Using the CAMEL Model to Build a Community of Practice
Background
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'It's about practice warts and all - and the warts are more interesting than the practice sometimes'
The CAMEL model is based on the Uruguayan farmers' model. Participants who have an interest (passion even) for a particular topic and who wish to learn more by sharing knowledge, practices and ideas agree to hold a series of study visits. They take it in turn to organise and host a visit to their organisation. The event consists of:
- Presentations by managers, practitioners and partners outlining strategies and practice
- Discussions around the presentations, as follow-up to inter-visit communications, generally on key themes and suggestions and ideas for future practice
- Demonstrations of tools or systems
- Hands-on sessions to enable actual experience
- Review and evaluation of the practices discussed, the day itself and suggestions for themes of future visits and inter-visit communication
The visits give the host the opportunity to showcase their practice as part of the sharing process as well as allowing for discussions and suggestions for change. Honesty is crucial to see 'the warts and all'.
In order to agree on topics of interest and a schedule of visits, it is helpful to hold a start-up meeting on neutral ground. This allows participants to get to know each other before the study visits. It is at this meeting that the ground rules are agreed and the decision is made as to whether to engage an external reviewer. If funding has been obtained for the project, then it is likely that independent, external evaluation of the project is required.
As project management and facilitation is key to the success of the project, it may be useful to have third party involvement. In the pilot, JISC infoNet and the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) took responsibility for managing the project. More detail on this aspect can be found in a separate section 'Managing the Project'.
Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of the model. This model is based on a group that includes institutions and sector-wide organisations.
