Communities of Practice - Etienne Wegner

Wegner’s read on Communities of Practice was quite extensive… he goes into great detail of the structure of these communities, which is very helpful since we are actively participating in leaning communities ourselves! Getting an understanding of how these communities are structured, the purpose of their design and the social perspectives involved adds new meaning to being an active participant in a social learning environment.

I think the following quote from Wegner’s article sums it all up:

‘Learning – whatever form it takes – changes who we are by changing our ability to participate, to belong, to negotiate meaning’ (pp226).

I believe that this is what communities of practice aim to do. Even though Wegner argues that these communities can’t be designed, it is the experiences of the members that form the content and directs these communities take. The processes, policies and systems that these communities live by can be architecturally designed, but not the community itself.

I find this is true when it comes to my learning community - the Thorn Tree travel forum. Its quite clear that there is a structure to the community that has been designed, certainly in order to keep all the information clear and easy to find. But the content itself is shaped by all the experiences of the travellers - where to stay, what to do, where to visit etc. This is the living system that the leaning community survives by - the interaction of the members is vital to the community.The focus of chapter 10 (learning Architectures) is on the four dimension of design.

Participation and Reification generally talks about practice and identity. It also includes negotiating meaning, and making sure that the tools are in place that are needed for learning to take place (eg. schedules, curriculums, procedures).

The Designed and The Emergent states that it is the emergent character that gives practice and identity the opportunity to negotiate new meanings. Practice is also a response to design, and so innovation is important.

The Local and The Global component of design discusses the relationships within communities and the way they interact on different levels. Connections amongst new localised communities enables a global construction.

Identification and Negotiability outlines that design must set up a framework – but this framework can be negotiated in practice. This component of design also discusses the creation of a focus for identification and non-identification.

Chapter 11 (Organisations) focuses on organisational design within the four components outlined above. Wegner states that in this case, design can be institutional (a designed organisation) or a collection of practices.

This chapter also talks about learning and practice in organisations which is of particular interest to me and my career. Wegner discusses how training should focus on practice and seek points at which design can scaffold and support learning, rather than just providing leaning opportunities which are extracted out of practice.  He also states that the focus should be on developing the learning potential of an organisation, not just designing and delivering courses.

In addition, communities of practice are identified by Wegner as being the ‘social fabric of learning’. This is because they are valuable assets to learning, as they are key to an organisation’s competence.  This is because communities of practice live within organisations and help sustain the kinds of identity that allow participants to take active responsibility for some aspect of organisational learning. Learning is transferrable and an asset – so the more you members are skilled, the better the overall organisation will perform.