Communities of Practice/Inquiry
As a means of supporting faculty as they create community around the issues that matter to them, we offer Pratt faculty a way of engaging in communities of practice or communities of inquiry (CoPI).
These one-semester long faculty communities form webs of support for new and continuing faculty alike. To that end, all CoPI groups have a mix of faculty––some with institutional memory at Pratt and some new to teaching and/or new to teaching at Pratt.
The basic features of a CoPI include the following:
- A group of no more than 6 Pratt faculty;
- A practice or inquiry topic that connects the group;
- A budget plan, including participant stipends, specific to the group;
- A meeting schedule, as determined by the group;
- Commitment to two additional meetings over the course of the semester with the CTL and other active CoPIs;
- Before and after surveys for all participants using the Diener flourishing scale.
The most important feature of a CoPI is that it’s based on practice or inquiries important to those in the group, usually initiated by one or two faculty who then act as facilitators.
Past semester CoPI groups include:
Spring 2026
- Deep Listening Circle
- Cultivating Teaching Forward
- Tech Guild
- Design Math
- Collective Practice Lab
Fall 2025
- Deep Listening Circle
- Material Farmers
- Watching Teaching
- Out of Bounds SoD/Foundation
Spring 2025
- Deep Listening Circle
- Leave no Trace – Exploring Sustainability Pedagogy through Biomaterials
- Cultivating Teaching Forward
Fall 2024
- Deep Listening Circle
- Balancing Creative Practices and Teaching
- Out of Bounds SoD/Foundation
- Watching Teaching
- SoTL Scholars
Spring 2024
- Deep Listening Circle
- Exploring equitable and inclusive pedagogies for linguistically diverse student groups
- The Art of Failure
- Balancing Creative Practices and Teaching
- Out of Bounds SoD/Foundation
Fall 2023
- Deep Listening Circle
- Embodied Practices
- Embodied Attachment Patterns in Higher Ed Classroom
- Let’s Play: Storytelling Games
Spring 2023
- Deep Listening Circle
- Inquiries into Film/Video Decolonial Pedagogy
- Re/Search
- Reconsidering the HAD Term Project
Seven semesters of data (Spring 2023–Spring 2026) tell a consistent story:
- 94% of CoPI participants surveyed said that they would recommend CoPI to a colleague and and in five of those six semesters, that number was 100%.
- Participants consistently rated their sense of community and trust within their group above 4.4 out of 5.
- Pre and post Diener Flourishing Scale data, collected across more than 95 participants, show a positive change in overall wellbeing in five out of seven semesters, with an average increase of +1.70 points.
If you’re interested in learning more or have an idea for a CoPI you’d like to run, please contact ctl@pratt.edu and we can step you through the brief proposal process.
References that have informed this program:
