Improving practice in Australia's vocational education and training sector through communities of practice

The term community of practice (CoP) was developed in the early 1990s to describe a mode of social learning. The wide-ranging use of CoPs in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector commenced in 2001 as part of the program called Reframing the Future. The authors report on an evaluative study of 31 CoPs funded in 2005. The chapter provides a summary of findings from the literature about the benefits of CoPs, the methodology used to evaluate the CoPs, some key themes emerging from the evaluation, and a discussion of the benefits of CoPs, particularly for individual practitioners. The chapter reveals how VET practitioners developed new skills and enhanced their professional practice through their participation in CoPs.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 96.640. Selected individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 96.739 to TD/TNC 96.746.

The term community of practice (CoP) was developed in the early 1990s to describe a mode of social learning. The wide-ranging use of CoPs in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector commenced in 2001 as part of the program called Reframing the Future. The authors report on an evaluative study of 31 CoPs funded in 2005. The chapter provides a summary of findings from the literature about the benefits of CoPs, the methodology used to evaluate the CoPs, some key themes emerging from the evaluation, and a discussion of the benefits of CoPs, particularly for individual ...  [+] Show more