Rethinking Communities of Practice in Higher Education

Dr Steven Pattinson, Visiting Research Fellow, Newcastle University Business School

Abstract

Within higher education, the concept of Communities of Practice (CoPs), has increasingly been appropriated as a means of managing collaboration, knowledge exchange and organisational change. This seminar rethinks CoPs in higher education by returning to their foundations in situated learning, participation and the social negotiation of meaning. Drawing on multidisciplinary scholarship and empirical examples, it explores the tension between cultivating communities and managing them as organisational interventions. It considers what may be lost when communities that emerge organically around shared interests, expertise and practice become formalised, instrumentalised or measured. The seminar argues for a more nuanced understanding of how universities can create the conditions in which CoPs can flourish while recognising their inherently emergent, relational and negotiated character. In doing so, it offers a critical perspective on the role and potential of CoPs in contemporary higher education.

Bio

Steven Pattinson is a Visiting Research Fellow at Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University. His research interests focus on the relational dimensions of entrepreneurship as a framework for understanding innovation processes, alongside the role of relationships, communities and social contexts in higher education. His work focuses on how entrepreneurs build and leverage relationships that create sustainable value for firms and help address pressing grand societal challenges. His education research explores Communities of Practice, academic identity, knowledge exchange, and the development of inclusive cultures within higher education. He has published in leading international journals such as Business History, British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, Management Learning, Industrial Marketing Management, and Journal of Management Inquiry. He has secured research funding from Research England, UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund, Higher Education Innovation Fund, and Enterprise Educators UK. He is the Teaching Case Editor of The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Education.

Joining Online
This event will be accessible via Microsoft Teams. If you would like to attend online, please contact ed.research@durham.ac.uk to request the Teams link.