"Patterns" and learning

How can we share and communicate good practice. Colin Ashurst sees 'Pattern language' as a means of achieving this in various contexts. The approach is commonly associated with project management, and seems to have come from architecture (See http://downlode.org/Etext/Patterns/).

AS I understand it patterns are quick ways of reifying tacit knowledge without explaining so much that it becomes meaningless. It is a form of quick documentation that considers both the audience and context.