I have seen a bunch of tweets about communities of practice recently – so here is a reminder that theory is only worth using if you are going to use it properly. A short thread... [cont]

For theory to have any explanatory and/or analytical merit, it needs to be applied carefully and thoughtfully. [cont]

If we want to describe something as a community of practice [or a speech community, an activity system, an actor-network, or something else – take your pick] then we need to do the hard work in establishing *why* it is so. [cont]

So read the literature – critically and thoroughly – and do the empirical work. For a CoP, establish the mutual engagement, the joint enterprise, and the shared repertoire. And only refer to Wenger [1998] if you have actually read it. [cont]

If we don’t use theory carefully and respectfully, it becomes meaningless. And that’s bad news because it not only leads to good theory being diminished, but to bad theory being able to circulate. [cont]

Bad theory flourishes when critical and thorough reading is rejected and replaced by cursory reading, unthinking application of models and labels without worrying about their empirical warrant. [cont]

So – use theory well, and use it properly! Theory work is hard and if your brain isn’t hurting a bit once you are done, then you are not doing it properly. Don’t get your theory solely from web articles or essays – go back to the original! [end]