Communities of practice in school-museum partnerships: a systematic review of teacher identity and boundary crossing

Schools increasingly partner with museums to enrich experiential learning, yet the mechanisms through which these collaborations shape teachers’ professional identity remain underexplored. Guided by PRISMA 2020, this systematic review analysed 12 studies published between January 2000 and June 2024 that were grounded in Communities of Practice (CoP) theory, to explore how school–museum partnerships shape teacher identity, negotiated meaning, and boundary crossing. Identity development was found to hinge on negotiated meaning and the dynamic interplay of engagement, imagination, and alignment, rather than linear progression. Boundary objects and hybrid roles facilitate collaboration, while power and resource asymmetries, accountability pressures, and time constraints often limit participation in cross-institutional CoP. Formal and distributed CoPs were typically linked with alignment demands, whereas informal and co-located CoPs encouraged creative reflection. This review extends CoP theory to cross-boundary contexts and offers guidance for practice: foster trust, shared goals, distributed leadership, and institutional support.