Drawing on Wenger’s (1998; 2002) three structural elements – Domain, Community, and Practice – our key elements reflect this framework and serve as a guide for developing and engaging in a Community of Practice (CoP).
The CoP process in the I CO-COPE project
Within the I CO-COPE project, three CoP meetings were held in each partner school, following Wenger’s elements: Domain, Community, Practice.
1️⃣ Domain – Shared goal (trunk) 🌱: The first meeting focused on identifying a shared goal.
2️⃣ Community – Action plan (branches) 🌿: In the second meeting, the CoP members developed an action plan, outlining steps, timelines, and responsibilities.
3️⃣ Practice – Results and reflection (fruits) 🍎: The third meeting evaluated outcomes and reflected on the process.
Start working in a CoP: Finding a shared goal
Inspired by a common passion, concern or problem, the core team focuses first on the DOMAIN – the central focus or “trunk” of the CoP. This stage makes the beginning of working within a Community of Practice (CoP), as it involves finding and agreeing on a shared goal that drives the community’s purpose and direction.
Why a shared goal is important and how to develop It
A shared goal provides direction, purpose, and motivation for all members of a Community of Practice (CoP). It ensures that everyone works towards a common objective, fosters collaboration, and strengthens commitment within the group. Without a shared goal, efforts may become fragmented, and the community’s impact remains limited.
To develop a shared goal, the process usually begins with a concrete experience or challenge that the team has encountered. This could be, for example, a recurring problem (such as a noisy class, learning barriers, school absentism) or an inspiring experience or observation (for instance, seeing an effective practice in another school and wanting to adapt to it).
Using this starting point, for example by asking the question “Has anyone coped with the situation like that?”, the core team initiates an open discussion: individual perspectives are shared, connections are elaborated, common approaches are identified, and inspiring or promising ideas are highlighted.
Through discussion and consensus-building, these ideas can be synthesized into a concrete, meaningful, and collective goal that reflects the shared focus and defines the CoP’s Domain.
💡 Tip: Formulate your shared goal according to the SMART principle — make it Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound to ensure clarity and feasibility in implementation.
From shared goal to action plan – Building the Community
Based on the shared goal, the second step involves jointly developing an action plan as a basis for implementing actions to achieve the shared goal.
This action plan outlines all the necessary steps towards achieving the goal, making them visible and transparent for everyone involved. In doing so, everyone contributes their ideas and suggestions which are discussed and redefined in a participatory way. This allows the team to recognize connections between actions, understand which steps depend on others, and organize the process in a logical sequence.
At the same time, specific timeframes for implementation are agreed upon collectively, and responsibilities are defined. By assigning shared responsibilities, the group also fosters commitment and continuity in the implementation process. This ensures that all CoP members maintain a clear overview of the process, that work remains focused and purposeful.
Ultimately, this collaborative planning phase strengthens the sense of ownership and engagement within the Community, ensuring that progress towards the shared goal remains transparent, inclusive, and sustainable. The branches of our tree that spread and intertwine symbolizes this phase: the community’s collective action and the members actively reaching out, connecting, and growing together toward a common purpose.
Practice – Harvesting the fruits of the CoP
At the end of the CoP-process, the core team members come together to evaluate and reflect on both the results achieved and the process itself. This includes assessing progress toward the shared goal, identifying the impact of the actions taken, and understanding the perceived outcomes, for example through surveys, questionnaires, or interviews with relevant target groups.
In addition to measuring outcomes, this phase emphasizes learning from experience: successes and challenges are discussed openly, lessons are extracted, and insights are documented and shared with the wider Community. This reflective practice ensures that knowledge is captured, retained, and made available for future initiatives.
The results and insights from this phase can then serve as the foundation for a new Community of Practice, inspiring subsequent projects, refining strategies, and continuously improving collaborative practice.
In this sense, the fruits of the CoP tree symbolize tangible outcomes, shared knowledge, and the potential for growth, allowing the community to regenerate, branch out, and tackle new challenges together.
💡 Additional aspects to consider in this phase:
Encouraging participatory evaluation, where all members contribute to analysing results.
Identifying unexpected benefits or side effects, which may inform future goals.
Creating a knowledge repository (documents, best practices, tools) that supports continuity and onboarding of new members.
Reflecting on the community dynamics: what worked well in collaboration, communication, and shared decision-making, and what could be improved.
Reflection task
In a Community of Practice (CoP), members learn together through shared interests and regular interaction. One key challenge is identifying and agreeing on a shared goal that is meaningful and motivating for everyone involved.
Think of a professional community you are part of. This could be a formal team, a working group, or an informal learning network.
👥 What connects you as a group?
– Is there already a shared purpose - or is it still evolving?
🎯 How are goals discussed and defined in your group?
– Who initiates the conversations about goals?
– Are all voices equally heard?
– How are individual motivations aligned (or not) with the group’s direction?
💡 What does a “shared goal” mean to you personally?
– What makes a goal truly shared rather than simply accepted?
– Can you think of a moment when you felt committed to a collective aim?
🚀 What helps or hinders the process of finding a shared goal?
– Think of aspects like communication, trust, leadership, structure, or time.
– How could these be improved in your context?
References and further reading
Mortier, K., Hunt, P., Leroy, M., Van de Putte, I., & Van Hove, G. (2010). Communities of practice in inclusive education. Educational Studies, 36(3), 345–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690903424816
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E. (2004). Knowledge management as a doughnut. Ivey Business Journal. http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/knowledge-management-as-a-doughnut/
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. & William Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Wenger-Trayner, E. & Wenger-Trayner, B. (June, 2015). Introduction to communities of practice: a brief overview of the concept and its uses. Wenger-Trayner.com. https://www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Downloads
Here you can download a temple to create your own CoP-tree.
