	Professional Development	Community of Practice
Definition	Improves knowledge and skills that lead to changes in professional practice (Brodeur, Deaudelin, & Bru, 2005; Paquay et al., 2010) .	Provides learning opportunities for participants thanks to their active participation in work-related practices (Lave & Wenger, 1991) .
Objectives	Develop new competencies (Barbier & Galatanu, 2004) . Ensure a rapid adaptation to changing professional contexts because the person reflects on their practice (Wittorski, 2007) .	Share information, ideas, advice; discuss problems, experiences, tools, models, new practices, contexts, professional aspirations, and needs; learn from others who share the same interests (Mottier-Lopez, 2007; Wenger, 1998, 2005; Wenger et al., 2002) .
Mode of operation	May be formal training (school or training centre), non-formal training (organised non-evaluated activities), or informal training (unorganized, unstructured, or unintentional learning) (OCDE, 2007) . Improves the skills required to exercise a profession (Bourdoncle, 1991; Nolan & Hoover, 2008) . Mobilises the skills required to deal effectively with work situations (Paquay et al., 2010) .	Informal training Group meetings based on the desire to learn together by relying on each other in a particular area of their professional practice (Wenger, 1998) . Discussion opportunities between the CoP members are a source of enrichment that enables them to discover and share a multitude of practices and new perspectives to generate reflection with regard to individual practices (Payette & Champagne, 1997) .
Participation	A person cannot undertake a PD process unless they are willing to do so voluntarily to develop competencies that will be useful to them in their duties (Beckers, 2010; Guillemette & Savoie-Zajc, 2012; L’Hostie & Boucher, 2004; Le Boterf, 2007, 2008; Uwamariya & Mukamurera, 2005) .	Participation is voluntary. This is a long-term process, usually with small groups of individuals. The members share a common interest; they will share and learn from each other (Wenger et al., 2002) .
Ideal situations	Pertain to the challenges to overcome, problems to solve, or projects to undertake (Paquay et al., 2010) . The PD must be continuous throughout the person’s professional career, as the issues constantly evolve (Brodeur et al., 2005; Paquay et al., 2010) .	Participants have the desire to discuss their issues, experiences, tools, models, new practices or even better ones (Wenger et al., 2002) . The activities generate a need to reflect and to explore new strategies for a given situation (Lesser & Storck, 2001; Wenger et al., 2002) .