Summarization from website titled: 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:
"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): 1. The Domain:
not a "club of friends"
Identity is defined by a shared domain of interest
implies a committment and shared comptenence that distinguishes membership
domain is not necessarily something recognized as "expertise" outside of the community
2. The Community:
engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other and share information
build relationships, interact and learn together
3. The Practice:
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
Summarization from website titled: 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"
Communities of Practice Defined:
- "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):1. The Domain:
- not a "club of friends"
- Identity is defined by a shared domain of interest
- implies a committment and shared comptenence that distinguishes membership
- domain is not necessarily something recognized as "expertise" outside of the community
2. The Community:- engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other and share information
- build relationships, interact and learn together
3. The Practice:What Do Communities of Practice Look Like? (Can have different titles, but still have elements of a community of practice)
Where Does Concept Come From?
Social Scientists
Application:
Note: All images are from Mircosoft Office Online Clip Art and are Open Source