By Janet J. McIntyre-Mills
What is a metalogue? How can metalogues support the work of communities of practice?
A metalogue is a series of asynchronous, iterative conversations, and commentary on transcripts from dialogues, to enable exploring diverse ways of knowing in a community of practice (Wenger et al., 2009).
The term ‘metalogue’ draws on the work of Gregory Bateson (1972) and Nora Bateson (2021) to encourage people to think ecologically and to avoid what Shiva (2012) calls ‘monocultures of the mind’ when addressing areas of concern. In other words to think about relationships within context and to foster ‘an ecology of mind’ with members of a community of practice. The aim is to address an area of shared concern by pooling ideas in a reciprocal manner in order to achieve an agreed goal with people from similar or diverse backgrounds spanning spaces and places.
How can metalogues support the work of communities of practice?