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learning_theories:communities_of_practice [2011/05/13 13:46] jpetrovic [Keywords and most important names] |
learning_theories:communities_of_practice [2011/05/19 11:14] jpetrovic [Criticisms] |
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===== General ===== | ===== General ===== | ||
- | The term "//community of practice//" was coined by [[http://www.ewenger.com/theory/|Etienne Wenger]] and [[http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/jeanlave|Jean Lave]] during their studies of [[instructional_design:cognitive apprenticeship]] learning model. Communities of practice are | + | The term "//community of practice//" was coined in 1991 by [[http://www.ewenger.com/theory/|Etienne Wenger]] and [[http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/jeanlave|Jean Lave]] during their study of [[instructional_design:cognitive apprenticeship]] learning model.(([[http://books.google.com/books?id=CAVIOrW3vYAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press, 1991.]])) 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.//"(([[http://partnershipforchildhealth.org/mhip_intro_10_Communities_of_Practice-A_Brief_Introduction_by_Etienne_Wenger.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006.]] Retrieved May 12, 2011.)) | * "//**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.//"(([[http://partnershipforchildhealth.org/mhip_intro_10_Communities_of_Practice-A_Brief_Introduction_by_Etienne_Wenger.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006.]] Retrieved May 12, 2011.)) | ||
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A community of practice can for example be | A community of practice can for example be | ||
* "//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.//"(([[http://partnershipforchildhealth.org/mhip_intro_10_Communities_of_Practice-A_Brief_Introduction_by_Etienne_Wenger.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006.]] Retrieved May 12, 2011.)) | * "//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.//"(([[http://partnershipforchildhealth.org/mhip_intro_10_Communities_of_Practice-A_Brief_Introduction_by_Etienne_Wenger.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006.]] Retrieved May 12, 2011.)) | ||
+ | Members of a community of practice don't need to be aware of its existence(([[http://books.google.hr/books?id=heBZpgYUKdAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Communities+of+practice:+learning,+meanings,+and+identity&hl=hr&ei=3tfUTdDyLciSOpGk5KMN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false|Wenger, Etienne. Communities of practice: learning, meanings, and identity. Cambridge University Press, 2007.]])). | ||
===== What are communities of practice? ===== | ===== What are communities of practice? ===== | ||
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* **Practice** - Members of the community of practice practice the knowledge they share among themselves. | * **Practice** - Members of the community of practice practice the knowledge they share among themselves. | ||
- | Size, formality and meeting frequency of a community of practice can vary. | + | Size, formality and meeting frequency of a community of practice can vary. New members may join a community of practice and existing members can leave. Also, a community of practice cannot be created since this would mean forcing individuals to develop an interest for a specific domain and interact with each other to exchange and develop knowledge about the subject. Still, what can be done is to **facilitate emergence** of a community of practice and support it. |
Some other important characteristics of a community of practice are(([[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~lls007/Radio4/Articles/wenger2000.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization 7, no. 2: 225. 2000.]])): | Some other important characteristics of a community of practice are(([[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~lls007/Radio4/Articles/wenger2000.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization 7, no. 2: 225. 2000.]])): | ||
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* **Mutuality** - how deep is the sense of community among its members? | * **Mutuality** - how deep is the sense of community among its members? | ||
* **Repertoire** - how self-aware is the community about its own levels and ways of practice? | * **Repertoire** - how self-aware is the community about its own levels and ways of practice? | ||
+ | |||
+ | Learning in a community of practice typically occurs through dialogue and discourse, sharing of ideas and knowledge, collaborative search for solutions to problems. [[learning_theories:social_cognitive_learning_theory|Social learning]] through interaction with others is here expected to occur.(([[http://www.ou.nl/Docs/Expertise/NELLL/publicaties/Online%20communities%20of%20practice%20in%20education.pdf|Kirschner, Paul A., and Kwok-Wing Lai. Online communities of practice in education. Technology, Pedagogy and Education 16, no. 2: 127-131. July 2007.]])) By interacting with experts new members of a community of practice increase their expertise and move from the periphery of a community towards its center. This process is called the //legitimate peripheral participation//(([[http://books.google.com/books?id=CAVIOrW3vYAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press, 1991.]])). | ||
===== What is the practical meaning of communities of practice? ===== | ===== What is the practical meaning of communities of practice? ===== | ||
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===== Criticisms ===== | ===== Criticisms ===== | ||
+ | Communities of practice are, depending on the point of view on them, subjected to different criticisms. Some of them, identified by Roberts(([[http://northumbria.academia.edu/JoanneRoberts/Papers/323719/Limits_to_Communities_of_Practice|Roberts, Joanne. Limits to Communities of Practice. Journal of management studies 43, no. 3: 623-639. 2006.]])) | ||
===== Keywords and most important names ===== | ===== Keywords and most important names ===== | ||
- | * **Communities of practice**, **community** | + | * **Communities of practice**, **community**, **social learning**, **legitimate peripheral participation** |
* [[http://www.ewenger.com/theory/|Etienne Wenger]], [[http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/jeanlave|Jean Lave]] | * [[http://www.ewenger.com/theory/|Etienne Wenger]], [[http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/jeanlave|Jean Lave]] | ||
===== Bibliography ===== | ===== Bibliography ===== | ||
[[http://partnershipforchildhealth.org/mhip_intro_10_Communities_of_Practice-A_Brief_Introduction_by_Etienne_Wenger.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006.]] Retrieved May 12, 2011. | [[http://partnershipforchildhealth.org/mhip_intro_10_Communities_of_Practice-A_Brief_Introduction_by_Etienne_Wenger.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006.]] Retrieved May 12, 2011. | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[http://www.ou.nl/Docs/Expertise/NELLL/publicaties/Online%20communities%20of%20practice%20in%20education.pdf|Kirschner, Paul A., and Kwok-Wing Lai. Online communities of practice in education. Technology, Pedagogy and Education 16, no. 2: 127-131. July 2007.]] | ||
===== Read more ===== | ===== Read more ===== | ||
[[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~lls007/Radio4/Articles/wenger2000.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization 7, no. 2 : 225. 2000.]] | [[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~lls007/Radio4/Articles/wenger2000.pdf|Wenger, E. Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization 7, no. 2 : 225. 2000.]] | ||
+ | [[http://books.google.com/books?id=CAVIOrW3vYAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press, 1991.]] |