Communities of Practice: Effectiveness

Although a series of webinars or other professional learning activities may be part of a community of practice, a CoP differs from a professional learning series because it is more collaborative in nature, and builds on the expertise and goals of the participants. Typically, a professional development series is delivered by one or more experts and works from a pre-determined agenda. A community of practice shares a number of common characteristics with professional learning communities, but typically the scope of a CoP is more tightly focused, membership is more defined, and the role of the facilitator is to encourage participation, support the building of knowledge, and capture success stories.

In The Connected Educator, Learning and Teaching in A Digital Age (2012), Nussbaum-Beach and Ritter Hall summarized the research on the effectiveness of communities of practice as a teacher professional development strategy: (p 160)

“Although some evidence suggesting the effectiveness of communities of practice for teacher learning is anecdotal (Lai, Pratt, Anderson, & Stigter, 2006), Chris Dede, from Harvard’s School of Education, notes that the pedagogical approach underlying more than half of teacher professional development is grounded in the communities of practice theory (Dede, Breit, Ketekhut, McCloskey & Whitehouse, 2005).

Other research finds that communities of practice have significant potential to improve teaching and learning (Sherer, Shea & Kristenson, 2003) and that participation in communities of practice benefits both students and teachers (Reil & Fulton, 2001). Not only do communities of practice encourage collaboration and knowledge construction (Ardichvili, Page, & Wentling, 2002; Buysse, Sparkman, & Weket, 2003), they also have significant potential for improving teacher and learning (Sherer et al., 2003).”

A major study of school improvement in the United Kingdom recently identifies a number of characteristics of professional learning that are the most likely to benefit students. All of these characteristics align with a community of practice approach to professional learning.

• Collaborative: involves staff working together, identifying starting points, sharing evidence about practice and trying out new approaches
• Supported by specific expertise: usually drawn from beyond the immediate learning environment
• Focused on aspirations for students: which provides the moral imperative and shared focus
• Sustained over time: professional development sustained over weeks and months had substantially more impact on instructional practice that benefits students than short or one-time activities
• Exploring evidence from trying new things to connect practice to theory, enabling educators to transfer new approaches and practices and the concepts underpinning them to multiple instructional contexts.

Adapted from: Pearson School Improvement. Understanding What Enables High Quality Professional Learning: A report on the research evidence p.4)