Communities of Practice (CoP)

“No man is an island…” (Donne, 1967)

Jean Lave

“learning is ubiquitous in ongoing activity, though often unrecognized as such” (Lave, 1993).

Etienne Wenger

“The basic idea is that human knowing is fundamentally a social act. This simple observation has profound implications for the way we think of and attempt to support learning” (http://www.ewenger.com).

http://www.wordle.net/

What are CoPs?

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.– 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.

(Wenger, n.d)

Why do we need to adopt CoPs?

Usefulness at Holland CollegeWithin Departments Within Administration Throughout the World

Distributed Learning and Online Education

Flow of information between Administrative Departments

Research ideas

Apprenticeship Model Product development

Hands on learning, industry based training

Collaborative college wide projects

Training needs

Collaborative projects, events & community involvement

Pool of resources

College Considerations

Benefits Warnings

Numerous experts within Holland college organization

Release of authority may be unsettling for some

Supportive climate Unreal expectations

Encourages imagination and innovation Fear of change or failure

Ready access to resources Time constraints

Belief in lifelong learning Loss of interest in project

Shared values and common goals

Implications on US

We are here

We will get here

http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/wiki/?id=2698

ReferencesCormier, D. (2008, June 3). Rhizomatic education: Community as curriculum. Dave’s educational blog.

Retrieved July 29, 2009 from http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/06/03/rhizomatic-education-community-as-curriculum/

Lave, J. (1993). The practice of learning. In S. Chaiklin & J. Lave (eds.), Understanding practice: perspectives on activity and context (pp. 3-32). New York: Cambridge University Press.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (n.d.). D. Development Model. Retrieved July 30, 2009, from http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/wiki/?id=2698

Seaman, M. (2008, September). Birds of a feather? Communities of practice and knowledge communities. Curriculum & Teaching Dialogue, 10(1/2), 269-279. Retrieved July 29, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Smith, M.K. (2003,2009) Communities of practice. The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved July29, 2009 from www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm

Wenger, E. (n.d.). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved July 30,2009, from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm