Communities of Practice

A community of practice is a learning environment where participants in the community learn through engagement and social practice. Currently, my husband and I are parents at a cooperative preschool and our membership is a community of practice. As members of a cooperative preschool, there are many obligations that we are committed to. We must attend bi-monthly membership meetings, work at preschool once a week, attend four maintenance days in a school year, provide snack for the whole class four times in a school year and sign-up for a job to help with the operations of the school, as well as, contribute to fundraising. When I was a new parent in this cooperative, I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the obligations and participated only at a very minimum. Now that we’ve had a couple kiddos go through the school, I understand most of the functions of the school and I am now a Co-President of the Board. This reminded me of different levels of apprenticeships in a community of practice. Through active participation I constructed an identity, became more competent, thus, more involved in the main processes of the school. All of the families in this cooperative preschool make up a unique community with a passion for parent and family involvement in our kiddos’ school life.

According to Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, researchers on the topic of communities of practice, communities of practice can be found everywhere, and, most likely, we are all involved in a few of them. Communities of practice definitely incorporates the four C’s: critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, and collaboration. The image below titled "Level of participation" shows the involvement levels in a typical community of practice. The core group and active level may employ most of the critical thinking and creative thinking skills in order to fulfill the mission or purpose of the community. Because learning is flowing throughout all levels of the community, communication is a skill used by everyone as they learn and teach one another through their participation. Collaboration is a key skill utilized in a community of practice. The members share a commitment and construct a particular identity in relation to the community. A community of practice is a great model of a 21st century skill.

I can see how it’s a bit more difficult to incorporate communities of practice into formal schooling, although, I believe I did participate in a community of practice in high school. I was in yearbook class all four years. Similar to my experience at the preschool, as a freshman I learned as I engaged and built relationships. By the time I was a senior, I was the Editor-in-Chief. The yearbook class was an elective and did not follow a traditional teacher teaches the students method. The Editor-in-Chief actually facilitated the work of the other editors and the editors worked in groups with the students. We all learned from each other. This method helped me learn how to participate in a group, engage and learn from my peers, and how to become a leader. I think the challenge for formal school systems is time. Teachers could encourage students to form communities of practice related to the learning outcomes of the curriculum, but, in order for the communities to form organically it may take longer than expected.