Communities of practice: how to help them thrive

Building the skills needed to help students learn is challenging under any circumstances – but it’s doubly so if done alone. Communities of practice (CoPs), meanwhile, are known to harness social learning among colleagues and thus enhance both practice and collegiality.

Widely used in the corporate world since social learning theorists Lave and Wenger coined the term back in the 1990s, CoPs are defined as a group of people who aim to enhance their skills in a certain domain through ongoing, mutually beneficial interaction and sharing. Essentially, CoPs effectively and efficiently build and disseminate knowledge within organisations.

• How to cultivate learning communities among university teaching staff
• Creating a centralised advice resource to help faculty adapt to new teaching modalities
• Researchers are too critical – we need to give ourselves (and others) a break

Teaching and learning-focused CoPs have been supported at the University of Adelaide, where I work, for the past seven-and-a-half years, and reflecting on this experience has highlighted four key elements required to help them thrive:

1. Set up for success

CoPs can grow organically and informally when passionate people engage in collaborative learning; you might even currently be in a CoP without realising it. However, higher education institutions can also formally support CoPs as part of the learning opportunities they offer staff.

First, resources need to be allocated to establish CoPs. This will cover workshops for keen staff to learn the basics of CoP facilitation and determine how the concept will be adjusted to the institutional context. Using funds for an external CoP expert who can demonstrate how it has been effective at other institutions is particularly valuable.

The identification of a CoP sponsor, ideally a senior leader, is key. Their job is to communicate the value the institution places on a community-led approach to enhancing teaching and learning and to be genuinely interested in the success of the CoPs. Even more important are the CoP facilitators who must be passionate about the area of practice the CoP will focus on. These areas of practice should be chosen by the facilitators but also align with institutional priorities such as active learning or learning technologies.

Ongoing administrative support for the CoPs must also be in place. If the logistical tasks such as sending calendar invites and arranging venues are dealt with, the facilitators can focus on the vital duties of growing membership, identifying shared objectives and establishing the trust needed for sharing practice and community building. The impact of warm beverages and a biscuit on said community building cannot be overstated, so simple catering should be part of the support.

2. Allow for change

Successful CoPs have a tripartite structure: building domain knowledge and skills; sharing practice; connecting with others.

Sustaining the growth and value of CoPs is a combination of maintaining these three core structural elements while also adapting to internal and external drivers for change.

CoPs may change because facilitators move on and new leaders emerge. Thus, it helps to have co-facilitators to share the load. Domain areas may change in focus – for example, a focus on flipped learning may expand to embrace all active learning strategies, while central teaching and learning areas can also support CoPs through change by providing development for facilitators – perhaps even a CoP for CoP leaders!

3. Lurking is also learning

CoP facilitators can sometimes worry about the number of people coming to meetings, but successful CoP facilitators are those who recognise that people’s engagement will wax and wane and that it is ok to have a small core of committed members and others whose engagement is more peripheral. CoPs should have ways for people to catch up on ideas or resources shared in meetings, such as posting these to an online platform. Not everyone will be deeply engaged all the time, but if the connection is maintained, members will join more fully when life allows.

4. Communicate and connect

As part of helping CoPs thrive, their contribution needs to be regularly recognised. This could be through featuring CoPs and their outputs in institution-wide communication channels such as e-newsletters. After all, CoPs are a great source of good practice examples that can be shared with others.

Creating opportunities for facilitators to connect is another way to support CoP growth and success. This could be a face-to-face planning session at the beginning of the year and/or a reflection session at the end. It’s also important for the CoP sponsor to be present when CoPs share their achievements.

A space for spontaneous, ongoing networking helps facilitators share approaches and invite each other to upcoming events. Once facilitators have had the chance to meet in person, an online chat platform can maintain connection and surface exciting new collaborations.

CoPs provide a place for staff to be safe and brave as they traverse the ups and downs of teaching and learning. Institutions looking for ways to enable professional learning should consider this approach as a win-win.

Melanie Brown is the manager of teaching excellence at the University of Adelaide and an ardent supporter of CoPs.

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Etienne and Beverley Wenger-Trayner provide a simple, yet comprehensive introduction to communities of practice.

The CDC CoP resource kit was created for public health workers but is highly recommended.