What's your tribe?
The Educationalist. By Alexandra Mihai
Welcome to a new issue of “The Educationalist”! For this last issue before summer break I chose a topic that is very close to my heart and that I have been thinking about a lot in the past weeks, as I travelled to different conferences. It’s about creating connections, about finding like-minded people, as unlikely as it may seem in this diverse academic world, it’s ultimately about belonging. Especially for people like me who have been working in the “Third Space” for many years, finding communities we can resonate with is not always straightforward. That’s why I thought it’s a good time to put down some of my thoughts and share them with you here. I hope you find some inspiration to think about your own path(s), tribe(s) and belonging(s). Enjoy reading and have a relaxing summer!
Amidst the buzz but also the exhaustion brought by the end of the Academic Year, let’s take a moment for a quick exercise: think about one occasion in the past months where you felt “at home” professionally. Where was it? In your own department or team, or maybe at a conference or a project meeting? Maybe it was having a coffee with a colleague or getting to meet in person someone you only worked with remotely in the past years. Once you identified the moment, reflect on what exactly made you feel “at home”. Was it familiarity? Support? Like-mindedness? A challenge you overcame? Validation? A mix of things? Try to think about what you do, if anything at all, to nurture those feelings and in this way “make yourself at home”.
The value of community
In our professional and personal lives we belong to various communities, some more formal than others, some more useful than others. Some, by choice, some by default. Professional communities can take many shapes and fulfil different purposes. In academia, we can be part of associations in our discipline, linked to a certain topic (e.g. teaching & learning), focusing more on research or on practice, regional, national or international. Beyond these formal communities, we are often part of more informal Communities of Practice that go beyond our institutions, and sometimes even part of learning communities. While our level of involvement differs, also according to the perceived benefits we are getting from being a member, we generally choose to be part of a community in search of:
Connection: a space for networking, meeting like-minded people, the opportunity to forge relationships that can lead to future collaboration;
Support for growth: a space where we can go for advice and support but where we can also turn up to support others as they grow;
Professional development: a space to learn, from and with others, a place to develop one’s competencies and keep up one’s motivation;
Validation: a space where our achievements are acknowledged, people with whom you can share your victories.
All this sounds good in theory. But let’s be honest- how many associations you are member of bring you no real value, apart from a yearly massive conference where you still tend to stick to the people you know and enjoy the location (now that we’re back at that)? How do we know where we would feel “at home”? Or when it’s time to stop and move over to a new community, as our interests and our focus change? How do we genuinely find out where we belong professionally?
About belonging: my tribe
Building a professional identity is never easy, it takes time, self-knowledge, reflection, patience. It’s about finding your place but also about claiming your place. But it’s also very much about who else is in this space. While work in academia can often be (or feel) lonely, in reality our effectiveness, success and wellbeing are very much connected to those around us.
Finding and defining my professional identity has not been an easy process. My work has been pretty much cross-disciplinary and has also been revolving around a mix of academic and service pursuits. Working in educational development, in what some call the “Third Space” has not made it any easier, as this is a space of multiple identities and career paths. But what this profile offered me in abundance was the chance to be part of various types of communities, from associations of political scientists to e-learning developers. So I had the privilege to observe how they work, what are the things I like, who are the people I resonate with. This process of path-finding was incredibly useful, and after many years I feel I can confidently say where I feel “at home”: it’s among people passionate about educational development, both in research and practice, among people who value learning in all its dimensions and are committed to supporting it. It is a very generous community, not limited to one or more associations but also spanning continents and luckily able to connect and share via technology and social media (fingers crossed this will still work, though). Will I have thought this will be my tribe 15 years ago when I started teaching politics? Certainly not. Talking about how life can surprise you…
How to find your tribe(s)
This is a very personal topic, and there are no recipes that work for everyone, we each have to find our way through the maze of communities and opportunities. Here are some things that I found very useful and that helped me find my tribes:
Be open: listen to conversations around you, maybe even on topics that are not immediately related to your area but that you are interested in, meet people, make connections - you never know where you’ll hear about the next great opportunity; you might even stumble into the right tribe by chance (speaking from experience);
Be proactive: search for existing communities and platforms in your area (disciplinary, geographical, you name it); check them out, ask about them; go to (free) events to get a feel of what the atmosphere is like;
Once you found your tribe(s), make them your own: find ways to contribute to the community, reach out, help others; explore what this space has to offer but also the connections you can develop with your current profile. Look for opportunities, but also create them;
Multiple tribes: why not? Depending on where you are in your career, your interests, tasks, you can belong to different tribes, one does not exclude another, you can even find or make connections between them. This especially applies to people with complex professional identities. I’m still part of Political Science associations, contributing to their teaching and learning groups, while also belonging to communities that focus on integrating technology in education;
Changing tribes: our career paths and professional identities are neither linear nor set in stone. As our needs and interests change, it’s natural to feel disconnected from some communities. Don’t be afraid to say “stop” and look for a new professional “home”;
A word of caution: a tribe, in my view, should not be an echo chamber- listening to different voices helps push our thinking forward, challenges us, and this is very important for growth. Yes, it’s great to have your work and ideas validated, but we should not forget the value of dissonance in shaping our professional identity and values;
And if you can’t find the right tribe for you, how about trying to found one? It can start with a coffee or a chat (it can even be online, I have great experiences with communities developed exclusively online), but if you nurture it, it may just provide you with the “home” you need to grow and thrive.
