Presentation Focus
·1. A social theory of learning
·2. The concept of practice, community, and community of practice (CoP)
·3. Seven principles for cultivating CoP
·4. The early stages of development
·5. The mature stages of development

Rethinking learning
·Is learning an individual process – it has a beginning and an end; it has a beginning and an end; it is best separated from the rest of our activities; it is result of teaching?
·Is learning a social participation – a more encompassing process of being active participants in the practices of social communities and constructing identities in relation to team?
·Because learning transforms who we are and what we can do, it is an experience of identity. It is not just an accumulation of skills and information, but a process of becoming – to become a certain person or, conversely, to avoid becoming a certain person.
·It is in that formation of an identity that learning can become a source of meaningfulness and of personal and social energy.
·Learning entails a process of transforming knowledge as well as a context in which to define an identity of participation.
·For individuals: Learning is an issue of engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities
·For communities: learning is an issue of refining their practice and ensuring new generations of members
·For organizations: learning is an issue of sustaining the interconnected community of practice through which an organization knows what it knows and thus becomes effective and valuable as an organization

Beliefs of Knowledge
·Some people believe that knowledge consists of pieces of information explicitly stored in the brain, then it makes sense to package this information in well-designed units, to assemble prospective recipients of this information in a classroom.
·Some people believe that information stored in explicit ways is only a small part of knowing, and that knowing involves primarily active participation in social communities, then the traditional format does not look so productive.

The nature of knowledge
·The knowledge of experts is an accumulation of experience – a kind of “residue” of their actions, thinking, and conversations – that remains a dynamic part of their ongoing experience. This type of knowledge is much more a living process than a static body of information.
·Knowledge is tacit as well as explicit – “we know more than we can tell.”
·Sharing tacit knowledge requires interaction and informal learning processes such as storytelling, conversation, coaching, and apprenticeship of the kind that communities of practice provide.
·Knowledge is social as well as individual – appreciating the collective nature of knowledge is especially important in an age when almost every field changes too much, too fast for individuals to master.
·Knowledge is dynamic – our collective knowledge of any field is changing at an accelerating rate. That is why knowledge must be constantly updated by people who understand the issues and appreciate the evolution of their field.

The concept of practice
·A practice is in order to be able to do their job and have a satisfying experience at work.
·The concept of practice connotes doing, but not just doing in and of itself. It is doing a historical and social context that fives structure and meaning to what we do.
·A concept of practice includes both the explicit, such as the language, tools, documents regulations, etc., and the tacit, such as subtle cues, specific perceptions, underlying assumptions and shared world views.
·The concept of practice highlights the social and negotiated character of both the explicit and the tacit in our lives.
·The process of engaging in practice always involves the whole person, both acting and knowing at once.
·Practice must be understood as a learning process.
·Practice is always social practice.