Establishing a

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Kathie Tait-Rayner

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
DEFINITION
PURPOSE
BENEFITS OF CoP
CYCLE OF A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
STARTING UP
ROLES WITH COMMUNITY
REFLECTION
KEEPING THE COMMUNITY GOING

DEFINITION
Communities of practice are groups of peoplewho
shareaconcernor a passion for somethingthey do
andlearnhowto doit better as they interact regularly
(Wenger-Trayner, 2015)

What makes a CoP?

According to Etienne Wenger and Beverly WengerTrayner, a CoP has three important attributes:
DOMAINa shared interest and commitment that
distinguishes from others
COMMUNITYindividuals willing to participate in joint
endeavours and learn together
PRACTICEmembers that are engaged in the practise being
discussed

(Wenger-Trayner, 2015)

Benefits of CoP
Communities of Practice help people to be better at
what they do.
Widespread use in business, education, associations,
social sector, international development (WengerTrayner, 2015)
Research comparing teachers engaged in individual
professional development vs. collaborative learning
process showed that teachers who engaged in
collaboration with others had deep rooted changes in
their thinking and teaching (Butler, 2003)

Benefits of COP in ECE

Research within Alberta Early Learning sector showed a wide
range of understanding of the communities of practice
model, but those that were engaged in using this model were
passionate about their work (Au, Reiner, Urbanowski, 2009)
Research from Australian Early Learning Sector:
The importance of Communities of Practice with respect to
preparing Early Childhood Education students in entering the
workforce, with its myriad of challenges (Noble, 2007)
The role that Communities of Practice can play with moving the
profession beyond its current state (Fleer, 2003)

CoP Life Cycle

Energy, Commitment and Visibility of CoP over Time
Inquire- identify members, define purpose and focus
Design- decide upon activities and roles of members
Prototype- further refine the goals and strategies towards successful
acquisition of goal
Launch- start CoP activities to allow for achievement of individual goals
Grow- continue to engage members and their scope of learning
Sustain- use acquired knowledge to establish new communities

Inquire

Design

Prototype

Launch

Grow

Sustain

Revised from: Cambridge &Suter,

STARTING UP A CoP
Preliminaries

Start-up

Behaviours &
Actions

Shut down

-establish a focal
point for the CoP
-select members
-get organized

-determine meeting
specific i.e. location,
date, time
-set agenda
-initial
communications
with COP members

-share
-discuss
-collaborate
-experiment
-learn
-evaluate

-goals established

Revised from : Nickols, 2003

Start up tips
A CoP should have an informal flavour, but still maintain
a focus. The focus should be established at the
beginning of the meeting, however the focus can change
throughout the meeting. The function of the CoP is to
come together to learn and share; every member has
their own purpose to achieve, but does so through
collaborating with the CoP members. In order to achieve
the above, a CoP should start small and gradually expand
and grow (Nickols, 2003)

Roles within the Community

All CoP members are equals, but meetings have been
found to be more productive when members can step
into two transparent roles
FACILITATORkeep meeting on task, invite participation, share
ideas but not dominating the conversation, summarize topics
to date
CRITICAL FRIENDprovoke thinking about topic being
discussed, ask interesting questions, offer a different
viewpoint, challenge fellow group members.
Curtis et al, 2013
Baird, pers comm

Reflection
We do not learn from experience... we learn from
reflecting on experience.
John Dewey

Communities of Practice should offer participants the

opportunity to self reflectthrough this reflection
members are able to take in personally meaningful
information, and adjust their own practice accordingly.

HOW DOES LEARNING HAPPEN?

Provides pedagogical direction to educatorsreflection
questions designed to stimulate thought, question
practices, engage ideas
Emphasis on collaborative inquiry as a means to
challenge, share, extend and grow educators

KEEPING THE COMMUNITY GOING

Wenger (2002) provides some tips to maintain the momentum
of the community
Ensure environment promotes equality (i.e. everyone gets a chance to
share)
A routine should be established for the meeting times, however
meetings should be engaging
Third party visitors can stimulate conversations and ideas
Mentors of community possess abilities to maintain focus and flow
Discourage clique type relationships within community
Ensure participation in community is not mandated (voluntary
participation has been shown to result in more productive participation
styles)
Wenger, 2002

References

Au, L., Reiner, D. and Urbanowksi, D. (n.d.) Communities of Practice. Retrieved from http://blogs.mtroyal.ca/ccwb/files/2014/06/pdf_ccwb_communities_of_practi.pdf

Baird, Lorrie, personal communication. October 2016

Butler, Deborah L. (2003) Self Regulation and Collaborative Learning in Teachers Professional Development. Retrieved from
http://ecps.educ.ubc.ca/files/2013/11/EARLI-Final-Paper.pdf
Cambridge, D. and Suter, V. (2005).Community of Practice design guide: A step-by-step guide for designing & cultivating communities of practice in Higher
Education.Retrieved from https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/nli0531.pdf

College of ECE Ontario. Continuous Professional Learning. Retrieved from https://www.college-ece.ca/en/Members/CPL-Program

Curtis, Deb et al (2013) Reflecting in Communities of Practice. St. Paul: Redleaf Press.
Fleer, Marilyn (2003) Early Childhood Education as an Evolving Community of Practice or as Lived Social Reproduction: researching the taken-for-granted .Retrieved
from http://methodenpool.uni-koeln.de/communities/viewpdf.pdf

Nickols, Fred (2003) CoP Start Up Kit. Retrieved from http://www.nickols.us/CoPStartUpKit.pdf

Noble, Karen (2014)Communities of Practice: Innovation in Early Childhood Education and Care Teacher and Practitioner Preparation. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242275065_Communities_of_Practice_Innovation_in_Early_Childhood_Education_and_Care_Teacher_and_Practitioner_Preparation

Wenger, Etienne, McDermott, Richard, and Snyder, William (2002) Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business School Press.
Wenger, Etienne & Wenger-Trayner, Beverly. (2015) Communities of Practice a brief introduction. Retrieved from
http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

Padlet Information
https://padlet.com/ktaitrayner/3ahlme5fzu49