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The term “community of practice” was coined by Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave during their studies of cognitive apprenticeship learning model. Communities of practice are
A community of practice can for example be
A community of practice is defined by three elements:
Size, formality and meeting frequency of a community of practice can vary.
Some other important characteristics of a community of practice are3):
The concept of communities of practice has practical applications in business, organizational design, government, civic life and education.4)
Transformation to communities of practice in schools could however be more demanding since education is their primary goal. The transformation can be observed in three dimensions: internally to organize learners into communities of practice around their school subjects, external to connect them with other communities outside school and over lifetime by organizing communities of practice lasting after the schooling period.
Wenger, E. Communities of practice: a brief introduction. June, 2006. Retrieved May 12, 2011.