“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” Etienne Wenger
Professional development and ongoing learning can take many forms, and one that has much to offer us in early childhood education (ECE) is that of participating in a Community of Practice or “CoP”. The term was first used in 1991 by theorists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. They defined a Community of Practice as “a process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in a subject or area collaborate over an extended period of time, share ideas and strategies, determine solutions, and build innovations.” What makes a CoP unique from other learning is that it must have three components: (1) A shared domain of interest (in our case, ECE); (2) A community of learners who build relationships, support each other, and share knowledge; and (3) An intentional focus on growing their practice.
