Cultivating communities of practice
a state-of-the-art workshop
Why social learning leadership for communities of practice?
Social learning is about learning from and with peers. It is a learning partnership – whether you call it a community of practice, a learning network, or a social learning space. It is particularly important when what you need to know is not yet known. And when you have to learn on the go, adjusting and improving in real time in response to what you are finding out in practice. What’s more, your learning is improved by what your peers are learning in their own practice.
As a species we have been doing this forever. It feels like common sense. But we can become more intentional and more strategic about it. We can cultivate these learning partnerships in communities of practice or social learning spaces to develop the overall strategic capability of our group, organization, or field.
Who should join
This workshop is for you if you want to develop your capacity to enable social learning—whether you are a manager, an activist, a consultant, a teacher, or organizational development specialist. The online format lends itself to exploring how to do this online. We also welcome people who are doing research on communities of practice, learning in networks or organization, identity, or emerging forms of leadership.
What we focus on
In this workshop we share the models and frameworks we have developed to cultivate, lead, sponsor and evaluate social learning. We also work as a community to help you apply these models to your practice or project.
- Sharing a language: social learning spaces, networks, communities of practice, landscapes of practice, value-creation framework
- Framing your challenge: articulate your context, visualize your challenge, engage the whole group in your inquiry
- Taking a lead: exploring and acting out different social learning leadership roles and tasks on behalf of the whole group
- Monitoring and articulating the value: how does what you do create value, how do you monitor and promote that value, and what does this mean for learning to make a difference?
- Exploring tools for social learning: becoming adept at using the tools and technologies that help you lead social learning activities online
How it unfolds
Each day (face-to-face) or week (online) is focused on a theme:
Getting on the same page
- Sharing a language: foundations of theory and practice
- What is everyone trying to achieve?
- How can we help each other?
Creating value
- The value creation framework
- How to use the framework to create and assess value
- Shaping a value proposition
The discipline of design
- The art of designing for social learning
- Key learning activities
- How to launch a community of practice
- The use of technology
Your leadership
- The art of social learning leadership
- What kind of social learning leader am I?
- What have I learned and where am I going next?
- Q&A session
Cultivating communities of practice
An four-day in-person (or hybrid) workshop for people cultivating communities of practice.
Writing retreat
The social learning lab The Social Learning Lab, Sesimbra, SetúbalGet started, keep going, or finish up your writing alongside other writers doing the same. In-person or online participation.
Reading with the authors
Reading and discussing our new book: "Learning to make a difference: value creation in social learning spaces". Ninety-minute synchronous sessions, four times a week for two weeks.
