Description:
Professional learning is most effective when it is collaborative, reflective, and grounded in real-world experiences. Thriving Together: A Facilitator's Guide to Nurturing a Community of Practice in Early Childhood is a practical, research-informed resource designed to help early childhood leaders, facilitators, coaches, and trainers create and sustain meaningful communities of practice (CoPs) that foster connection, shared learning, and lasting professional growth. Authors Kathi Gillaspy, EdD, and Nancy Goins, MA, draw on decades of experience in early childhood systems, technical assistance, and professional development to provide tools that support authentic collaboration and sustainable change.
Discover how to:
- Design and facilitate communities of practice that support meaningful adult learning
- Foster engagement, accountability, belonging, and shared leadership among participants
- Distinguish between communities of practice, professional learning communities (PLCs), and working teams and determine which structure best fits your goals
As a companion to the widely respected Growing Together, this essential guide offers actionable strategies for facilitating engagement, accountability, and shared leadership within adult learning communities. Whether you are leading a statewide initiative, mentoring educators, facilitating professional development, or supporting coaching and technical-assistance systems, Thriving Together offers the tools and insights needed to cultivate stronger professional learning communities across early childhood settings.
Brief description:
Kathi Gillaspy, EdD, is the Director of Technical Assistance at AnLar, a D.C. based firm that provides research and policy analysis, technical assistance, and communications and IT development in the areas of education, human services, and management. Her work focuses on educational and policy programs for district, state, and national projects. She is an expert in early intervention and early childhood special education, long-term systems change, state early childhood systems, professional development, and data management systems.
Ms. Gillaspy has facilitated numerous communities of practice and is currently working with the Division of Early Childhood's (DEC) Community of Practice Committee to develop communities of practice within the organization. Ms. Gillaspy is a member of a Community of Practice Development Group, which supports the work of facilitators of communities of practice in early childhood. Ms. Gillaspy has worked at the Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and devoted 15 years to working directly with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families through Community Partnerships, Inc., a nonprofit serving individuals with disabilities.