Communities of practice in science education: a literature review from 1991 to 2018

This work presents a literature review about the use of concept of Communities of Practice in science education research in the last 27 years. Our investigation allowed us to draw the profile of the academic production on the subject in the area. In addition, we investigated which theoretical and methodological references were used in the research on CoP and which issues these studies address in relation to vocational training. Among the results of our review, we highlight the potential of CoP as an important alternative to promote the insertion and socialization of university students by promoting and improving the quality of relations between University and Society in both teacher and non-teacher professional education. Another important result of this review was the identification of two important gaps in academic production: (i) the lack of studies on vocational training at mid-level and (ii) the non-use of the seven principles proposed by Wenger and collaborators for the cultivation of Communities of Practice.