Reinforcing feedback loops power effective communities of practice

A "Community of Practice" is a "group of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" (Wegner-Trayner & Wegner-Trayner, 2015). Although this social structure has probably existed since hunter/gatherer days, it was first described and named by anthropologists in workplaces where apprentices were being inculcated into the skills and habits of mind of a craft or profession (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The community of practice (CoP) construct has since been applied to a wide range of groups, both inside and outside of workplaces, including in education. The attributes of entities labelled as CoP’s vary, but important common factors seem to be:

• Communities of practice are committed to a shared domain of interest, and value their individual and collective competence in this domain.
• They engage in joint activities, share information, build relationships that enable them to learn from each other.
• Individuals in the CoP care about their standing with each other.
• The group collectively develops a shared repertoire of resources, which may include experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems (Wegner-Trayner & Wegner-Trayner, 2015).

I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of several groups that I think have functioned as CoP’s, and have had the opportunity to observe several others through colleagues, friends, and family. Three examples, to inform our later discussion: (more…)