Communities of Practice” is deficient concerning its key feature: leadership. We seek to expand the focus by underlining the key elements that influence the leadership practice in CoPs, and recommending a promising path for further investigation, which involves the “distributed leadership” theory. Drawing from an extended literature review on the subject of leadership in CoPs, the study proposes that predominant descriptive and conceptual perceptions of the topic should be supplemented by more field observation studies – evidence-based research - to support and validate the theoretical literature. During past three decades, several scholars have extensively studied this concept (CoPs) in a variety of disciplines. However, there have been very few studies of the influence of routines in these communities. The aim of this study is to analyze the notion of routines in CoPs, in light of the literature on distributed leadership theory. We focused on one particular feature of distributed form of leadership – the routines – and applied this element on the knowledge-based learning environment: the CoPs.

abstract: This dissertation shares findings from a yearlong qualitative case study of Young Voices Rise (YVR), a diverse spoken word poetry group in the urban Southwest. The study examined the group's characteristics and practices, adolescent members' views of their writing and themselves as writers, and changes members attributed to their experiences in YVR. Data sources included interviews with six adolescent poets and two adult teaching artists, observations of writing workshops and poetry slams, collection of group announcements through social media, and collection of poems. Sociocultural theory guided the study's design, and grounded theory was used to analyze data. This study found that YVR is a community of practice that offers multiple possibilities for engagement and fosters a safe space for storytelling. The adolescent participants have distinct writing practices and a strong sense of writing self; furthermore, they believe YVR has changed them and their writing. This study has several implications for secondary English language arts. Specifically, it recommends that teachers build safe spaces for storytelling, offer spoken word poetry as an option for exploring various topics and purposes, attend to writers' practices and preferences, encourage authentic participation and identity exploration, and support spoken word poetry school-wide. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

abstract: Learning a second language has been shown to have many benefits, but in the state of Arizona the teaching and learning of second languages has been restricted since the passing of Proposition 203. In the past few years, schools offering Dual Language Immersion programs have emerged, but their teachers do not have much experience, training or resources to teach language through content. Language immersion self- efficacy has been shown to be crucial for the teachers to be more effective in their instruction and for them to embrace the challenges they face. The purpose of this action research study was to increase Spanish immersion teachers' self-efficacy through a community of practice, in which teachers performed peer observations and offered feedback, collaboratively drew from a pool of resources that were available online for all to use, and supported each other in the areas they felt could be improved. Quantitative data included pre- and post- intervention self-efficacy surveys, as well as a retrospective survey. Qualitative data included audio recordings and field notes from the community of practice sessions, teacher observations, peer observations, and feedback meetings, as well as interviews. Results from the analysis of data showed an increase of teachers’ self-efficacy because of the close collaboration and resource sharing that took place during the implementation of the community of practice. Teachers also reported positive changes in practice due to peer observations and collegial conversations during meetings, where teachers could acknowledge their own successes and use ideas from others to improve their practice. Finally, despite all the positive outcomes from this action research study, it was evident there were some systemic issues the community of practice could not change, such as the lack of resources and appropriate curriculum for Spanish immersion teachers. Many parents and educators have agreed our students should have the opportunity of becoming bilingual to face global competition more effectively. Because of that, Spanish immersion schools have been growing in popularity in Arizona. Moreover, it has become clear that as we have more schools and teachers willing to adopt these programs, more resources must be made available to support immersion teachers and their instruction. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2016

abstract: This mixed methods action research project focused on improving external teacher evaluators’ self-efficacy for providing effective feedback during teacher evaluation conferences. More specifically, this project explored how and to what extent an intervention of a professional development model influenced external teacher evaluators’ self-efficacy for providing effective feedback during teacher evaluation conferences and how the intervention influenced external evaluators’ perception of effectiveness when providing feedback during pre- and post- evaluation conferences. Self-efficacy theory, sociocultural theory, and the community of practice framework informed the intervention. Six external teacher evaluators participated in the study from July through December of 2017. The professional development model consisted of cycles of community of practice meetings, buddy shadowing experiences, post-buddy shadowing reflective conversations, and personal reflection. Data were collected in the form of pre- and post-intervention surveys, pre- and post-intervention interviews, reflective journal entries, and Wordles. The results from this study indicated an increase in the evaluators’ self-efficacy for providing feedback during teacher evaluation conferences and an increase in perceived effectiveness. Successful experiences of providing feedback during teacher evaluation conferences, experiences of observing and listening to other evaluators, and engagement in reflective conversations influenced external evaluators’ self-efficacy for providing effective feedback during teacher evaluation conferences. The external evaluators expressed value in the professional development experience. During the intervention, evaluators gained ideas and strategies to apply in their practice and engaged in high levels of reflection. Outcomes from the research project suggest two main implications for practice: professional development in the form of social learning and reflection as a process for growth. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2018

A presente tese tem como objetivo conhecer o perfil dos participantes de uma comunidade de prática na perspectiva da educação inclusiva e compreender os discursos e as práticas que podem ser tecidas por eles. Esta investigação surge ao observar que o cenário educacional brasileiro sofreu recentes modificações ao implementar a Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva, o qual passou a situar alunos com deficiência também como público a ser abarcado pelo sistema regular de ensino. Dessa forma, tornou-se imperativo que os professores atuantes na rede educacional sejam capazes de contemplar a diversidade humana em suas práticas pedagógicas. Para que isso ocorra, a legislação vigente prevê a oferta de cursos de formação que capacitem os docentes frente à temática inclusiva. No entanto, ao observar-se a latente impossibilidade de as ações formais atenderem as demandas geradas por todo um coletivo de professores oriundos de diferentes regiões do país, passou-se a buscar alternativas que pudessem apoiar a construção de conhecimentos de tais docentes. Nessa procura, encontrou-se nas comunidades virtuais de prática um importante conceito a ser investigado. Baseadas em ferramentas originadas sob a lógica da participação e colaboração geradas a partir da efetivação da WEB 2.0, tais comunidades promovem a reunião virtual de pessoas que compartilham interesses mútuos, podendo, assim, revelar-se como um espaço que fomente a troca de recursos e experiências entre pares. Da identificação de suas potencialidades, instituiu-se a comunidade virtual de prática Inclusão na Educação - CPIE, ambiente implementado a partir da solução Ning Mode Midia 3.0, que angariou mais de 320 membros oriundos de todo o país. Os dados obtidos, observados a partir da metodologia de análise textual discursiva, demonstraram que o perfil do professor que aceita fazer parte de uma iniciativa como a que foi proposta, é aquele que já detém certos conhecimentos sobre o domínio delimitado e que, reconhecendo a sua importância, passa a buscar novas oportunidades de construir conhecimentos acerca do tema. Os resultados ainda indicam que iniciativas como a CPIE, podem adquirir uma conotação mais ligada à suplementação da formação docente, onde práticas desencadeadas a partir dos eixos de comunicação ou de resolução de problemas contribuem para que professores notadamente experientes sigam em contato, colaborando uns com os outros na busca pela construção de conhecimentos que subsidiem suas ações pedagógicas. / This thesis aims to know the profile of participants in a community of practice, in the context of inclusive education, and understand the discourses and uses that can be forged by them. This research emerged from the observation that Brazilian educational scenario has undergone recent changes to implement the National Policy for Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education, which has situated students with disabilities as a public to be placed in the regular education system. Thus, it has become imperative that teachers working in the educational network are able to contemplate human diversity in their teaching practices. For this to occur, the current legislation states the provision of training courses that enable teachers to address inclusive education topics. However, observing the potential impossibility that formal actions can meet the demands generated by the collective of teachers from different regions of the country, we have started to look for alternatives that could support the construction of knowledge for those teachers. In this search, we have found in virtual communities of practice an important concept to be investigated. Based on tools originated under the logic of participation and collaboration, arising from development of Web 2.0, these communities promote the gathering of people who share the same interests and they can act as environments that foster the exchange of resources and experiences among peers. Identifying their potential, we have developed a virtual community of practice called Inclusion in Education - SCRS, implemented with Ning Mode Media 3.0 solution, which has congregated more than 320 members from all over the country. The data obtained, evaluated under the methodology of discourse textual analysis, have shown that teachers that accept to take part in initiatives as the one we have proposed, already have some knowledge about the delimited area, recognize its importance and seek for new opportunities to build knowledge on the subject. The results also indicated that initiatives such as SCRS can act as a supplement to teacher education, where practices triggered from communication axes or problem solving contribute to keep trained and experienced teachers in contact, collaborating with each other in the quest for knowledge that can support their educational activities.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os impactos das características estruturais, na participação em comunidades virtuais internacionais de especialistas brasileiros do processo de laminação, de uma empresa siderúrgica. A pesquisa foi realizada junto a oito profissionais de laminação de diferentes usinas siderúrgicas do Brasil inseridas em comunidades de laminação internacionais da Gerdau. Visou-se identificar e descrever o entendimento dos entrevistados sobre os conceitos de comunidades de prática virtuais, seu papel na comunidade e sua dinâmica de uso, de forma a entender como a demografia, o contexto organizacional, as características de associação e o ambiente tecnológico repercutem, facilitando ou dificultando sua participação. O método adotado foi o estudo de caso qualitativo; a principal técnica para coleta de dados foram as entrevistas; para a análise dos dados coletados foi empregada a técnica de análise de conteúdo. Como resultado, identificou-se que as características estruturais de orientação nas categorias: demografia; transposição de fronteiras; grau de formalismo institucionalizado; liderança e ambiente na categoria contexto organizacional, dispersão geográfica, envolvimento de membros; experiência comunitária prévia; alfabetização dos membros nas TIC; diversidade cultural; relevância do tópico para os membros, na categoria características de associação; grau de dependência nas TIC, na categoria ambiente tecnológico são percebidas pelos especialistas quer como facilitadoras, quer como barreiras, permitindo assim ações da empresa, a fim de incrementá-las ou mitigá-las. Outras características podem não ser percebidas e, no entanto, se constituírem como base para a ocorrência da participação. / This study aims to analyze the impacts of the structural characteristics in the participation of Brazilian rolling mill experts in international virtual communities of practice of steel company. The research was conducted among eight rolling mill professionals of different steel mills in Brazil that are embedded in international rolling mill communities of Gerdau. The objective was to identify and describe the understanding of the interviewees on the concepts of virtual communities of practice, its role in the community and its dynamic use in order to understand how the demographics, the organizational context, the characteristics of association and technological environment affect facilitating or hindering their participation. The method adopted was the qualitative case study and the main technique for collecting data was conducting interviews. The data analysis has used content analysis technique. As the results it was identified that the structural characteristics of orientation in the demographics category, boundary crossing, degree of institutionalized formalism, leadership and environment in the organizational context category, geographic dispersion, members’ enrollment, members’ prior community experience, members’ ICT literacy, Cultural diversity and topic’s relevance to members in the membership characteristics category and finally, the degree of reliance on ICT in the technological environment category are perceived by the experts as facilitators or barriers, thus allowing the company to adopt actions to enhance or mitigate them, while other characteristics may not be perceived and form themselves as the basis for the occurrence of participation.

abstract: The global spread of body techniques, such as Yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Qigong, and non-competitive martial arts have been diffusing into socio-cultural spaces and institutions outside of their native contexts. Despite the ubiquity of cultural borrowing and mixing, the much needed conceptualization and theorization of cultural appropriation is nearly absent within intercultural communication studies. This ethnographic study examines one community of martial artists who practice Aikido, a martial art originating from Japan, in the United States to explore how members negotiate and appropriate its cultural elements in their practice, how the practice binds the dojo community, and how the practice cultivates an embodied dialogic practice. The study takes an ethnographic approach that uses qualitative methods (e.g. participant-observation and interviews). It is also an experiment with methodology comprised of two moment: the first taking an informative and a communicative view of ethnography, and the second, a performative approach. The ethnographic account transposes the Aikido technique - 1) attack, 2) evasion, 3) centralization, and 4) neutralization - onto the chapters as a way to co-produce the world textually rather than extract representations from it. At the dojo Shining Energy, corporeal, material and semiotic components coexist to produce both defined and latent relationalities that open fields and spaces not predetermined by meaning, law, and authority. The transmission of skill takes places through the relational openings in the rich structured environment during practice that each member helps to generate regardless of their skill level. Aikido practice cultivates a latent form of coping strategy where practitioners learn to flourish in midst of hostile situations while maintaining their own presence and identity. Practitioners persist in the practice of Aikido to submit themselves to the processes to engage their sinews, senses and neural paths to keep up with the particulars of situations so that perception, control, and action to run together like the "flash of lightening" to open up inert reality into a process. The practice of Aikido points to a space and time beyond the movement forms to intimate and reveal new ways of not only moving in the world, but also moving the world! / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2012

abstract: The general field of interest of this study was art education in the context of art museums in the United States. The vehicle of a mixed method, descriptive research design was used to investigate whether museum educator and curator participants had tendencies to use personal or communal approaches (Barrett, 2000) to teaching art interpretation to adult visitors. While the personal approach to art interpretation focused on individuals' responses to artworks, the communal approach emphasized the community of art scholars' shared understandings of artworks. Understanding the communities of practice of the participants was integral to the discovery of meaning in the study's findings. Wenger (1998) introduced the theory of community of practice to explain how individuals, who are united in a particular context, shared similar perspectives, learned socially from each other, and gained a sense of identity through their routines and interactions. The study examined how museum educators' and curators' separate communities of practice influenced their members' teaching approaches through the development of distinct teacher personae. Teacher personae reflected the educational values and priorities of museum educators' and curators' communities of practice. And, teacher personae had tendencies to adopt personal or communal approaches to art interpretation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014