Communities of Practice: Connecting What We Know with What We Do

This article examines the community of practice model as a framework for integrating educational research and practice. This perspective extends current notions about collaborative inquiry and the role of teacher participation in research aimed at improving educational practices. In addition to defining communities of practice and describing reflective practice and situated learning as the theoretical underpinnings of this approach, the article analyzes applications of this model from the literature and offers suggestions for transforming traditional methods of conducting research on educational practice. The article concludes with a challenge to the field to consider ways to promote dialogue and inquiry to advance our knowledge on this issue.