Introduction

The concept of ‘communities of practice’ (CoP) has gained significant purchase in the study of learning within and between organisations since it was originally introduced by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (1991) and subsequently elaborated by Wenger (1998). The concept is bound up with a thoroughly social theory of learning that emphasises the inherently collective and participative character of becoming skilled in an occupation, a profession or indeed any activity in everyday life. A CoP involves members engaging in joint enterprise who inevitably develop a shared repertoire of skills, norms and competencies. Learning is then seen in terms of centripetal movement and shifting identity from peripheral (novice) to central participation (expert) within a particular community of practice.

The development of the concept was grounded in a series of ethnographic studies of apprenticeship, but as Ash Amin and Joanne Roberts (2008) and others (e.g. Cox 2005) argue, it is increasingly engaging a more formal, indeed managerialist, agenda:

Indeed CoPs are now often positioned as knowledge management ‘tools’ (Roberts 2006) which draws debate and discussion to consider the character of ‘communities’ and how they can be fostered.