The purpose/domain/enterprise is there in spades, but at different levels which we might like to see as subsystems in a larger subsystem and that really is what the last blog post was about. The domain as empowerment of women in African agriculture.
The community is there in quite a lot of ways. Identity and meaning (reread the original Wenger 98). The feeling of being an AWARD Fellow, even when you are not doing anything. But the actual linkages and networks are fragmented and incomplete so they need building up.
Practice. This is what is patchy. When fellows were in the fellowship they knew what their practice was - it was building their capacity and leadership skills. Now they are a little unfocused and confused. They have some shared repertoire of skills and experiences: like the MOWs, and road maps and so on. But they need some tasks, objectives, a rhythm (see Wenger and Snyder again for this bit and maybe Dube)
The institutional context is pretty much what we knew: inter-institutional, low bandwith, little time.
Phase: it is in a phase that it reached a peak in the fellowship and now it is faling off. almost like starting anew except that the identity and meaning are already very strong.
CoP competence: noone met so far seems to have the convening capacity needed to facilitate the CoP. This will need to be built up strategically
I have to confess that the last three bore me. I think i included them in my initial analysis post lit review as i found the CoP literature kind of generic. But once i have applied it to a real situation it no longer seems generic, but really quite useful. These latter three parts are kind of more of interest to work than this study. Oh. I just remembered that the study is to look at the alumni through a CoP lens to sustain the positive effects of AWARD. So they are relevant to my research question. They are just less interesting to ME. I like the patterny theory bits.I am a Myers Briggs ENFJ - you know. Those nitty gritty details just don't do it for me like a good theoretical framework does.