Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems Essay

Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems - Essay Example The paper tells that communities of practice define competence by fusing three elements. First, members of a community pursue their collectively developed understanding and share a sense of joint enterprise. Members of a community build their enterprise (community) through mutual engagement as they interact with each other in establishing norms and relationships of mutuality that reflect the social engagements.   Thirdly, the communities of practice yield a shared repertoire of communal resources encompassing aspects such as language, artifacts, and tools. The constitutive elements of the systems include communities of practice, boundary processes, and identities shaped by participation in the systems. The author outlines two aspects of a conceptual framework for comprehending social learning systems; a social definition of learning detailing social competence and personal experience comprising of engagement, imagination, and alignment. The distinction between the modes of belongin g is critical since each mode contributes to a distinct facet of the development of social learning systems and individual identities. Engagement, imagination, and alignment mainly coexist, and each social learning system involves each to some extent and in some combination, although each component requires distinct combinations. The author achieved his purpose in writing the article and demystifying social learning by individuals and organizations. The author’s assertions are highly supported by facts. The notion of the community of practice has significantly influenced theory and practice in a broad range of fields such as availing a platform for peer-to-peer learning within organizations, professional development, and development of learning partnerships that are not captive to professional silos. As demonstrated, communities of practice are central to enhancing performance.