A grumpy millennial

Learning communities and WIASN 

 Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

The discussion about learning in communities in our ONL 202 group has been very enriching. I have learned lots and hope to apply those reflections on my teaching practice, including the great online tools available for brainstorming and producing collaborative outputs. We actually came up with a very handy list of tips for educators who want to apply collaborative and community learning activities, so I may suggest to take a look at the work of group 3 :) 

For this blog, however, I would like to reflect on what I thought was a support online network, rather a community of practice that has helped me to understand and navigate the academic world as an early career researcher and a latina woman. I am referring to a large Facebook group, called Women in Academia Support Network (WIASN). The group, with over 10.000 members, has become a safe space for finding support to navigate tricky job-academic related situations, and for receiving well intentioned advise. It is also a learning space where I find myself reading and learning from other women's questions ad experiences, interacting and exchanging opinions and debating topics related with being a woman in academia. 

WIASN checks the list of a community of practice (Wegner, 2010). It is a social learning system, it emerged organically from the need to have a safe space to discuss academic-women related issues and challenges. It has a horizontal organisational structure around group moderators and clear rules, yet it has dynamic boundaries, the group is self regulating, members often call the attention on any rule break or the need to flexibilice rules. The group also serves as a negotiation space of identities and expectations, and encourages members to embrace their unique identities in academia. It is an space to negotiate, learn and find support around a shared identity, however diverse the group composition. Knowing that I have gained lots from being part of this community of practice, I can confirm that learning in communities is most advantageous. 

Wenger, E. (2010). Communities of practice and social learning systems: the career of a concept. In Social learning systems and communities of practice (pp. 179-198). Springer London.