Communities of Practice for Organizational Learning

Abstract

The term community of practice (CoP) arises out of the work of Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998) and refers to the way groups of individuals interact and engage in “the sustained pursuit of a shared enterprise” (Wenger, 1998, p. 45). It is the activities of the members of these groups both individually and collectively, the construction of and practices at a local level that allows them “to meet the demands of the institution” (Wenger, 1998, p. 46) which they work for. For the CoP, learning occurs as a form of social practice.