Wenger,+E

**Summarization from website titl**﻿**ed: //Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction//**

 * === "A growing number of people and organizations in various sectors are now focusing ===
 * === on communities of practice as a key to improve their performance" ===
 * (Wenger, pargraph 1).

**Communities of Practice Defined:** **1. The Domain:** 2. **The Community**: 3. ** The Practice: **
 * "Formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor" (paragraph 3).
 * "Communities of practice are groups of peope who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularily" (paragraph 4).
 * Three Characteristics (together constitutes a Community of Practice):**
 * not a "club of friends"
 * Identity is defined by a shared domain of interest[[image:pieces_together.jpg width="152" height="122" align="right"]]
 * implies a committment and shared comptenence that distinguishes membership
 * domain is not necessarily something recognized as "expertise" outside of the community
 * engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other and share information
 * build relationships, interact and learn together
 * members are practitioners- develop shared repertoire of resources
 * time and sustained interaction are essential

**What Do Communities of Practice Look Like? (Can have different titles, but still have elements of a community of practice)**
 * **Develop practice through a variety of activities:**
 * Problem solving
 * Requests for information
 * Seeking experience
 * Reusing Assets
 * Coordination and synergy
 * discussing developments
 * documentation projects
 * visits
 * mapping and knowlege & identifying gaps


 * **Can be:**
 * informal, formal
 * large, small groups
 * core group, peripheral members
 * face-to-face, online
 * one organization, several organizations
 * formally recognized, invisible

**Where Does Concept Come From?**
 * ==== Social Scientists ====
 * primary use has been in learning theory- "living curriculum for apprentice"
 * everyone learns within

**Application:**

 * **Organizations:**
 * focus on people and on social structures that enable them to learn with and from each other (business)
 * collective responsibility
 * direct link between learning and performance
 * address tacit and dynamic aspects of knowledge
 * not limited by formal structures
 * challenge hierarchical organizations
 * **Government:**
 * knowledge sharing across levels of government
 * enabling connections among people across formal structures
 * **Education:**
 * first applications in teacher training
 * per-to-peer professional development
 * "not only a means to an end, it is the end product"
 * deeper transformation- takes longer in education
 * Internally
 * Externally
 * Over the lifetime
 * "class is not the primary learning event" and "service the learning that happens in the world" (paragraph 19)
 * **Associations:**
 * focus on learning through reflection of practice
 * **Social Sector:**
 * "philanthropy needs foucs on learning systems in order to fully leverage funded projects" (paragraph 21)
 * peer-to-peer interactions/connections with/without support of institutions
 * **International Development:**
 * conveners of communities rather than providers of knowledge
 * **The Web:**
 * "extended interactions beyond the grographical limitations of traditional communities" (paragraph 23)
 * expands possiblities

Note: All images are from Mircosoft Office Online Clip Art and are Open Source