In a community of practice (I think original idea Lave and Wenger), I would suggest that members share tacit understanding and tacit knowledge (worth looking up Polanyi) which may cross other cultural boundaries. So, for example, teachers in many countries may share similar beliefs about the nature of how people learn, or want to learn. I guess that this could be because of personality traits shared by people who join certain communities but we do also sometimes actually set out to enculturate newcomers - this might be through fairly formal means such as asking them to demonstrate evidence against a set of competences in order to 'qualify' and it can also be less formal through discussion and observation of peers.
I think this may be why #phdchat on twitter has developed as so much more than a professional or social network. There is, perhaps, a community of researchers.
"The concept of the researcher as “bricoleur” or “carpenter of her (sic) own personal theoretical constructs”, is put forward by Ely et al. (1999: 1, 4) who state that it is important to “breathe into our words the life we have experienced”. This is not to say, as Glaser emphatically states (2002: para. 9), that the researcher composes the story on behalf of the interviewees. What it does mean is that writer is attempting to express the experiences of the respondents in a way which is based on tacit, shared understandings that exist between them." (Moreland, 2007: 90)
other related blog posts
stigmergic collaboration
learning theories - is apprenticeship still valid?
The memory of social networks
Further reading
Athannasiou, N. and Nigh, D. (2000) ‘Internationalization, Tacit Knowledge and the Top Management Teams of MNCs’. Journal Of International Business Studies. 31: 47-487
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) ‘Learning and Pedagogy in Communities of Practice’. In J. Leach and B. Moon (eds.) Learners and Pedagogy. London
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