Look to the ravens: reconceptualizing communities of practice into ecosystems of practice

Abstract

The academic idea of a community of practice—a group of people who come together to share and learn from one another—has been used to understand learning structures in a wide array of fields. This conceptual framework, however, is rooted in human exceptionalism, considering anything other-than-human to be a resource instead of an active and critical participant. Working to remove this anthropocentric language and better fit with Indigenous epistemologies, I propose to reconceptualize communities of practice to ecosystems of practice: communities of practice that consider other-than-human actors to be key participants in the situated learning process. I ground this definition through a case study of a Gwich’in hunting and fishing ecosystem of practice by showing clear inclusion of other-than-human members and highlighting their importance in educational processes. Actively redefining and reconceptualizing community of practice theory shifts overall cultural perspectives to better embrace other-than-human entities and fosters environmental empathy.