Community of Practice

"The sum of two parts is greater than the whole"

Communities of practice...

A group of people

• Share a passion about...
• something they know how to do and...
• interact regularly so as to...
• learn how to do it better to...
• create, expand and exchange knowledge and...
• develop individual capabilities

To create a community of practice we develop 

• Domain - area of shared inquiry and key issues
• practice - knowledge, methods, stories etc.
• community - relationships, belonging

Rely on people's willingness, values, time and resources, support. Is your community of practice worthwhile?

To create healthy communities we nurture the relationships. 

Identity - what do we pay attention to, participate in and avoid? A sense of belonging.

Excitement, relevance and value helps to attract and engage, creating a sense of "aliveness". 

Community spaces - events organised. interactions within multiple pathways. Online and face to face.

Success depends on the energy that the community generates not on an external influence.

IDENTITY

Etienne Wenger talks about 'walking the landscape of practice'

Etienne Wenger describes the importance of identity when navigating the landscape of practice. "Kotahitanga" It is our one-ness (tahi) that is our identity, conversely it is our interactions with others that give us our identity.

For a community of practice to be successful, it is important that there is freedom to explore who we are within and beyond the community within a system that considers what we pay attention to, what we participate in and what we avoid.

IMAGINATION

Wenger says we use imagination to create images of ourselves so as to understand what it looks like to be within the community. We use imagination to create possibilities. We rely on imagination to create our vision...what did our world look like? What could it look like?

ENGAGEMENT

What everyone brings to the community supports engagement when it is shared. These interactions and the relationships we have within the community support engagement.

ALIGNMENT

The mutual process of coordinating perspectives. Getting on the same page for authenticity, purpose and sustainability.

Education...

Although we have belonged to tribes for as long as we know, "community" has not belonged to the shared language of school learning.  Within the context of school learning, assessment, measuring, competition and passing "the same tests" has driven the concept of "learning" towards separateness. The systems schools have put in place to support learning contradicts the concept of community. 

Fortunately school learning is moving from competitive to collaborative...sharing ideas, skills and information. Relying on generosity, trust and the ability to "keep an eye on the prize" as illustrated in the diagram below.

"Live and let live" - within the community of practice we rely on the generosity and wisdom of members to allow others to be themselves.

REFERENCES

Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Source: OPENiPhotojournalism. (2009, Sep 15). Etienne Wenger talks about 'walking the landscape of practice'.[video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=qjw0YoqpEq8&feature=youtu.be&list=PLb5Ty6fTaPkWE

Wenger, E.(2000).Communities of practice and social learning systems.Organization,7(2), 225-246 (Link to the article in Unitec Library).