Communities of Practice: If We Build It (Well), They Will Come

Discover how to build an inclusive and sustainable community of engaged educators that provides and shares relevant product knowledge and instructional strategies and helps you acquire and retain customers.

Research shows that when educators collaborate around instructional practices, student outcomes and educator satisfaction improves while educator turnover decreases. There are two common ways educators collaborate: Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and Communities of Practice (CoPs).

PLCs are collaborative teams focused on student learning that generally meet within grade level or content area teams. These teams use a continuous improvement model to plan, implement, study, and analyze curriculum, instruction, and differentiation to enhance student learning.

CoPs tend to be broader communities of educators that share common interests and/or goals. They build collective knowledge through sharing and/or creating resources, discussion, and reflection. In this blog, we explore how organizers can build sustainable and inclusive CoPs that actively engage participants.

 

Planning a Community of Practice

How will participants interact?

Clearly defining the community being served and its purpose is an essential first step to developing and maintaining an effective CoP.

• Who is the core audience?
• What is the purpose or goal of the CoP?
• How often and by what means do you want participants to communicate with one another?
• What communication features or prompts do participants respond best to?
• What level of transparency or privacy will participants have communicating within the CoP (or for non-participants viewing it)?

The community must share a common bond with a defined purpose or shared outcome in mind. To get a sense of what this can look like, try exploring a few established CoPs like Adobe Education Exchange, Pracademics Community of Practice Leaders, or Outschool’s Communities of Practice.

Where should you build a Community of Practice?

Consider the needs, preferences, and challenges of your core audience.

• How well can they navigate digital environments?
• What will the learning curve look like for utilizing a new tool?
• Does a face-to-face alternative make more sense than a digital environment?
• Where do they currently go most often for information on instructional practice? What tools do they currently use to connect with their peers?
• What policy, technology, or budget constraints should be considered?
• Who will be prepared to train and support participants on how to use the features of the community?

A CoP can be built anywhere, whether as part of a learning management system (LMS), a social media platform, or as a section of a new or existing website. Whatever you do, start small. Avoid the temptation to build dozens of features. Focus on the immediate needs of your core audience, and only after that is sustainable, consider enhancing functionality (as driven by the needs of the community itself).

 

Engaging Participants

How can you continuously foster inclusion and interaction?

To build a CoP that grows over time, participants must actively engage in learning and collaborate with one another. Moderators have the responsibility to ensure that all participants feel welcome and safe to interact.

• What community guidelines should be in place?
• How will community guidelines be enforced and who is responsible for enforcing them?
• Will you offer incentives for participation?
• How will hosts and moderators identify and address community issues that arise?

Making sure everyone knows the norms for participating is key to fostering sustainable growth and interaction between participants. Additionally, review accessibility guidelines to ensure that there are no barriers that hinder participation and interaction.

What content should you provide to encourage collaboration and learning?

Providing participants with relevant resources based on their needs and developing engaging discussions motivates participants to keep coming back to the CoP to learn more and engage with one another.

• How can activities be designed to encourage regular and authentic collaboration between participants?
• What resources, tools, or activities need to be shared that provide value for participants?
• How will moderators ensure that content aligns to the community’s purpose or furthers the community’s goals?
• How often should new content be posted?
• How will participants be expected to engage with the content?

Regularly solicit feedback from the community and review any online analytics (if available) to determine its effectiveness at meeting the participants’ needs.

 

Growing a Community of Practice

How can you ensure it is sustainable?

It is essential to consider the scale necessary to be sustainable.

• What is the capacity of our moderators and contributors?
• How big becomes too big for them to manage?
• How will you ensure that participants understand the purpose of the CoP over time?
• Will the goals and purpose change and adapt?
• How will new participants engage with the community’s more established participants?

Capacity and sustainability can depend on the nature of the CoP. A local or regional face-to-face CoP will have a higher level of participation than an entirely online CoP serving thousands. Keep in mind the 90-9-1 rule, especially if you’re building an online CoP. Developing a plan that encourages participants to become moderators that promote the goals of the CoP is a key strategy to long-term sustainability.

How will you measure its success?

Identifying and tracking relevant metrics is critical to the long-term success of the CoP. Data can provide insights into the success and value of the CoP, including participant engagement, collaboration effectiveness, and collective efficacy.

• What metrics can be tracked?
• What do these metrics tell us about the community?
• What data is most useful and will provide actionable input about our CoP?
• How can you measure whether participants find value in the collaboration and content?
• How can you measure the collective efficacy developed with the CoP?

Regularly analyze how the CoP is being used to inform decisions about future adjustments to ensure its growth and sustainability.

Having participated, moderated, and developed communities of practice over the years, we know what works to engage participants in professional learning using effective digital pedagogy. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can support your efforts creating your own CoP, contact us today!