Developing A Community Of Practice Through Learning Climate, Leader Support, And Leader Interaction

• Published in: American journal of business education Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 33 - 40
• Main Authors: Baker-Eveleth, Lori J., Chung, Yunhyung, Eveleth, Daniel M., O'Neill, Michele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Littleton The Clute Institute 21.02.2011; Clute Institute
• Subjects: Behavioral psychology; Business Administration Education; Classrooms; Cognitive style; College Faculty; Communities of Practice; Community; Community development; Correlation; Curricula; Educational Environment; Group Membership; Integrated Curriculum; Interactive learning; Interpersonal Relationship; Knowledge management; Leadership; Learning; Learning Theories; Memory; Operations management; Predictor Variables; Process planning; Regression (Statistics); Reliability; Skill Development; Student behavior; Students; Studies; Tacit knowledge; Teacher Surveys; Teachers; Teaching; Undergraduate Students; Undergraduate Study
• ISSN: 1942-2504; 1942-2512
• DOI: 10.19030/ajbe.v4i2.3560

The Communities of Practice (CoP) concept and the knowledge management literature both provide useful frameworks for conceptualizing how an individual’s performance in the classroom (e.g., earning a grade) or in an organization (e.g., solving a client’s problem) can be supported by a collection of other individuals performing similar tasks and pursuing similar goals. When individuals in a CoP report high levels of meaning, involvement, identification, and belongingness to the community (Wenger, 1998) the individuals act “as resources to each other exchanging information, making sense of situations, sharing new tricks and new ideas, as well as keeping each other company and spicing up each other’s working days” (Wenger, 1998, p. 47). In this paper, we report the results of a study that identifies three factors (learning climate, leader support and leader interaction) that impact the development of a CoP. Specifically, among a sample of 94 undergraduate business students in two cohort groups participating in a year-long program, we found that meaning and involvement were related to leader interaction in a positive manner, identification was related to leader support and CoP climate in a positive manner, and belongingness was related to leader support and leader interaction in a positive manner. Implications are presented for practitioners and educators who wish to facilitate the development of a Community of Practice.