What is a community of practice?

In 1991, Jean Lave (an anthropolgist) and Etienne Wenger (a computer scientist) introduced the idea of communities of practice.

New entrants in a workplace engage on the peripheral (edge) and gradually their roles become more central. There is often tention between newcomers and the established workers. The latter share their knowledge and experiences, shape the identity of the newcomers, but are inevitably overtaken or replaced by the new entrants.

Wenger (in Jamieson) describe communities of practice (CoP) as a common occurance, which all people belong to. Some are at work, others in the community, some have names, some do not. In some instances we are core members, other times more towards the edges. Members are bound informmay by what they do collectively - there is a shared practice, that can be defined along three dimensions:

1. what the CoP is about - its purpose as understood by the members
2. how the CoP functions - the collective engagements that binds its members into a entity
3. the capabilities of the CoP - the collective body of knowledge, repertire of resources, routines, artifacts, vocabulary, etc. that its members developed or produced

CoPs move through developmental stages that are characterised by different kinds of activities and levels of interaction.

Source:

Jamieson, A. 2004. Communities of practice and a conversation with an e-learning provider. Work-based Learning in Primary Care, 2, 148-157