Everything about Community of practice
Community
A community of practice (CoP), also called a vertical community, is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly". The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their 1991 book Situated Learning. Wenger significantly expanded on this concept in his 1998 book Communities of Practice. A CoP can form around members' shared interests or goals. Through being part of a CoP, the members learn from each other and develop their identities. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Community of practiceA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Practicing Moderation: Community Moderation as Reflective PracticeInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: How designers thinkThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and InnovationCited 5,180 times
- Go sideways: Virtual community of practiceA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Landscape of practiceA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A group of people who share a craft and/or a profession.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation
Community Building: Building Community Practice
Community-Based Practice
Transformative Community Practice
COMMUNITY SERVICE PRACTICE
Community Practice
Community Law Practice
Community Psychiatric Practice
🆕 Influential since 2022
📚 Books worth reading
How designers thinkBryan Lawson · 1980
Essential public healthStephen Gillam, Jan Yates · 2007
Praxis and methodRichard Kilminster · 1979
Kiss, Bow, or Shake HandsTerri Morrison, Wayne A. Conaway · 1994
WikipediaDan O'Sullivan · 2009- 📕Community of Practice Approach to Improving Gender Equality in ResearchRachel Palmén, Jörg Müller · 2022
- 📕Communities of Practice in Language ResearchBrian Walter King · 2019
- 📕Process Safety ManagementChitram Lutchman, Douglas Evans · 2013
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Virtual community of practice A virtual community of practice (VCoP), also known as an online community of practice (OCoP), is a community of practice (CoP) that is developed and maintained…
- Landscape of practice A landscape of practice (LoP) is a social sciences concept introduced by Etienne Wenger-Trayner and Beverly Wenger-Trayner in a 2014 book. The concept…
- Étienne Wenger Étienne Charles Wenger (born 1952) is an educational theorist and practitioner, best known for his formulation (with Jean Lave) of the theory of situated…
- Network of practice Network of practice (often abbreviated as NoP) is a concept originated by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. This concept, related to the work on communities…
- Duality (CoPs) In a community of practice, duality refers to a tension between two forces which become a driving force for change and creativity. Wenger uses the concept…
- Situated learning Situated learning is a theory that explains an individual's acquisition of professional skills and includes research on apprenticeship into how legitimate…
- Learning community A learning community is a group of people who share common academic goals and attitudes and meet semi-regularly to collaborate on classwork. Such communities…
- Jean Lave Jean Lave is a social anthropologist who theorizes learning as changing participation in on-going changing practice. Her lifework challenges conventional…