scholarly journals Emerging Communities of Practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha McAlister
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
Multiple Perspectives

Communities of practice are emerging as an innovative approach to faculty development. While collaborative learning is becoming popular in the classroom, autonomy and individualism continue to dominate the culture of higher education for faculty. However, as we begin to recognize that old solutions to new problems are no longer effective, there is a growing desire for innovative engagement requiring the embrace of multiple perspectives. This takes the development of new habits of mind and discourse. For my dissertation, I engaged in a qualitative study with my colleagues where we experimented with generative approaches to dialogue in a community of practice. It became apparent that creating supportive, collegial spaces where we can explore beyond the edge of what we currently know can help us bridge across differences, harness the potential within diversity, and step into the emerging future. However, it also became apparent that this quality of dialogue is not easy.

Communities of Practice in Nursing Academia: A Growing Need to Practice What We Teach

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracie Risling ◽  
Linda Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
New Faculty ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Current State ◽  
Research Challenges

AbstractAlthough the community of practice (CoP) concept has been heavily utilized in business literature since its inception in the 1990s, it has not been significantly featured in nursing research. With student-centered approaches increasingly infusing nursing classrooms, including opportunities for collaborative learning and the development of student learning communities, it may be time to ask: Do we practice what we teach? Nursing academia faces challenges related to recruitment and retention, scholarly productivity and engagement of new faculty, and increasing demands for collaborative research. Challenges, some would argue, that could be addressed through CoPs; a sentiment reflected in the recent expansion of nursing CoP literature. What is the current state of the application of this concept in nursing academia and what barriers present in the promotion and development of CoPs in the academy? This article addresses these questions and provides guidance for those in search of community.

scholarly journals 9. Using Communities of Practice to Foster Faculty Development in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Teeter ◽  
Nancy Fenton ◽  
Karen Nicholson ◽  
Terry Flynn ◽  
Joseph Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Faculty And Staff Development

Communities of practice are becoming more widespread within higher education, yet little research has explored how these social learning networks can enhance faculty development. The focus of this paper is to describe the first-year experience of a community of practice initiative at McMaster University that was designed to engage groups of faculty, staff, and students to share ideas and foster learning. Four communities were initiated: Teaching with Technology, Teaching Professors, Pedagogy, and First Year Instructors, all of which provided a forum of safety and support, encouraging new ideas and risk taking that in turn contributed to individual and collective learning. Though in its early days, we consider communities of practice an innovative way to regenerate current learning and surface teaching practices that can build dynamic academic communities to foster faculty and staff development. Communities of practice have enabled us to reach beyond formal structures (e.g., classrooms) to create connections amongst people from different disciplinary boundaries that generate learning and foster development.

scholarly journals Creating, Sustaining and Realising the Value of a Faculty-wide Community of Teaching Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Honey ◽  
Trudi Aspden ◽  
Anuj Bhargava ◽  
Louise Carrucan-Wood ◽  
Angela Tsai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Shared Interest ◽  
Wide Community

Communities of practice are frequently described and discussed in academic literature and within education. They are depicted as groups of people with a shared interest coming together and in a higher education setting this shared interest relates to the practice of teaching and learning. The establishment of a cross-discipline faculty-wide community of practice to support educators in higher education is novel. This paper describes the establishment of a community of practice within one university faculty uniting educators across multiple disciplines within the Faculty. Data spanning thirty months since the inception of a teaching and learning community are presented. The findings illustrate a growing community of practice, along with perceived benefits and future directions. The creation of an interprofessional faculty-wide community of practice illustrates how educators can be drawn together because of their common passion for teaching and learning and a mutual concern of how to maximise student learning.

Using Social Software for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

2010 ◽  
pp. 1045-1060
Author(s):  
Petros Lameras ◽  
Iraklis Paraskakis ◽  
Philipa Levy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Software Tools ◽  
Social Constructivist ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Gradual Introduction ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching ◽  
Constructivist Perspective

This chapter focuses on discussing the use of social software from a social constructivist perspective. In particular, the chapter explains how social constructivist pedagogies such as collaborative learning and communities of practice may be supported by the adoption of social software tools. It begins by briefly discussing the social constructivist perspective considering certain pedagogies such as collaborative learning and communities of practice. Then, it explains how these pedagogies are reflected in actual practice by using a variety of social software tools such as discussion boards, blogs and wikis. Finally, the chapter presents the implications of using social software based on the impact of certain factors such as teachers’ understandings of, and beliefs about, teaching in general. The purpose of this chapter is to support higher education practitioners in theoryinformed design by distilling and outlining those aspects of social constructivism that addresses the use of social software tools. It is perceived that a gradual introduction of social software to institutional Virtual Learning Environments, with a strong focus on collaborative learning processes and engagement in online learning communities, will highlight the need for discursive tools, adaptability, interactivity and reflection.

Collaborative Learning Strategies in Organizations

2019 ◽  
pp. 426-444
Author(s):  
Sandra Sanz Martos ◽  
Mario Pérez-Montoro
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Innovative Learning

Among the different types of innovative learning initiatives, organizations have been implementing communities of practice as a collaborative learning strategy. However, in many cases, one finds the term community of practice attributed to other types of communities or work groups. This chapter aims to define, identify, and characterize communities of practice and differentiate them from other organizational structures which are not such communities. It establishes a comparison among them and observes the benefits obtained from each structure, indicating which strategy to apply depending on the goal or challenge. Finally, a number of conclusions and guidelines on the future development of communities of practice are presented.

Social-cognitive outcomes of teachers’ engagement in learning communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 775-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell Brynjulf Hjertø ◽  
Jan Merok Paulsen ◽  
Saku Petteri Tihveräinen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to investigate Etienne Wenger's theory of social learning in a community of practice by modeling two simultaneous aspects of teachers’ collaborative learning: their engagement in close-knit internal groupings and engagement with colleagues that work externally to the core group. These two learning processes are related to two social-cognitive outcomes: teachers’ organizational commitment and their sense of impact. Design/methodology/approach – The study investigated a field sample of 246 individual teachers from ten Finnish primary schools. Hypotheses were developed and tested by using multiple regression and structural equation modeling. Findings – The results indicate that local engagement supports teachers’ organizational commitment. However, this form of collaborative learning behavior did not support their sense of impact. Moreover, external engagement with trusted colleagues supported sense of impact but not organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications – The study reinforces the importance of teachers’ engagement in communities of practice. Specifically, the results suggest two specific social-cognitive outcomes related to two different learning processes situated in teachers’ community of practice. It would be highly valuable to replicate this study in various multi-level settings. Practical implications – The study highlights teachers’ engagement in communities of practice as a source of their motivational basis and their commitment. Findings recommend school leaders to facilitate internal and external learning communities. Originality/value – The study provides empirical evidence regarding the partial relationships between teachers’ local and external learning engagement and the social-cognitive outcomes of these forms of learning behaviors.

scholarly journals A diabetes focused inter-sectoral approach to a more equal and healthy living environment in Turin

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
G Costa ◽  
S Pilutti ◽  
R Di Monaco ◽  
R Gnavi
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
National Plan ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Treatment Of Diabetes ◽  
The City ◽  
Care System

Abstract The purpose of the project is to pilot an innovative intervention aiming to enroll the local actors in the responsibility to reduce inequalities in the epidemic of diabetes in the city. In the next few years, all the actors of the diabetes pathway (mostly the health professionals but also the local non-health actors) should analyse and recalibrate their organization and functioning, revising primary care system in the light of the paradigm of pro-active medicine At first, a community of practice of health professionals involved in diabetes is being convened with the mandate to revise the process of generation, recognition and treatment of diabetes in order to identify the mechanisms potentially able to create inequalities. At the same time a community of practice of local non-health actors is being convened to react to the analysis of mechanisms of the community of practices of health professionals, with the mandate to interpret the data and enrich the diagnosis on mechanisms, relevance and responsibility. The two communities of practice will elaborate a plan of innovation involving the responsibility of the institutions and actors that are playing a role in the mechanisms generating diabetes inequalities, setting targets, assigning responsibilities, orienting resources. The Turin Longitudinal Study will serve as a tool for monitoring the process and assessing results and impact of this innovation. The expected results concern two types of effects, which are monitored. Firstly, improving the care system and collaboration among different services should have an impact on the accessibility and quality of care. These improvements will be introduced concerning specific problems that emerge from the analysis. Secondly, social capital should increase thus increasing the resources available to people, especially the most fragile and isolated ones. The results of this pilot on diabetes will be replicated for the other chronic diseases of the National Plan for Chronic Disease.

From Committee to Community: The Development and Maintenance of a Community of Practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Parker ◽  
Kevin Patton ◽  
Matthew Madden ◽  
Christina Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Professional Relationships ◽  
Physical Education Teachers ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Elementary Curriculum ◽  
Elementary Physical Education

Despite the benefits associated with teacher development through participation in communities of practice, many questions about these groups remain unanswered. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a group of elementary physical education teachers as a community of practice whose objective was to develop and disseminate district-wide elementary curriculum. Participants included four teachers, the district curriculum coordinator, and project facilitators. Results identify the importance of a catalyst, a vision for students and the project, the importance of support, the significance of personal and professional relationships, and the realization of empowerment as critical. Ultimately, the development of curriculum was a meaningful, purposeful, and authentic task that allowed the transformation of this group. Adhering to the assumption that learning takes place within social practice, these data provide valuable insight as to the contexts that underlie the ability to mediate change, the relationships between individuals, and their ability to transform individual and group identity.

scholarly journals Creating virtual communities of practice for learning technology in higher education: issues and experiences

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Compelling Reason ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice ◽  
Technology In Higher Education

Dempster et al .’s paper (2003) describes an example of a community of practice that fits well with the definition given in current literature—one of a few that does not stretch the definition beyond the limits. Some would doubtless argue that communities evolve and cannot be created. This may point to a key element missing from the scenario described, i.e. a compelling reason for users to access the resources and participate in the communities provided for them by learning technologists.DOI: 10.1080/0968776042000211557

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