Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and IdentityThis book presents a theory of learning that starts with the assumption that engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we get to know what we know and by which we become who we are. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions, but the informal 'communities of practice' that people form as they pursue shared enterprises over time. To give a social account of learning, the theory explores in a systematic way the intersection of issues of community, social practice, meaning, and identity. The result is a broad framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation. This ambitious but thoroughly accessible framework has relevance for the practitioner as well as the theoretician, presented with all the breadth, depth, and rigor necessary to address such a complex and yet profoundly human topic. |
Contents
The concept of practice | 2 |
Community | 15 |
Learning | 24 |
Boundary | 34 |
Locality | 46 |
Knowing in practice | i |
A focus on identity | ii |
Participation and nonparticipation | 7 |
Modes of belonging | 8 |
Identification and negotiability | |
Learning communities | |
Design for learning | |
Organizations | |
Education | |
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Common terms and phrases
ability actions activities alignment Alinsu argued Ariel artifacts aspects become boundary objects boundary practices broader brokering Chapter claims processors Coda communities of practice complex conflicts connections constellation of practices constitute context conversations coordination create defined desk develop dimensions discuss duality economy of meaning emergent structure engagement in practice experience of meaning explicit focus forms of participation global identification and negotiability identity of participation imagination individual influence inherent instance institutional institutionalized interaction interpretation involved issues Jean Lave John Seely Brown kind knowledge learning community lives Medicare modes of belonging multimembership mutual engagement negotiating meaning negotiation of meaning newcomers one’s organization ownership of meaning participation and non-participation participation and reification peripheral person perspectives procedure production reflect regime of competence relations repertoire requires sense shape shared practice social configurations specific structure talk theory things trajectories transformation understanding various