Communities of Practice-lifelong learning!

I believe it is very important to share and indulge in other people's ideas as its a great form of learning. I always benefit from having a discussion from someone who is passionate about the Performing Arts industry. Everyone has different ideas, perception's and theory's, some which may be insignificant however I feel interaction is always valuable.

A community practice enables people with the same interests and passions to share information and experiences. "CoPs can exist online, such as within discussion boards and newsgroups, or in real life, such as in a lunch room at work, in a field setting, on a factory floor, or elsewhere in the environment" (Wikipidia) I like this statement as it leaves the set up of a community of practice group very open as anyone can set one up and encourage members to join. There are a few groups on facebook where you can voice opinions and discuss certain company's but I haven't come across a discussion group as such which I feel would benefit this industry. "Communities of practice have also become an important focus within organizational development and have considerable value when thinking about working with groups" (The netwoked professional-2010)

 "Supposing learning is social and comes largely from of our experience of participating in daily life?" (Wenger 1998: 3). I am a great believer in you learn as you go through life. Listening to stories, experiences and general problem solving.

I have set myself a task to write down three things each day that i feel is gained knowledge whether it is pointless information or not. These five learning points will be within my professional network.

Todays gained knowledge

1- That Sonny (a friend who i am working with) can speak fluent Spanish.
2-A dance step (that i have always struggled with)
3- Saw an job on Facebook that is re-casting, and it is a company I have always wanted to work for

This BAPP course is a community of practice as we are communicating via blogging, we are sharing thoughts, exchanging knowledge and inspiring one another. We are all such a mixture of people however I feel I have gained so much from reading and engaging in other people's ideas.


References
Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_practice- Accessed 18/12/10

The Networked Professional Reader 2010/11

http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/data/files4/133682/The%20Networked%20Professional%20Reader.pdfAccessed 18/12/10

Wenger 1998: 3-http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm Accessed 18/12/10