Communities of Practice

This week I am learning about a new idea- Community of practice. As an educator, I really like this idea as I always try to get my class work together and learn from each other. All communities may not qualify as a CoP. The members in the community must share a common interest or passion to be a community of practice. When my son was young, we used to attend a chess club, where members are committed to come there, play and watch others play, engage in problem solving in chess, discuss other tournament play etc interacting with each other and learning from each other. They met regularly once a week. I can see that as a community of practice.

Most organizations and work place would like to turn their community in to CoP where knowledge created and shared for the benefit of all. when members engages in shared activities and interest they learn from each other and grow.

At work, We have build strong CoP. Teachers have variety of opportunities to engage in activities with peers and share their knowledge. Grade level meetings, department level meetings and professional development times are all avenues for shared activities. Teachers do peer observation and that helps them grow as well.