The purpose of the Community of Practice, Creativity and Supports (COPCS) is to share, create and support the project staff working on the ten federally funded state deaf-blind projects in Area 4, one of four regions being supported by the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness.
To promote and sustain this effort, the members of the community identified a set of Guiding Principles and developed a series of protocols for working together.
The Guiding Principles grew from the collective experience and expertise of the group and from exemplary practices and research on collaboration, relationship building, principled leadership, creative problem solving, communication, communities of practice, systems change and evaluation.
The protocols outline the processes that are used at all times when members work together. COPCS has three protocols:
- Norms - the way in which members work with each other to achieve a true sense of community;
- Communication - the way in which members share individual project information, share consultants and resources and participate in one another’s state activities;
- Decision-Making - the processes by which members make decisions about shared work.
COPCS: A Community of Practice, Creativity & Support 