The English term Community OF Practice, which can be translated earliest with the already otherwise occupied expression practice community, designates a practical working group of persons, who are informally connected with one another and in relation to similar tasks. United in the interest of at solutions if they act to a large extent organized with one another, exchange themselves and support each other mutually.

From the individual and collective learning processes result a knowledge and an experience existence, which make a more efficient treatment of tasks possible. Intensive communication and the common interest promote the emergence identity pin ends of a relations network - a social identity.

The term is above all descriptive kind - mostly existing communities become, in which the characteristics mentioned (see below) prevail, when copilot classifies. Generally accepted procedural instructions, how copilot is to be formed, are RSR and on liable to pay the costs seminars are preferably mediated.

History of the term

The key word Community OF Practice was coined/shaped 1991 by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. They placed a learning into the context of social relations. They that for the knowledge acquisition - beside structures or models - in particular the participation in a community is crucial, showed in which the knowledge are designed.

Wenger borders the Community OF Practice of other forms of social co-operation off (like Networking).

1998 extended Etienne Wenger the concept for the organizational development and determined thereby a new development focus. This book is to be seen not primary as practical reference work for organizational development. Rather Wenger operated the theoretical foundation of the concept and stated general understanding bases of the concept. In addition, outside of organizations Communities OF Practice are, v.a. as Internet-supported working groups. The Community OF Practice is seen today in close connection to on-line Communitys and to the knowledge management and represents here an important possibility for the education of social capital. The term of the knowledge management is seen critical thereby by the authoresses. They (S. Annotated Bibliography) confronted the basic concept of "“cultivating"” to this from Communities and worked particularly the meaning out of the "“Brokering"” and "“Community management function"”. According to Lave and Wenger - and other authoresses - the management of knowledge is not possible. Knowledge cannot be implemented just like the formation of Communities OF Practice (alone) by one top down to arrangement or by systematic "“facility processes"”. Terms of the "“Gardening"” and "“Nurturing"” are preferred by the authors.

Articles in category "Community OF Practice"

We found here 13 articles.

Related Websites

We found here 3 related websites.

• Communities of Practice
  Welcome to the Web's first site dedicated to communities of practice, ... Community Intelligence Labs' work with corporate communities of practice was ...


• Communities of Practice
  Welcome to the Web's first site dedicated to communities of practice, ... Community Intelligence Labs' work with corporate communities of practice was ...


• CoP Definitions
  In essence, communities of practice are groups of people who share similar goals and ... There are many communities of practice within a single company, ...