Researching Professional Communities of Practice

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Researching Professional Communities of Practice

• Don Ropes (Donald.Ropes_at_inholland.nl)
• Centre for Research in Intellectual Capital
• Inholland University Amsterdam/Diemen
• University of Amsterdam

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Background to my work

• My Research question
• Learning through a KM perspective
• - How can managers stimulate professional
  development through cultivating CoPs?
• - My goal develop an HRD-type system for
  professionalization based on COPT, that managers
  in HPE can use in order to facilitate
  organizational change.

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What are CoPs?

• Groups of professionals with a common interest
  who come together in order to solve problems,
  innovate and learn with each other in a
  semi-informal, self-directed way.

Community of Practice
Domain
Practice
Community
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Why bother studying them?

• Two reasons originating in organizational
  development praxis
• 1.The only constant is change.
• 2. Innovate or fade away.
• Scientific reason
• 3. There is very little empirical work done on
  them.

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How do I research them?

• Design Based Research
• Prescriptive, not descriptive
• Its what questions (exploratory) why questions
  (explanatory) how questions (prescriptive)
• Situated in a Pragmatic tradition
• (see Cobb 2003 Collins 2004 Kelly 2003 van
  Aken 2004, 2005)

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Alternative knowledge claims
Post-positivism
Constructivism
Determination Reductionism Empirical observation
and measurement Theory verification
Understanding Social and historical
construction Multiple participant meanings Theory
generation
I
II
III
IV
Advocacy/Participatory
Pragmatism
Political Empowerment issue-oriented Collaborative
Change-oriented
Consequences of actions Problem-centered Pluralist
ic Real-world practice oriented
(Creswell 2003)
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Mixed-methods approach
Alternative combinations of Knowledge Claims,
Strategies of Inquiry and Methods
(Creswell 2003)
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Design based research model
Theory-building
Evaluate
Design intervention and implementation
Define problem
Implement
Reflect
Report
Redesign
Empirical testing
Based on Andriessen (2003) and Gorard Taylor
(2004)
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Step one define problem

• The changing landscape of higher professional
  education in NL

Didactics
Curricula
Pedagogy
A
B
Profession
Organization
(Ropes 2005)
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Step two design intervention and implementation

• Understanding and designing the the internal
  environment of an effective CoP (using theory and
  empirical work)
• and
• (just as importantly) designing interventions
  that assure the organizational environment is
  conducive to CoPs (as far as one can)

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Designing interventions

• HRD Theory
• Effective HRD initiatives
• Have elements of
• adult pedagogy/workplace learning
• Are based on (on-going) processes
• Create (powerful)learning environments
• Have a process-orientation
• Are linked to organizational goals
• Depend on self direction

• CoP Theory
• Effective CoPs
• Are based on strong community
• Consider Situated Learning
• Focus on practice
• Are linked to organization
• Are self-directing
• Lead to org.learning

• Case studies from
• HRD work
• COPT work
• WPL work

• Learning theory
• Effective (WP) learning
• Promotes reflection
• Stresses feedback
• Etc.

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Examples from my work

• 1.garnering management support
• presentation of business case for CoPs
• (linking to organizational goals, cost-benefits,
  etc.)
• 2. garnering participant support (HRD theory)
• presentation on benefits
• of participating in a CoP (an adjusted business
  case)
• 3. storytelling workshop - a small-group
  communication
• intervention based on grounding theory.
• (communication processes needed for social
  learning)

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Step three implement
A Quasi-Experimental Design
Intervention I
Intervention III
Intervention II

O1 XA O2 O1 O2
O1 XA1 O2 O1 O2
O1 XB2 O2 O1 O2
C1
O1 XA2 O2 O1 O2
O1 XB1 O2 O1 O2
O1 XB O2 O1 O2
C2
(Based on Cook and Stanley 1979)
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Step four evaluate
Conceptual model
Individual Learning
Organizational Environment
Organizational Learning
CoP
Group learning
Learning Environment
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Expanded Conceptual Model

• Individual Learning
• Improved domain competences
• Critical Reflective Work Behaviour

• Organizational environment
• Management support

• Communities of Practice
• Individual participation
• Group functioning as a CoP

Organizational Learning

• Group Learning
• New knowledge products
• Group Learning Climate
• Team Learning Orientation

• Internal environment
• effective HRD
• effective CoPT
• effective WPL

(Ropes 2007)
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Data gathering and analysis

• Closed measures (learning as outcome)
• Domain Competences
• CRWB
• Team Learning Orientation
• Group Learning Climate
• Knowledge Products
• Open observations (learning as process)
• Participant interviews
• Facilitator observations (maybe)

Quantitative methods
Qualitative methods
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Step four iterations
Reflect, redesign, iterate (2X)
...and report
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Reporting showing threats
Typology of Real-Life Rivals

• Rivals Related to the Targeted Intervention
• Direct (practice or policy) Rival Claims that a
  different type of intervention, not the targeted
  intervention,
• accounts for the observed result
• Commingled (practice or policy) Rival Claims
  that another intervention, of the same type,
  co-occuring
• with the targeted intervention, accounts for the
  observed effect.
• Rivals related to Implementation
• Implementation Rival Claims that the pattern of
  implementation accounts for the observed result
• Rivals Related to Theory
• Rival Theory Claims that an alternative
  theoretical perspective can explain the observed
  result better.
• Rivals Related to External Conditions
• Super Rival Claims that the targeted
  intervention and the observed results are but
  part of a larger
• and more potent process that accounts for the
  results.
• 6. Societal Rival Claims that some salient
  social, political or economic condition accounts
  for the result.

From Yin (2000)
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Pilot study

• 20 months with a group of managers
• who underwent a development program employing
• interventions that have many similarities to
  those
• associated with the cultivating of CoPs.
• Checking research model
• Checking interventions

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Questions or comments?
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Sources
Andriessen, D. (2003). The Value of Weightless
Wealth Designing and Testing a Method for the
valuation of Intangible Resources,
Nyenrode. Bunderson, J. and K. Sutcliffe (2003).
"Management team learning orientation and
business unit performance." Journal of Applied
Psychology 88(3) 552-560. Cobb, P., J. Confrey,
et al. (2003). "Design Experiments in Educational
Research." Educational Researcher 31(1)
9-13. Collins, A., D. Joseph, et al. (2004).
"Design Research Theoretical and Methodological
Issues." The Journal of the Learning Sciences
13(1) 15-42. Cook, T. D. and D. T. Campbell
(1979). Quasi-Experimentation Design Analysis
Issues for Field Settings. Boston, Houghton
Mifflin. Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research
design qualitative quantitative approaches.
Thousand Oaks, Calif. London, Sage
Publications. Edmondson, A. (1999).
"Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in
Work Teams." Administrative Sciences Quarterly
44 350-383. Gorard, S. and C. Taylor (2004).
Combining Methods in Educational and Social
Research. Berkshire, Open University press.
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Sources
Kelly, A. E. (2003). "Research as Design."
Educational Researcher 32(1) 3-4. Ropes, D.C.
(2005). Communities of Practice Facilitating
Teacher Professionalization in Higher Education.
Paper read at 30th Conference of the Association
for Teacher Education in Europe,
Amsterdam. _________ (2007). Measuring the
Impact of Communities of Practice A Conceptual
Model. Intellectual Capital Conference, Haarlem,
the Netherlands. van Aken, J. E. (2004).
"Management Research Based on the Paradigm of the
Design Sciences The Quest for Field-Tested and
Grounded Technological Rules." Journal of
Management Studies 41(2) 219-246. _________(2005
). "Management Research as a Design Science
Articulating the Research Products of Mode 2
Knowledge Production in Management." British
Journal of Management 16(1) 19-36. van Woerkom,
M. (2003). Critical Reflection at Work bridging
individual and organisational learning. Enschede,
Print Partners. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study
Research Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks,
Sage.
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Appendix CRWB

• Dimensions of CRWB
• Reflection
• Critical opinion-sharing
• Asking for feedback
• Challenging groupthink
• Learning from mistakes
• Experimentation
• Career awareness