The Innovation Potential of Communities of Practice in Higher Education

Introduction

In this chapter, the authors share a scholarly reflection on their experiences convening, facilitating, and maintaining two active communities of practice (CoP) at Royal Roads University (RRU). The authors discuss and compare how the innovation potential of a CoP is shaped by, and must adapt to, its specific context within the university. Moreover, the chapter provides insight into how both tacit and explicit learning embedded within CoPs themselves have the potential to create a shift in an institution’s approach to organizational learning.

The two CoPs are: 1) a group of faculty members interested in advancing their interdisciplinary case research capabilities, and 2) a group of administrative staff looking to improve communications across work units and to learn from each other. Their respective purpose statements clearly identify the interest area and context of their function:

The concept of innovation considered in this chapter draws from employee-driven process innovation, with innovation understood as a means to positively affect work processes or methods (Ellström, 2010, p. 29). Applying Ellström’s discussion of practice-based innovation, the communities of practice examined in this chapter are contributing to innovation by creating the learning conditions for practice-based renewal of work processes and/or work responsibilities (2010). For example, the ICR CoP seeks to increase the productivity and quality of cases for teaching and publication, whereas the Admin CoP seeks a shared understanding of the university’s administrative processes and aims to improve and streamline these processes.

Brown and Duguid (1991) posited that CoPs, as emergent and evolving groups, presented particularly valuable sites for innovating in organizations and noted that “knowledge-practice separation is unsound, both in theory and in practice” (p. 41). This chapter approaches the enhancement of learning and innovation in higher education from the perspective of informal, situated organizational learning, and the grassroots creation of CoPs organized by faculty and staff.

Background

The CoPs discussed in this chapter operate within the institutional context created by aspects such as the values, norms, and organizational structures formed at Royal Roads University (RRU) in Victoria, B.C., Canada. RRU was established in 1995 as a public university with interdisciplinary programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels solely in applied and professional fields. RRU is a relatively small university, with approximately 3,000 students and 475 employees, including 75 full-time faculty members. The university's size and origins have contributed to a culture that aspires to being nimble, flexible, innovative, and entrepreneurial, though increasing bureaucracy has hampered the institution from fully realizing these.