Communities of practice in supporting collective sense-making for culturally nourishing schooling

Abstract

This paper discusses the Culturally Nourishing Schooling Project (CNS) professional learning conversations (PLCs), which aim to support educators¹ in building collective thinking that promotes reform-minded teaching. Across one school year, educators at eight schools in the project voluntarily took part in a series of six or more PLCs with Aboriginal cultural mentors, Aboriginal staff, and project researchers to discuss contemporary scholarship around what it means to be a culturally responsive teacher. Using an established Communities of Practice framework, our qualitative analysis of these conversations illustrates the power of relationality in fostering collective sociopolitical awareness as a strategy to improve the educational experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.