Dissonance and resonance in a community of practice

What might be possible if we more intentionally create learning environments that support and challenge us at the leading edge of our human potential? This is the inquiry that has driven my study. We live in times of great uncertainty and rapid change that call us all to respond with our highest capabilities. There is evidence that the solution to addressing the challenges of our time lies in our ability to develop our consciousness, individually and collectively. Learning, as a social phenomenon, is catalyzed in holding environments designed with developmental intention.;Over the period of a semester, I explored the experiences of a small group of college teachers as we experimented with creating a community of practice designed to promote transformational development. I used a participatory action inquiry approach to the research, integrating first, second and third-person perspectives into the data collection and analysis. The initial question was broad: "What are the experiences of teachers who participate in a community of practice that utilizes a generative approach to dialogue?" However, through the iterative cycles of action and reflection the question evolved: "What is the role of dissonance and resonance in a community of practice?".;Findings from this research include the recognition that generative dialogue is deeply relational, challenging to apply, and requires vulnerability and authentic not knowing. In communities of practice, the threat of transformation is unavoidable, and so if you can't get out of it you might as well get into it. As Hart (2009) says, "The question is not whether transformation happens: it does... the question is whether we can help transformation along" (p. 13).;Faculty entering these dialogues need to know explicitly that a community of practice is a holding environment for transformative learning, and that transformative learning is enhanced by a willingness to be vulnerable. It involves first recognizing and surfacing dissonance as an embodied feeling in the present moment, choosing to sit with it and be curious, and then opening to new possibilities. Communities of practice are ideal holding environments in the context of higher education to create a bridge across diversity and difference. Communities of practice can assist us in continually stepping into the unknown and encountering Other.