Dear Educators, The Center for Education is currently making efforts to develop a number of Communities of Practice.

Within the 2008 Educators Conference, we will include a “Community of Practice Forum” on Saturday afternoon for various Communities of Practice to hold their own mini-forum. This is a great opportunity for networking and yearly planning for future growth within that particular Community of Practice.

A Community of Practice is a group of people who are working with the same educational vision in mind. The Center for Education is working to collaborate with educators and organizations in creating Communities of Practice both at our annual conference and online. There are many such Communities of Practice, such as Communities of Marriage Education Practice, Communities of Summer Camp Practice, and Communities of Schools Practice.

We will be inviting Dr. Thomas Lickona back as our keynote speaker for a keynote address on Professional Ethical Learning Communities (PELC) that aligns with Communities of Practice. By 2009, the Center for Education is hoping to grow our annual conference centered on Communities of Practice, working in partnership with Communities of Practice Facilitators to shape and provide an annual forum that serves as an opportunity for advancing your efforts. Our hope is to shape the annual conference around Communities of Practice within and with other faith practices The Center for Education Steering Committee invites you to engage with others in your field towards creating specific Communities of Practice. These can further develop at the 2008 Conference.