Week 25: Communities of Practice

What is a Community of Practice?

“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”

I really liked this ‘in a nutshell’ definition presented on Wenger-Trayner’s website and will use this as I reflect on my own communities of practice and the role I play within them.

What is the purpose and function of my practice?

First and foremost my practice lies in teaching primary aged students, however over the past 8 years this role has extended to the area of teacher professional development, specialising in the area of eLearning. This has now become my passion - through my work at eTime, supporting our students and teachers to heighten their awareness and build confidence and capability in using digital technologies to enhance and transform teaching and learning.

Who are my communities of practice and how do I contribute to them?

I am fortunate to engage in a number of communities of practice that include:

• My eTime colleagues who are passionate about providing PD to our schools. Our conversations deal a lot around reflecting and continuously developing, improving refining and redefining our approaches delivering PD to best meet the needs of our schools.
• My Bromley School colleagues who are passionate about making a difference for our Bromley children and whānau.  Although I have only recently joined the Bromley team part time, they have welcomed me into their community of practice, providing me with insight into their shared vision for their community and allowed me to join them in engaging in the interactions that Wenger-Trayner refers to - that include rich conversations and teacher inquiries into “doing what we do better”.
• My online communities of practice that include my Twitter professional learning network, Facebook groups, Google+ communities.  This has enabled me to connect with fellow educators.  I admit when I first signed up for these communities I was a bit of a stalker but have since come to the realisation that in order for these online communities to function well, I need to actively contribute - or as Wenger(2000) asserts there needs to be joint enterprise, mutual engagement and a shared repertoire of responses.

What is my specialist area of practice?

As mentioned above my specialist area would be that of eLearning - an aspect that contributes to Primary Education in the broader sense. My part time role as an eLearning facilitator affords me with the unique opportunity to collaborate with talented teachers across a range of schools, crafting innovative ideas to further improve teaching and learning.  I then get to take those experiences (learning) with me as I move on to work with others. In the broader sense it’s a bit like cross-pollination but the ideas are able to grow and continuously improve each time they are shared.

Recently, I have also been working part-time at Bromley School as an eLearning specialist teacher - which I love! My time at Bromley has allowed me to engage in a whole new community of practice where I can contribute my experience gained through my eTime role. It has also provided me practical opportunities to put ideas into action in working with my students - experience that I can then bring back to my eTime role!  A bit of a ‘win-win’ situation!

This also fits well with the Wenger-Trayner definition above - I am fortunate to be constantly engaging with groups of people, passionate teaching and learning and keen to explore the potential of eLearning to help teachers and students ‘do what we do better’. :)


Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.