On-Life Communities of Practice: Between the Social and Epistemic Needs of Schools

This paper explores the need to redefine onlife communities of practice, capable of fostering relational and communicative networksamong participants, promoting collabora-tion, negotiation, and the shared construction of knowledge. It aims to investigate how social neuroscience can provide a theoretical and interpretative framework for understanding and promoting professional teacher communities within online environments, characterized by the increasing integration of in-person and digital experiences. Drawing on motivational systems theory, the study examines the social and epistemic motivations that drive teachers and school administrators to collaborate, support each other, and share knowledge, also in line with Ministerial Decree No. 66/2023.