Development of Communities of Practice in School Library Education

摘要

To properly prepare pre-service school librarians, school library educators in online courses must provide opportunities for collaborative engagement. This collaborative education should also recognize the pedagogical benefit of the organic formation of communities of practice that develop within areas outside of curriculum content. This examination of Communities of Practice seeks to understand the influence a change in the learning context of today's digital courses has on these communities of practice for School Librarians. Findings address how different course structures promote a sense of belonging, organized along Wenger's (1998) three modes of belonging: Engagement, Alignment, and Imagination. How these modes of belonging facilitate the development of a community of practice among students in an online, introductory school library course is also explored. The role of LIS educators in developing collaborative practices in their students is discussed, especially for students studying in an online environment.