Communities of practice

Return to: In Practice

According to Wenger the following are characteristic behaviours in an effective community of practice.


Problem solving

“Can we work together on this action plan and brainstorm some ideas; I’m stuck.”

Requests for information

“Where can I find the descriptor for an SQA module?”

Seeking experience

“Has anyone else dealt with a management group in this situation?”

Reusing assets

“I have a constitution I wrote with a group last year. I can send it to you and you can tweak it with your group.”

Coordination and synergy

“Can we combine our funding applications to achieve maximum support and benefit?”

Discussing developments

“What do you think of the new inspection process? Does it really help?”

Documentation projects

“We have faced this same problem with partnerships five times now. Let’s write it down once and for all.”

Visits

“Can we come and see your family learning project? We need to establish one in our city.”

Mapping knowledge and identifying gaps

“Who knows what, and what are we missing? What other groups should we connect with?”

(table adapted from www.ewenger.com)


  • How many of these behaviours are evident in your own practice context?
  • How might you support behaviours that are not currently evident?
  • Choose one or two of the behaviours that you would like to strengthen, discuss these with your colleagues and plan how you might do more of these things together over the next month.