The organizational development (OD) concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations.
The term was first used in 1991 by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger who used it in relation to situated learning. In 1998, the theorist Etienne Wenger (website) extended the concept and applied it to a commercial setting. More recently Communities of Practice have become associated with knowledge management as people have begun to see them as ways of developing social capital or nurturing new knowledge of sharing existing tacit knowledge within an organisation.
- A brief history of the concept of Communities of Practice can be found here.
See also
External Links
References
Lave, J and Wenger E, "Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation", Cambridge University Press, 1991
Wenger E, "Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity", Cambridge University Press, 1998
Last updated: 08-23-2005 16:53:34
