Mobilising knowledge in community−university partnerships: what does a community of practice approach contribute?

Abstract

Over the past decade different approaches to mobilising knowledge in Community−University Partnership (CUP) contexts have emerged in the UK. Despite this, detailed accounts of the intricate texture of these approaches, enabling others to replicate or learn from them, are lacking. This paper adds to the literature which begins to address this gap. The case considered here concentrates on one particular approach to knowledge mobilisation (KM) developed in the UK context. It provides an account of the authors' involvement in applying the concept, and practical lessons from a community of practice (CoP) approach, to developing knowledge exchange (KE) between academics, parents and practitioners. The authors' approach to KM explicitly attempts to combat power differentials between academics and community partners, and problematises knowledge power hierarchies. The paper explores the CoP concept and critically investigates key elements of relevance to developing KE in the CUP context. Specific themes addressed are those of power, participation and working across boundaries by CoP members with very different subject positions and knowledge capitals. The paper concludes that CoPs can be a useful mechanism for KM, but have many limitations depending on the specific context in which KM is being undertaken.

Keywords:

• community−university partnerships
• communities of practice
• knowledge mobilisation
• knowledge exchange

Notes on contributors

Angie Hart is the Academic Director of the Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp) at the University of Brighton. She is also Professor of Child, Family and Community Health. She teaches professional courses for health and social care practitioners and undertakes participatory research into inequalities in health and social care in relation to children and families with a particular interest in resilience. Angie co-directs a community interest company aimed at supporting child, family and practitioner resilience (www.boingboing.org.uk).

Ceri Davies works with Cupp focusing on community knowledge exchange projects. Much of her work centres on developing and supporting partnership projects that bring together academics and community groups to tackle contemporary social problems; she is currently leading the On Our Doorsteps programme. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the School of Applied Social Sciences exploring how universities and communities might develop knowledge for social action.

Kim Aumann is the co-director of Boingboing, a community interest company which supports child, family and practitioner resilience (www.boingboing.org.uk). She has been a practitioner in this area for 15 years, and is the former Director of Amaze, a parent-led voluntary organisation offering support and advice to parents of children with special needs and disabilities

Etienne Wenger is a globally recognized thought leader in the field of social learning and communities of practice. He has authored and co-authored seminal articles and books on the topic, including Situated Learning, where the term ‘community of practice’ was coined; Communities of Practice: learning, meaning, and identity, where he lays out a theory of learning based on the concept; Cultivating Communities of Practice, addressed to practitioners in organisations who want to base their knowledge strategy on communities of practice; and Digital Habitats, which tackles issues of technology.

Kay Aranda is a Principal Lecturer. Kay's professional background is nursing and community nursing, having worked and researched in the NHS in primary care and in the voluntary sector in women's health. She has led courses in community specialist practice and advanced practice and currently teaches sociology, policy and qualitative research. Her academic background is in the social sciences, including the sociology of health and illness. Her theoretical interests are in feminism, discourse, subjectivity and identity and equality and difference.

Becky Heaver is a Research Officer in the Centre for Health Research in the Faculty of Health and Social Science. She recently completed a PhD in Psychology, and now researches resilience in relation to children, young people and families, using methods including participatory research, literature reviews, and communities of practice. Becky's research interests also include psychophysiology, recognition memory, self-advocacy, Asperger Syndrome and social media.

David Wolff is Director of the Community University Partnership Programme. Prior to this David worked in the community and voluntary sector in the fields of homelessness, advice and information services, project management and in the use of IT. He has previously published on topics of public engagement and communities of practice.

Notes

1. Mode 3 knowledge is dispositional and transdisciplinary, whilst Mode 4 denotes knowledge that is political and change-oriented (for further discussion of Modes 3 and 4, see Hart et al., 2007b).