Subject communities: Grow, nurture, sustain

Dena Eden, Director of Secondary English at Inspiration Trust Teaching is a profession where we rely on the support of a team and wider community while also preferring complete autonomy in our classrooms. Subject communities maintain this autonomy while also allowing us to feel both supported and motivated to improve. An effective subject community empowers individuals to reflect on their own practice, while simultaneously fostering mutual trust and respect among individuals sharing successes and persistent problems. What is a subject community? A subject community is a collaborative group of subject specialists; it is essentially a social movement where individuals’ subject expertise can be enhanced to bring about excellence. This collective enterprise offers time and space for effective professional development and the nourishment of passion for the subject. It is unique in its constancy: it does not react or focus on a single project, but instead provides a consistent support n