Create a 400-500 words. References and in text citations.
Membership in a Learning Community
Communities of the mind are collections of individuals who are bonded together by natural will and to a set of shared ideals and ideals.
-Thomas Sergiovanni, Building Communities in Schools
From the time they are born, people learn from others long before they are aware of it. In many cultures, small family units gradually widen into larger communities, including communities of formal education that are made up of teachers and students. These early educational communities, however, were likely chosen to some extent by others; in contrast smaller communities within these larger communities, such as sports teams, organizations, and informal friendship groups, were joined by choice. As people progress through higher education, they make additional conscious choices about the communities of which they become part, including those for the express purpose of learning and growth.
As a DBA student at Walden, you have made a conscious, self-directed decision to become part of the Walden learning community. However, at times it may be tempting, as you sit at your computer, to think of your pursuit of your degree as a solitary effort. It will take conscious commitment to engage as an active member who both learns from and contributes to a learning community.
Learning communities have been defined in a variety of ways, which range from broad to specific. In its broadest sense, a learning community fits the definition offered by Fulton and Riel (1999, para. 3): "A learning community is a group of people who share a common interest in a topic or area, a particular form of discourse about their phenomena, tools, and sense-making approaches for building collaborative knowledge, and valued activities."
As you watch and listen to others talk about the experience of being part of the Walden learning community and attending Residency, reflect on the opportunities that membership in this unique community offers you and the responsibilities it carries.
To prepare: View and reflect upon the media "Being Part of a Learning Community and Attending Residency." Also, listen to the insights offered by Walden DBA students in the interactive media piece "Voices of DBA Students." Focus on student's explanations of what it means to be a part of the Walden learning community and their descriptions of their Residency experience.
Explanation of your role in your new learning community. Include details about what you hope to contribute and what you hope to gain from the learning community, in general, and from the Residency, in particular.