1. Establishing a COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Kathie Tait-Rayner

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

3. DEFINITION
Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Wenger-­Trayner, 2015)

4. What makes a CoP?
According to Etienne Wenger and Beverly Wenger-Trayner, a CoP has three important attributes:
DOMAIN…a shared interest and commitment that distinguishes from others
COMMUNITY…individuals willing to participate in joint endeavours and learn together
PRACTICE…members that are engaged in the practise being discussed
(Wenger-­Trayner, 2015)

5. 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 (Wenger-Trayner, 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)

6. 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)

7. CoP Life Cycle…
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
Revised from: Cambridge &Suter, 2005

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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…
FACILITATOR…keep meeting on task, invite participation, share ideas but not dominating the conversation, summarize topics to date…
CRITICAL FRIEND…provoke thinking about topic being discussed, ask interesting questions, offer a different viewpoint, challenge fellow group members….
Curtis et al, 2013
Baird, pers comm

11. 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 reflect…through this reflection members are able to take in personally meaningful information, and adjust their own practice accordingly.

12. HOW DOES LEARNING HAPPEN?
Provides pedagogical direction to educators…reflection questions designed to stimulate thought, question practices, engage ideas
Emphasis on collaborative inquiry as a means to challenge, share, extend and grow educators

13. 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

14. References
Au, L., Reiner, D. and Urbanowksi, D. (n.d.) Communities of Practice. Retrieved from
Baird, Lorrie, personal communication. October 2016
Butler, Deborah L. (2003) Self Regulation and Collaborative Learning in Teachers’ Professional Development. Retrieved from
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
College of ECE Ontario. Continuous Professional Learning. Retrieved from
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
Nickols, Fred (2003) CoP Start Up Kit. Retrieved from   Noble, Karen (2014)Communities of Practice: Innovation in Early Childhood Education and Care Teacher and Practitioner Preparation. Retrieved from
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

15. Padlet Information