COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE John Carney

Communities of Practice Learning Theory  Communities of practice (CoP) are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

History of CoP  Etienne Wagner & Jean Lave research and findings were always linked to learning in non traditional setting of the classroom  While working at the Institute for Research on Learning in 1991, is where the first used the term communities of practice to describe learning through practice and participation

The Three components of CoP Communities Of Practice Communities Of Practice 1. Domain The shared domain of interest 2. Community Interacting, sharing, and engaging in a shared activity 3. Practice Participating in activities frequently that promote the interest

What do CoPs look like  Problem Solving  Requests for Information  Seeking Experiences  Visits  “Can we work on this design and brainstorm on ideas; I am stuck”  “Where can I find a code to connect to a server?”  “Has anyone ever dealt with a customer in this situation?”  “Can we come and see your after-school program? We need to establish one in our city.”

Where have CoPs been adopted?  Many organizations and businesses have adopted the CoP concept in hopes to give recognition to how critical of an asset knowledge is.  Numerous organizations place great emphasis on strategically managing knowledge and how it is to be dispersed

Where have CoPs been adopted? continued  Like businesses the government places high expectations on managing knowledge, however with formality and bureaucracy in place it has shaped how and when we share information to the public  Schools and districts are organizations as well, some of the first applications of CoPs have been in teacher trainings “however in the field of education learning is not only a means to an end : it is also the end product” (Wenger)

CoP Action framework

Etienne Wagner Situated Learning and CoP

Points of Reference  Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. By Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William Snyder, Harvard Business School Press,   Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. By Etienne Wenger, Cambridge University Press, 1998.