Community of practice

A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly". The concept was first proposed by <a href="/facts/Cognitive_anthropology/HuERdIp8">cognitive anthropologist</a> <a href="/facts/Jean_Lave/jhT3Rwzk">Jean Lave</a> and educational theorist <a href="/facts/Etienne_Wenger/Cah03pGR">Etienne Wenger</a> in their 1991 book Situated Learning. Wenger significantly expanded on this concept in his 1998 book Communities of Practice.
A CoP can form around members' shared interests or goals. Through being part of a CoP, the members learn from each other and develop their identities.
CoP members can engage with one another in physical settings (for example, in a lunchroom at work, an office, a factory floor), but CoP members are not necessarily co-located. They can form a <a href="/facts/Virtual_community_of_practice/hFVVnsxW">virtual community of practice</a> (VCoP) where the CoP is primarily located in an <a href="/facts/Online_community/ssx0TapC">online community</a> such as a discussion board, newsgroup, or on a <a href="/facts/Social_networking_service/qFIh6VT1">social networking service</a>. 
Communities of practice have existed for as long as people have been learning and sharing their experiences through storytelling. The idea is rooted in <a href="/facts/American_pragmatism/v1zMTt3m">American pragmatism</a>, especially <a href="/facts/C._S._Peirce/z76dNqhM">C. S. Peirce</a>'s concept of the "<a href="/facts/Community_of_inquiry/WWHY3phb">community of inquiry</a>", as well as <a href="/facts/John_Dewey/ljz3mzpf">John Dewey</a>'s principle of learning through occupation.

Community of practice open-in-new

Community of practice