Community of practice wenger book

Building a successful community of practice dr richard miller, millerklein associates ltd a community of practice cop is a group of individuals within an organisation who band together to share their knowledge and expertise, to learn from each other and to build their capabilities. Wenger claims that communities of practice are learning. This support comes in the form of, time for community members to dedicate to the community. In this section of the book, lave and wenger critically analyze the theory of. Introduction to communities of practice wengertrayner. Learning, meaning and identity is overlooked in the academic and popular business press, where the focus is most typically on managing a community of practice, rather than. Etienne wenger 1998 is widely cited for his work on the topic of communities of practice. In part i, when i use the term community or the term practice by itself, it is just an abbreviation to make the text less cumbersome. This book provides an indepth qualitative data analysis about wengers research with communities of practice, or groups of people that form around collective, sustained tasks. This book presents a theory of learning that starts with the assumption that engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we get to know what we know and by which we become who we are.

Learning, meaning and identity, but cultivating communities of practice moves on from theory to practice and attempts to argue that communities of practice when managed correctly can be the key driver of organizational success. In my book and often when i speak on the topic of communities of practice, i say that they need organisational support. They push themselves and their field toward deeper, more significant research, more selfconscious teaching. Principles for cultivating communities of practice.

Social, cognitive and computational perspectives series by etienne wenger. Wenger then significantly expanded on the concept in his 1998 book communities of practice. Leanagile principles and practice promote crossfunctional teams and programs that facilitate value delivery in the enterprise. Presents a broad conceptual framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation. The role of communities of practice in a digital age. This conceptual book lays out a social theory of learning centered on the concept of communities of practice.

The first book was a little dry and academic and intended to be, but this book is your typical business book, which makes it easy to read. Legitimate peripheral participation to describe an informal, continuous, and naturally occurring learning process that was typical of traditional apprenticeships. This learning that takes place is not necessarily intentional. Editions of communities of practice by etienne wenger. Etienne wenger summarizes communities of practice cop as 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.

It describes a learning theory with a strong relationship to the social construction of knowledge. A community of practice is not merely a community of interestpeople who like certain kinds of movies, for instance. Practice refers to the specific knowledge and skills that the community shares and develops, consisting of a set of frameworks, ideas, tools, information, styles, language, stories, and documents that the community members share. Communities of practice as a social theory of learning. A key premise of his theoretical work is that communities of practice can arise in any domain of human endeavour, for instance, the practice of creating new forms of artistic expression, or the practices involved in. Jean lave and etienne wenger community of practice. The community of practice sometimes incorrectly referred to as communities of practices consists of members who interact with each other for their pursuit of a. Having grown up in the frenchspeaking parts of switzerland, wenger achieved a b. It is in this context that i found wengers book valuable in understanding the poverty of the plc movement. In his book cultivating communities of practice, etienne wenger proposes seven principles for successfully cultivating communities of practice. The basic argument made by jean lave and etienne wenger is that communities of practice are everywhere and that we are generally involved in a number of them whether that is at work, school, home, or in our civic and leisure interests.

A community of practice is a group of people who share a craft or a profession. The concept of community of practice was not born in the systems theory. The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist jean lave and educational theorist etienne wenger in their 1991 book situated learning. Community a selfselected group of individuals who care enough about the topic to participate in regular interactions. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Communities of practice the basic argument made by jean lave and etienne wenger is that communities of practice are everywhere and that we are generally involved in a number of them whether that is at work, school, home, or in our civic and leisure interests. Wenger, mcdermott and snyder 2002 have identified seven key design principles for creating effective and selfsustaining communities of practice, related specifically to the management of the community, although the ultimate success of a community of practice will be determined by the activities of the members of the community themselves. Anyone who is responsible for moving a community forward towards its goals should consider reading it. Communities of practice by etienne wenger goodreads. The term community of practice cop was first coined in 1991 by jean lave and etienne wenger. Members of a community of practice are practitioners. Communities of practice have three distinct traits. This is an important book for anyone interested in groupformation or identity coconstituted from within the self and as a member of different groups.

However, the framework he developed in his seminal book communities of practice. Because its constituent terms specify each other in this way, the term community of practice should be viewed as a unit. In some groups we are core members, in others we are more at the margins. This conceptual book lays out a social theory of learning centered on the concept of. At the same time, the authors parlay etienne wenger s concept of community of practice into an ethos of a dynamic, learnercentered pedagogy that is especially wellsuited to the peculiar teaching situation of the writing center. But at the risk of oversimplifying, it is useful to mention some of them here. A cop can evolve naturally because of the members common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created deliberately with the goal of gaining knowledge related to a. In the 1998 book, the focus had shifted to personal growth and the. Communities of practice is a term originally developed by lave and wenger 1991. Snyder argue that while communities form naturally, organizations need to become more proactive and systematic about developing and integrating them into their strategy. Communities of practice lave and wenger learning theories. Cultivating communities of practice is the second book from wenger which is only about communities of practice cop. Introduction to communities of practice, wenger trayner, 2015.

The history and defining features of a community of practice, as developed by wenger is explained as well as the more recent thought on landscapes of practice by the wenger. Jean lave, etienne wenger and communities of practice. In cultivating communities of practice, etienne wenger, richard mcdermott, and william m. Jean lave and etienne wenger pioneer the concept of a community of practice cop in their book, situated learning. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions, but the informal communities of practice. Introduction to communities of practice, wengertrayner. The authors build upon the theoretical work of lave and wenger 1991 and wenger 1998, and focus on the organizational cultivation of cops. The usefulness of wengers framework in understanding a. A community of practice is a learning environment that includes a spectrum of participants from inexperienced members who are joining the community or apprentices to experienced members who have a lot of knowledge about practicing an occupation or masters. Professional learning communities and communities of. The idea of communities of practice cops has been around for 25 years, and it has found its way into peoples professional and everyday language wenger, 2010. Communities of practice cops the term community of practice was coined by etienne wenger and jean lave in the early 1990s to describe a group of people who share a concern, a set of problems or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting.

Wenger claims a community of practice emerges when an organization sets forth a structure to accomplish its goal. A cop can evolve naturally because of the members common. Transformative communities of practice embody the same three dimensions domain, community, practice that a traditional cop does, but at a new, higher turn of the spiral, due to vertical. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions, but the informal communities of practice that people form as they pursue. Put simply, cops refer to groups of people who genuinely care about the same reallife problems or hot topics, and who on that basis interact regularly to learn together and from each other wenger. Communities of practice cops, which have been described by wenger. Communities of practice learning, meaning and identity. They cherish and cultivate the web of mutually supportive and challenging relationships that form the basis of their community. Cambridge university press, sep 28, 1999 psychology 318 pages.