From ‘quarantini party’ to academic impact: An early childhood visual arts special interest group becomes a community of practice

ABSTRACT The Community of Practice (CoP) framework has been successfully utilised in a number of sectors to underpin meaningful collaborations. However, to date, the application of CoP in early childhood education (ECE) has been limited, with no studies having explored the unique intersection of early childhood and visual arts CoP. A qualitative case study was conducted with nine geographically dispersed visual arts ECE academics and practitioners who formed an early childhood visual arts special interest group (SIG) to facilitate social and professional connection in response to COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020. The research collected and thematically analysed, questionnaire and focus group data to investigate how the practice of the virtual, international, ECE visual arts SIG aligned with CoP framework elements. Overall, the practices and experiences of the SIG were well aligned with the CoP framework, particularly in relation to the Domain and Practice elements. In addition, the model of an online, international CoP described in this study proposes that virtual CoP opportunities that foster strong relational connections alongside professional networking sustains the activity of the CoP to offer participants not only rich opportunities for professional learning and collaboration with like-minded colleagues, but also offers a platform for significant research translation and impact.