So why DO birds of a feather flock together? What’s with that? Well, I’m no ornithologist, but I think the birds are on to something. It’s not a reach to call them a community is it? If we apply this “of a feather” analogy to professionals who are “engaged in a common practice, who communicate, negotiate and share their best practice with one another directly” (Harasim, 2012, p. 142) we could call it a community of practice (CoP).
Professionals in a CoP can come together to push a research agenda forward, wrestle with a problem together, deepen their collective and individual knowledge of a topic all through interactions in the group. This could be done in person, or even in an online CoP.
Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (Smith, 2009) argue that CoP’s aren’t just found in the workplace; additional venues include school, home, civic and leisure pleasures. Etienne Wenger defines a CoP as follows:
“Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope. In a nutshell: Communities of practice 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.”
Using this definition, I am involved in MULTIPLE CoP’s – my like-minded palliative care pharmacist colleagues, my knitting buddies, my church community, and so forth. I think a CoP could be formal (assigned by your employer) or informal (group is self-selected). If it’s an assigned CoP, then you get into all the group dynamics, trust issues, workload, etc. I have experienced personally the power and synergism from a CoP where all participants WANT to be there – it’s a magical thing! My conclusion is that we need to purposefully seek like-minded individuals who have a common goal, plant the seeds, feed and water regularly, and enjoy the results! What a ride!
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. New York, NY: Routledge.
Smith, M. K. (2003, 2009) ‘Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger and communities of practice’, the encyclopedia of informal education,www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm.
Professionals in a CoP can come together to push a research agenda forward, wrestle with a problem together, deepen their collective and individual knowledge of a topic all through interactions in the group. This could be done in person, or even in an online CoP.
Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (Smith, 2009) argue that CoP’s aren’t just found in the workplace; additional venues include school, home, civic and leisure pleasures. Etienne Wenger defines a CoP as follows:
“Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope. In a nutshell: Communities of practice 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.”
Using this definition, I am involved in MULTIPLE CoP’s – my like-minded palliative care pharmacist colleagues, my knitting buddies, my church community, and so forth. I think a CoP could be formal (assigned by your employer) or informal (group is self-selected). If it’s an assigned CoP, then you get into all the group dynamics, trust issues, workload, etc. I have experienced personally the power and synergism from a CoP where all participants WANT to be there – it’s a magical thing! My conclusion is that we need to purposefully seek like-minded individuals who have a common goal, plant the seeds, feed and water regularly, and enjoy the results! What a ride!
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. New York, NY: Routledge.
Smith, M. K. (2003, 2009) ‘Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger and communities of practice’, the encyclopedia of informal education,www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm.
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