Tip:
Communities of practice are groups of people who share similar goals and interests. They use common practices, work with the same tools, express themselves in a common language, and come to hold similar beliefs and value systems. They have a common sense of purpose and work well together. Started as a business process, it has been adopted in education, especially for professional development. As you create a community of practice, here are five tips with questions to think about:
- Be clear on the purpose of your community:
- Identify resources and constraints:
- Form the community:
- Develop the community of practice:
- Assess the community of practice:
- Why develop a community of practice (identify the need)?
- What are your expectations?
- How will this be beneficial to all players?
- What will be needed to form the community?
- What obstacles/hurdles need to be addressed in order to ensure a successful community of practice?
- Who will be a part of this community?
- Is it an open membership?
- Who will be the main point-person?
- How will the members of the community work with one another and share ideas?
- How will you ensure that everyone is contributing/benefiting?
- How will you know the community of practice is effective?
Submitted by:Leilani Carbonell Pedroni
Vice President of Research and Development,
My eCoach
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