Communities of practice as a pathway to enhance discipline-specific feedback.
Saved in:
| Title: | Communities of practice as a pathway to enhance discipline-specific feedback. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Jimerson, Jo Beth (AUTHOR), Fuentes, Sarah Quebec (AUTHOR), Bauml, Michelle (AUTHOR), Mendoza, Melissa (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Theory Into Practice. Winter2026, Vol. 65 Issue 1, p51-66. 16p. |
| Subjects: | Communities of practice, Leadership, School administrators, Partnerships in education, Educational leadership, Sensemaking theory (Communication), Shared leadership |
| Abstract: | School leaders are often tasked with supporting teachers in situations where leaders lack meaningful content or disciplinary expertise, making instructional leadership challenging. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how collaborative work, anchored in communities of practice (CoP), distributed leadership, and sensemaking theory, can contribute to leadership capacity for content- and discipline-specific feedback. Two exemplars — one in social studies and one in instruction for bilingual/multilingual students — illustrate how leaders can build leadership content knowledge (LCK) through engagement in rich meaning-making alongside teachers and content/instructional specialists. Supervisory tools and artifacts familiar to the context of practice serve as boundary objects as collaborative teams dialogue to heighten awareness and deepen understanding of content- and discipline-specific pedagogies. This work demonstrates that school leaders need not be expert in every area but can develop the capacity needed to support teachers across a range of content areas and disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Theory Into Practice is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | School leaders are often tasked with supporting teachers in situations where leaders lack meaningful content or disciplinary expertise, making instructional leadership challenging. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how collaborative work, anchored in communities of practice (CoP), distributed leadership, and sensemaking theory, can contribute to leadership capacity for content- and discipline-specific feedback. Two exemplars — one in social studies and one in instruction for bilingual/multilingual students — illustrate how leaders can build leadership content knowledge (LCK) through engagement in rich meaning-making alongside teachers and content/instructional specialists. Supervisory tools and artifacts familiar to the context of practice serve as boundary objects as collaborative teams dialogue to heighten awareness and deepen understanding of content- and discipline-specific pedagogies. This work demonstrates that school leaders need not be expert in every area but can develop the capacity needed to support teachers across a range of content areas and disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 00405841 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00405841.2025.2607941 |
