Community of practice wenger book

Professional learning communities and communities of. 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. Wenger claims a community of practice emerges when an organization sets forth a structure to accomplish its goal. Jean lave and etienne wenger pioneer the concept of a community of practice cop in their book, situated learning. Introduction to communities of practice, wenger trayner, 2015. In my book and often when i speak on the topic of communities of practice, i say that they need organisational support. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions, but the informal communities of practice. Members of a community of practice are practitioners.

But at the risk of oversimplifying, it is useful to mention some of them here. 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. Presents a broad conceptual framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation. It describes a learning theory with a strong relationship to the social construction of knowledge. Wenger claims that communities of practice are learning. Evolution of wengers concept of community of practice. Communities of practice lave and wenger learning theories. 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. In cultivating communities of practice, etienne wenger, richard mcdermott, and william m.

Communities of practice cops, which have been described by wenger. This conceptual book lays out a social theory of learning centered on the concept of communities of practice. Social, cognitive and computational perspectives series by etienne wenger. 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. 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. Legitimate peripheral participation to describe an informal, continuous, and naturally occurring learning process that was typical of traditional apprenticeships. 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. Etienne wenger 1998 is widely cited for his work on the topic of communities of practice. The term community of practice cop was first coined in 1991 by jean lave and etienne wenger. 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.

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. Introduction to communities of practice, wengertrayner. 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. Editions of communities of practice by etienne wenger. However, the framework he developed in his seminal book 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. Communities of practice is a term originally developed by lave and wenger 1991. Leanagile principles and practice promote crossfunctional teams and programs that facilitate value delivery in the enterprise. Snyder argue that while communities form naturally, organizations need to become more proactive and systematic about developing and integrating them into their strategy. 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 learning, meaning and identity. Cultivating communities of practice is the second book from wenger which is only about communities of practice cop. 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. Wenger then significantly expanded on the concept in his 1998 book communities of practice.

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. 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. 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. In this section of the book, lave and wenger critically analyze the theory of. 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. Having grown up in the frenchspeaking parts of switzerland, wenger achieved a b.

The role of communities of practice in a digital age. 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. This support comes in the form of, time for community members to dedicate to the community. Cambridge university press, sep 28, 1999 psychology 318 pages. They push themselves and their field toward deeper, more significant research, more selfconscious teaching. Jean lave, etienne wenger and communities of practice. Communities of practice by etienne wenger goodreads. The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist jean lave and educational theorist etienne wenger in their 1991 book situated learning. Communities of practice have three distinct traits. 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. The usefulness of wengers framework in understanding a.

Introduction to communities of practice wengertrayner. Jean lave and etienne wenger community of practice. This learning that takes place is not necessarily intentional. This is an important book for anyone interested in groupformation or identity coconstituted from within the self and as a member of different groups. 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. Anyone who is responsible for moving a community forward towards its goals should consider reading it.

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. This conceptual book lays out a social theory of learning centered on the concept of. In some groups we are core members, in others we are more at the margins. Principles for cultivating communities of practice. The authors build upon the theoretical work of lave and wenger 1991 and wenger 1998, and focus on the organizational cultivation of cops. In the 1998 book, the focus had shifted to personal growth and the. Community a selfselected group of individuals who care enough about the topic to participate in regular interactions. 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. 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. They cherish and cultivate the web of mutually supportive and challenging relationships that form the basis of their community. The concept of community of practice was not born in the systems theory.