Communities of practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Communities of practice - Essay Example Particularly as people advance past routine processes into challenges that are more complex, they rely greatly on their community of practice as their principal resource of knowledge. In recent years, the idea that learning entails an intensifying process of involvement in a community of practice has gained considerable ground. Communities of practice have as well become a key focus within organizational development and when thinking about working with groups, they have substantial value (Smith, 2009, para1). Communities of practice are groups of individuals who share asset of problems, or concern, or a passion regarding a topic, and who enrich their expertise and knowledge in this area through continuous interactions (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002, p4). Allee (2000) quotes John Seely Brown, Vice President and Chief Scientist at Parc Xerox who describes communities of practice as ‘peers in executing real work, with a common sense of purpose in addition to a real desire to know what each other knows holding them together.’ He explains that what sets communities or practice apart from teams is the fact that knowledge defines communities unlike the latter, which is defined by task. He further explains that a community’s life cycle is not determined by project deadlines, but by the value it creates for its members (Allee, 2000, p5). Communities of practice are voluntary and therefore their ability to engender enough excitement, relevance, as well as value, which attract and engage participants, make these.

Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 74

Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt - Essay Example Only the most cynical would refuse to admit the truth that such commercials have a negative effect on girls, especially on the ones who are overweight. Such ads subtly convey that it is only thin girls who would be successful in getting male attention! Countless girls are deeply influenced by such advertisements even to the extent of getting severely disturbed psychologically. The fact that such disturbances almost invariably lead to eating disorders warrants no special mention! (1) As a result of getting carried away by the ads pertaining to the aforementioned category, the girls become obsessed with the idea of becoming as slim as the girls who are seen in those commercials. They start consuming less food with the intention of losing the body weight as quickly as possible. This misdirected endeavor can be termed as being an eating disorder. And, it is a fact that such disorders gravely impact the health, over the long run. (1) It cannot be disputed that when a girl goes on to develop an eating disorder, there could be several causative factors, apart from the above-mentioned ads. But several studies on this aspect have clearly shown that such negative advertising is amongst the primary reasons as to why young girls develop abnormal dietary patterns- the patterns that are in no way suitable for the overall well-being of the body! As a matter of fact, such advertising indirectly communicates to girls that the chief goal of life is to develop a thin and attractive body and that all other matters related to human existence are of secondary importance!