Transnational Communities of Practice: Their Development, Operation, and Contribution

Critical to the successful maintenance and survival of a transnational education partnership is the role of faculty. Our study documents the operational and social relationships between faculty teaching transnationally. Through interviews and observation, we find that informal communities of practice (CoP) spontaneously evolve, serving to improve faculty’s teaching and learning practice while in situ. The key to CoP effectiveness is members’ cultural intelligence and adoption of a reflective practice. These findings have significant implications for university internationalisation practices. CoP should be nurtured and encouraged to develop organically in a transnational environment, and formally supported by university systems and processes. Furthermore, we recommend universities facilitate development of faculty cross-cultural capabilities. Our study contributes to international education and CoP literature through its rich and detailed portrayal of the development and operation of CoP, and mapped member participation, in a culturally distant situated learning environment.