The aim of this set of books is to combine the best of current academic research into the use of Communities of Practice in education with "hands on" practitioner experience in order to provide teachers and academics with a convenient source of guidance and an incentive to work with and develop in their own Communities of Practice. This set of books is divided into two volumes: volume 1 deals principally with the issues found in colocated Communities of Practice, while volume 2 deal principally with distributed Communities of Practice"

In this edited collection, the authors pick up the communities of practice (CoP) approach of sharing practice in their reflection on the experience of taking their CoP vision from a dream to reality. Their stories articulate the vision, the passion and the challenge of working within and/or changing existing institutional culture and practice. The book discusses strategies that worked and considers the lessons learnt to inspire future dreamers and schemers. The multiple perspectives provided in the case studies will assist higher education leaders, as well as academic and professional staff, in establishing or assessing CoPs. The book offers insights into implementation strategies, practical guidelines and ideas on how CoP theoretical underpinnings can be tailored to the higher education context.

Today's marketplace is fueled by knowledge. Yet organizing systematically to leverage knowledge remains a challenge. Leading companies have discovered that technology is not enough, and that cultivating communities of practice is the keystone of an effective knowledge strategy. Communities of practice come together around common interests and expertise- whether they consist of first-line managers or customer service representatives, neurosurgeons or software programmers, city managers or home-improvement amateurs. They create, share, and apply knowledge within and across the boundaries of teams, business units, and even entire companies-providing a concrete path toward creating a true knowledge organization. In Cultivating Communities of Practice, Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder argue that while communities form naturally, organizations need to become more proactive and systematic about developing and integrating them into their strategy. This book provides practical models and methods for stewarding these communities to reach their full potential-without squelching the inner drive that makes them so valuable. Through in-depth cases from firms such as DaimlerChrysler, McKinsey & Company, Shell, and the World Bank, the authors demonstrate how communities of practice can be leveraged to drive overall company strategy, generate new business opportunities, tie personal development to corporate goals, transfer best practices, and recruit and retain top talent. They define the unique features of these communities and outline principles for nurturing their essential elements. They provide guidelines to support communities of practice through their major stages of development, address the potential downsides of communities, and discuss the specific challenges of distributed communities. And they show how to recognize the value created by communities of practice and how to build a corporate knowledge strategy around them. Essential reading for any leader in today's knowledge economy, this is the definitive guide to developing communities of practice for the benefit-and long-term success-of organizations and the individuals who work in them. Etienne Wenger is a renowned expert and consultant on knowledge management and communities of practice in San Juan, California. Richard McDermott is a leading expert of organization and community development in Boulder, Colorado. William M. Snyder is a founding partner of Social Capital Group, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

African American Community Practice Models shows you what you can "see" and "learn" when people of African American descent are put in the center of community analysis and change. This text celebrates African American experiences and challenges you to understand the black experience from the inside out rather than from the outside in. The contributors provide excellent historical and current case studies of leaders and programs that provide you with models for program and community development in African American communities today. For the contemporary social worker, these historical comparisons reveal what strategies have been needed in African American communities in the past because of political and social climates. The studies of current successful programs instruct those in community-based African American programs, general service networks, and students on how to continue to better serve the black community.The contributing authors use a new lens for understanding social welfare history and social service development. They encourage social workers to explore new model-building and to pursue new knowledge about African Americans in the social work classroom. In addition to tracing the history of community development, African American Community Practice Models specifically: presents the black community from a position of strength and leadership documents leadership in the black community to ground national advocacy organizations traces women's leadership in community development documents the unrecognized history of African Americans in the development of the Settlement Movement highlights examples of current self-help programs sponsored by African American communities to change negative behavior patterns documents the impact of racism on service delivery and the response to develop community support programs presents a challenge to expand community development for both internal and external advocacyProfessors of the core courses in social work--HBSE, research, policy, and practice--and of specialized courses in community practice, macropractice, and African Americans would benefit from teaching from African American Community Practice Models. Students and faculty in these and other study areas concerned with this community will get community tactics and program development ideas from this book that connect with African American people. The importance of community development from within the African American community, historical and current methods of dealing with the ongoing impact of racism and economic disadvantage, the responsibility of professionals and community leaders to build empowerment strategies within African American communities, and the need to advocate for rights and opportunities in larger society for black Americans are key issues addressed throughout the book, which begins to fill the void of positive presentations of black community development.

This book presents a theory of learning that starts with the assumption that engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we get to know what we know and by which we become who we are. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions, but the informal 'communities of practice' that people form as they pursue shared enterprises over time. To give a social account of learning, the theory explores in a systematic way the intersection of issues of community, social practice, meaning, and identity. The result is a broad framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation. This ambitious but thoroughly accessible framework has relevance for the practitioner as well as the theoretician, presented with all the breadth, depth, and rigor necessary to address such a complex and yet profoundly human topic.

The peoples of the American Southwest during the 13th through the 17th centuries witnessed dramatic changes in settlement size, exchange relationships, ideology, social organization, and migrations that included those of the first European settlers. Concomitant with these world-shaking events, communities of potters began producing new kinds of wares—particularly polychrome and glaze-paint decorated pottery—that entailed new technologies and new materials. The contributors to this volume present results of their collaborative research into the production and distribution of these new wares, including cutting-edge chemical and petrographic analyses. They use the insights gained to reflect on the changing nature of communities of potters as they participated in the dynamic social conditions of their world.

This Conference Proceedings of the National Seminar entitled “Multidisciplinary Research and Practice” compiled by Dr. M. Kanika Priya records various research papers written by eminent scholars, professors and students. The articles range from English literature to Tamil literature, Arts, Humanities, Social Science, Education, Performing Arts, Information and Communication Technology, Engineering, Technology and Science, Medicine and Pharmaceutical Research, Economics, Sociology, Philosophy, Business, Management, Commerce and Accounting, Teacher Education, Higher Education, Primary and Secondary Education, Law, Science (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany), Agriculture and Computer Science. Researchers and faculty members from various disciplines have contributed their research papers. This book contains articles in Three languages, namely: English, Tamil and Hindi. As a editor Dr. M. Kanika Priya has taken up the tedious job of checking the validity and correctness of the research work in bringing out this conference proceedings in a beautiful manner. In its present shape and size, this anthology will, hopefully, find a place on the library shelves and enlighten the academics all round the world.