The forum and communities of practice

The term of communities of practice certainly applies to the work we have done in the new media cultures unit. The basic argument made by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger is that communities of practice are everywhere and that we are generally involved in a number of them - whether that is at work, school, home, or in our civic and leisure interests.
Wenger states-

"Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope. In a nutshell: 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 circa 2007)

Within each community of practice, there are different characters and differences between people. There are those who are new to it, those with experience, those with authority (guessing this is Alison!) and those who don't really contribute to the community. It is a joint enterprise because we all contribute to it, and work within it to make it what it is.

According to Etienne Wenger (c 2007), three elements are crucial in distinguishing a community of practice from other groups and communities. These are the domain, the community and the practice. I think the definition Wenger gives for the community applies most to our blogging work. He says 'In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other' (op. cit.).

We are all needed for our own individual skills in order to make the community what it is. For the community to function in the way Wenger defines it as being.