Communities Of Practice

By Author: M. Lo
Total Articles: 1
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According to Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a community of practice is a group or union of individuals, who are part of a practice in relation to purpose, knowledge, experience, identity and affiliation.

According to Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a community of practice is a group or union of individuals, who are part of a practice in relation to purpose, knowledge, experience, identity and affiliation. A community of practice can be a community based on different types of practices, and thus, it can be considered both a study and a work place.

Or as Wenger describes a community of practice:

”A group of people who share an interest in a domain of human endeavor and engage in a process of collective learning that creates bonds between them: a tribe, a garage band, a group of engineers working on similar problems.”

(Lave & Wenger)

Wenger emphasises that all people are part of communities of practice, e.g. at home, at work or at school. Communities of practice can be geographically local or distant, organised physically or virtually. Through active participation in a group, we seek ...
... purpose, and simultaneously, we create purpose through the activities. A great deal of the involvement in the decision-making process and the group's activities result in a sense of meaningfulness. Through these actions and active participation in the group, the participants create both an individual (as a member of the group) and a shared (the purpose of the group) identity.

In communities of practice, the purpose is to contribute to a shared objective through activities and to learn from others during the process. In this way, the group's shared knowledge and competences increase.

A new participant enters the community through legitimate, peripheral participation, which means that he participates without knowing the codes, rules and knowledge applied by the community. Participating in the practice allows the participant to learn from the community activities. Through interaction, the participant is gradually able to use the tools and the frame of understanding that the community shares. The participant is able to recognise and understand the rules of how the objective is discussed in the community, and gradually he is able to actively participate in the discussion of the objective.

Using Lave and Wenger's theoretical tools, it is possible to dissolve the otherwise quite stiff definitions of groups. Communities of practice are not formed only by members of the “same kind” but by individuals in a formation process.

Managers in organisations can benefit from the awareness of the various communities of practice that exist within the organisation. An understanding of the values that connect the community is significant in relation to the communication with community members. Managers' behaviour and communication are factors that influence the identity and the shared understanding within the community. Due to their position, it is difficult for managers to enter the various cross-organisational communities.
Resource: http://probanabusiness.blogspot.dk/