Community of Practice (written version)

Communities of Practice
The notion of a community of practice was first put forward by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger in 1991. They argued that a community of practice encompasses the notion of situated learning because they said that learning is a social process that takes place in an environment and that learning cannot be created in an individual’s head alone. In such an environment, learning can be viewed as a social activity and Lave and Wenger define learning in a group as having the characteristic of a process they called legitimate peripheral participation.

To understand legitimate peripheral participation one has only to look at an educational setting to see that communities of practice develop with the involvement all students in active participation. A community of practice encourages the less experienced students to move slowly, as their confidence and knowledge develop, from participation on the periphery to active participation at the centre. And in so doing, the students become more involved in their own learning and build on their deepening process of participation so that they may become a full participant in the community. In a school, this type of community of practice becomes a cohesive learning community where dialogue and collaboration are valued and where students are encouraged to make meaning of their world, construct new knowledge and reflect on their learning. The more expert students can scaffold the less experienced students and the teacher can be a facilitator and co-learner with the students.

These notions sit well within Aotearoa, New Zealand educational environments. The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) states that ‘learning is inseparable from its social and cultural context’. Furthermore, the Curriculum encourages an effective pedagogy enhanced by inquiry learning. Students learn as they engage in shared activities and conversations with others in a learning community. In fact Alton-Lee (2003) found that effective ‘pedagogical practice is appropriately responsive to the interdependence of socio-cultural and cognitive dimensions’ (p. vi).

So in any setting, communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn. Over time, in a cognitive environment they interact regularly as a community of practice in which they share learning, conversations and reflections, that is they share and reflect in cognitive proximity.

References
Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality teaching for diverse students in schooling: Best
evidence Synthesis. Ministry of Education: Wellington, New Zealand.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E.(1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media Ltd.:
Wellington, New Zealand.