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Table 2 Wenger's indicators for the presence of community of practice and the proposed domains

From: Evolution of Wenger's concept of community of practice

Wenger's indicators

CoP domains

1. Sustained mutual relationships – harmonious or conflictual

Mutual engagement

2. Shared ways of engaging in doing things together

Mutual engagement

Joint enterprise

3. The rapid flow of information and propagation of innovation

Mutual engagement

4. Absence of introductory preambles, as if conversations and interactions were merely the continuation of an ongoing process

Mutual engagement

Shared repertoire

5. Very quick setup of a problem to be discussed

Mutual engagement

Shared repertoire

6. Substantial overlap in participants' descriptions of who belongs

Mutual engagement

7. Knowing what others know, what they can do, and how they can contribute to an enterprise

Mutual engagement

Joint enterprise

Shared repertoire

8. Mutually defining identities

Mutual engagement

9. The ability to assess the appropriateness of actions and products

Shared repertoire

10. Specific tools, representations, and other artefacts

Shared repertoire

11. Local lore, shared stories, inside jokes, knowing laughter

Shared repertoire

12. Jargon and shortcuts to communication as well as the ease of producing new ones

Shared repertoire

Mutual engagement

13. Certain styles recognized as displaying membership

Mutual engagement

14. A shared discourse reflecting a certain perspective on the world

Mutual engagement

  1. * From: Wenger E. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1998, pg. 125.