Workplace communities of practice: working to reduce the alienation of the individual

Communities of practice are a powerful and focused way to promote development of skills and construct new knowledge among workers. This is demonstrated when theory, policy and funding are brought together in the form of the Australian National Training Authority’s (ANTA’s) Reframing the Future project. At the same time, there are potential negative aspects of communities of practice and in particular a concern that individuals might disappear into a community of practice and become alienated from their workplaces. There is a need for further research in this area and little work has been completed investigating what happens to the individual in a community of practice.

This current research into a community of practice among civilian technicians working in Australian Defence Force (ADF) installation has yielded preliminary findings about the relationship between the individual and the community of practice, particularly in relation to acknowledging and reducing the potential for reducing worker alienation. A group that did not form a community of practice was alienated from the process and the product of their labours and did not perceive a connection between their performance and the performance of the organisation. The individuals in the group that formed a community of practice have an appreciation of the process and an understanding that their labours are directly connected to the outcomes and performance of the organisation. This paper proposes that a community of practice is not only a powerful force in informal learning at work but also reduces the potential for alienation of the individual from the workplace.

Published abstract.

The collected proceedings are indexed at TD/TNC 74.501; the collected PowerPoint presentations are indexed at TD/TNC 74.530; available papers are indexed from TD/TNC 74.502 to TD/TNC 74.529.

Communities of practice are a powerful and focused way to promote development of skills and construct new knowledge among workers. This is demonstrated when theory, policy and funding are brought together in the form of the Australian National Training Authority’s (ANTA’s) Reframing the Future project. At the same time, there are potential negative aspects of communities of practice and in particular a concern that individuals might disappear into a community of practice and become alienated from their workplaces. There is a need for further research in this area and little work has ...  [+] Show more