A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a common interest and work together to improve their knowledge and skills through ongoing interaction and information sharing. Key elements of a CoP include a shared domain of interest, a community of people who interact and learn from each other, and a focus on sharing practices to improve work. CoPs can exist within or between organizations and can operate at local or national levels. They evolve over time through real work, problem solving, learning, and innovation.

1. What is Important About CoP By Naava Frank Knowledge Communities July 08

2. What is a CoP? A Community of Practice is a community of professionals who share a common set of problems and systematically share their knowledge, expertise and tools in order to improve their practice and the performance of their organization by interacting on an ongoing basis. “ Wisdom resides in the skills, understandings, and relationships…as well as in the tools, documents, and processes of practitioners in the field. From Cultivating Communities of Practice , Wegner, McDermott and Snyder Communities of Practice can exist within organizations or between organizations, at a local level or on a national level. “ A diverse group of people engaged in real work over a significant period of time during which they build things, solve problems, learn and invent…in short they evolve a practice that is highly skilled and highly creative.” From Customer Inspired Innovation: Creating the Future , Bauer

3. Community Practice Domain Framework for Communities of Practice C. P. D. A strong CoP maintains a balance between the pulls of Community, Practice and Domain. This ‘conceptual trinity’ is the foundational framework of CoP.

4. Three Key Components of a Community of Practice Members/Community – Informal Educators, Admission Professionals, Geriatric Case Workers, Preschool Directors Domain/Content Area – Informal Education, Admission, Geriatric Care, Educational Leadership Activities focused on Sharing Practice – Face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, projects, listservs, surveys, visits, shared web space

5. Content/Domain What kind of knowledge is community interested in learning about? How well codified in the knowledge? How rapidly does it change? What practices are central to the work of the domain? As learning goals are negotiated, the domain continuously evolves

6. occasional transactional peripheral active coordinator core group lurkers leaders sponsors experts beginners alumni © Etienne Wenger Types of Participation

7. occasional peripheral some knowledge I, J, K expert Technology Practices of Community Members H: I know it. How do I get my people to know it? Facilitator : I know some but could know more E: educating herself and her community C: Dipping her toe in – trying audio recording of calls G: Frustrated Don’t know enough to help them but they need it--starting a wiki for members F: Focused experiment. Success disseminating a CD of calls to members D: Skeptical but open, attitude about technology, exploring second life for her community A & B: Not sure if they need it

8. Learning activities Information Informal Formal With From Models of practice Project reviews Case clinics Document sharing Collections Learning projects Hot topic discussions Stories Formal practice transfer Visits Invited speaker Mutual benchmark External benchmark Broadcast inquiry Reading group Problem solving News Joint response Boundary collaboration Training and workshops Pointers to resources Systematic scan Guests Joint events Documenting practice Field trips Exploring ideas Each other 1 2 7 4 3 6 5 Tips Practice fairs Warranting Help desk Outside sources Exchanges Productive inquiries Building shared understanding Producing assets Creating standards Formal access to knowledge Visits

9. Loose network of people with similar issues and needs Members come together and launch a community It forms an identity, takes charge of its practice and grows The community is established and acts as a strategic steward of its domain It has fulfilled its potential; subdivides; or mainstreams Discover common ground and imagine a community Design community roles and activities; peer problem solving Coordinate variety of learning activities—formal and informal; recruits broader participation Sustain energy, set standards, educate novices, establish legitimacy and influence on results Celebrate accomplishments, generate new communities, or institutionalize roles and practices Stages of development & related activities Evolution from ad-hoc to strategic © William Snyder & Etienne Wenger Community Development Model Legacy Stewardship Maturing Coalescing Potential

10. Facilitation Collaboration Knowledge Management/ Knowledge Sharing Community Building/ Community Engagement Networks Communities of Practice Capacity Building/ Organizational Development PLC* Training Technology/Web 2.0 technologies The Complexity of Communities of Practice: A Duck-Billed Platypus? * Professional Learning Communities

11. Looking at your Community Who are members? Boundaries? Representation? What is the domain / learning goal? What learning activities does the community do together? Communication vehicles? What are examples of shared practice?

12. What Fuels Participants Participation in a Community of Practice Created by Knowledge Communities – www. Knowledgecommunities.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Provide opportunities to gain cutting-edge practices Competitive Members Feel They Appreciate Isolated Introducing them to peers with similar issues and concerns Uncertain Validating what they are doing is right by comparing them to peers and experts Under Valued Recognizing their strengths Passion about a topic Finding a way for them to bring that into the community and connect with others that share that passion Curiosity Providing opportunities to learn more about a topic Un-empowered Asking for their input, give them a voice in decision making Controlled Letting the agenda be theirs Want to work more efficiently Providing practical tips and tools from peers so they don’t have to re-invent the wheel, introduce them to technology that can help Stressed and burnt out Nurturing them in little ways like doing the background work to set up the meetings Stuck Inspire them with examples of how others solved problems Marginalized Including their perspectives in the conversation

13. Design Options for your Community What are the goals and expectations for the community? Knowledge production? Knowledge dissemination? Professionalization? Support and increased morale? How structured/informal should it be? Self-organizing? How much external support? Frequency of meeting and communication What is the perspective of members, staff and stakeholders Issues of interest and concern Tools they use and want to use Adapted from:Patrick Lambe, 10/3/2007. Video clip on Starting Communities of Practice http://blip.tv/file/497225__

14. Naava Frank, Ed.D. is committed to fostering collegial sharing for professional growth through the creation of Communities of Practice. In all of her work, she searches for new meaning and depth and for the many ways it can be shared . Knowledge Communities Helping Foundations and Non-Profits Build Communities that Share Knowledge Website: www.knowledgecommunities.org Phone: 617-864-2248 E-mail: [email_address] Knowledge Communities