Flip the script: An open community of practice at the student help desk

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Proposed chapter from Maxwell Bushong:

The Penn Manor Student Apprenticeship program puts its students on the same level as the IT staff. The fact that my fellow peers, teachers, and IT staff communicate and interact with me as if I worked for Penn Manor makes me feel like a valued and respected member of Penn Manor. During normal classes, I feel as if I am not developing or making a difference in my school. Sure, my grades reflect our school’s performance, but what am I really doing? When I walk into the Help Desk, however, that changes. Everything else about my life disappears; my mindset is immediately altered, and I no longer feel like the average high school student. In fact, I tend not to think of myself as a student whatsoever. Working alongside the adults in the room, with the level of responsibility and trust they've given to me, makes me feel like a valued member of the school's actual IT staff. By helping my fellow peers, by completing a work-related task for the greater good of the IT Program, by being given opportunities to partake in IT related projects for the district or even outside of the district, I feel like a valued member of the Penn Manor community.

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Review and discussion questions

• According to Maxwell, what are the principal benefits of empowering students to play a larger role in shaping their educational experiences? Would doing the same in your organization have the same benefits—or additional ones?
• Maxwell understands that his contributions as a student Help Desk apprentice allow him "to impact an entire school district of 5,400 students and 600 staff members." Does anything occurring in your learning environment impact the world outside it? How might your educational organization scale the impact its stakeholders are able to have?
• By being a Help Desk apprentice, Maxwell argues, students and teachers "are creating more than a technology conversation; we're creating a conversation about the relationship between life and technology." Does your educational organization foster the same kinds of conversations? If not, how could it? And what might those conversations be about?