The idea that communities need to be inclusive is almost axiomatic. The process,
whereby, community members engage in inclusive practices is far less
understood. Similarly, UK universities are being encouraged to include the wider
community and extent campus boundaries. Here, I suggest a particular theoretical
lens which sheds light on engagement and relationships between community
members and university members. Communities of practice is a theory which
offers much to understanding community psychology (CP) and ways in which
universities can work with and within communities. Indeed, the ideas behind
communities of practice can be extended to CP practice, to explore how
communities learn and empower themselves. Communities of practice are
aggregates of people who share doing, talking, beliefs and values (i.e. practices).
Participants in these so-called communities of practice learn through doing,
becoming and belonging. Through a process of legitimate peripheral
participation, apprentices are exposed to a learning curriculum, where practices
and knowledge are integral to action and the development of practice. These
notions of community of practice can be seen in community settings where CP is
enacted. To illustrate this, I draw upon a case study in which CP undergraduate
students learn how to do CP by undertaking a social change project within a
community. Here, CP students, CP tutors and community members all
participated, simultaneously learning and transforming their communities of
practice. Communities of practice around geographical communities and
university communities of practice are examined through the relationships
between community psychologists (tutors and students) and community
members. The ideas of legitimate membership (i.e. who can belong) and access to
knowledge (and therefore power) can be explored using communities of practice
ideas. If social change and sustainability are ultimate goals for CP, we need
mechanisms which explore how participation, knowledge, identity and power are
enacted in community settings. Communities of practice may be one step towards
inclusive communities.