A community of practice is something more than a club of friends or a network of connections between people’ (Lave, Wenger) An example of a community of practice could therefore be dancing. Everybody who goes to the dance class simply goes to learn how to dance. At the class you get to know people and build relationships, ‘They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other’ (Lave, Wenger) It is thought it is easier and more effective to learn something with other people than teaching yourself as you can learn from others. The group understand eachother as they are learning the same routines and also have a shared interest in dancing.
Wenger claims that community of practice 'emphasizes the learning that people have done together rather than the unit they report to, the project they are working on, or the people they know.’ In terms of dancing, everyone is learning the same routines, and there is no hierarchy other than the dance teacher. This means that they can relate to one another and learn from eachother.
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RINCY
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ReplyDeleteclaire i think these questions are reoccuring aren't they???? i think it will be a continuous debate
ReplyDeleteI think we need to think a bit more loosely about the idea of hierarchies. If we think back to Sue's example from the lecture, she pointed out that there will be some diferences between members in a CofP, not necessarily related to an actual named role. For instance, does everyone join the dance class at the same time? If not, what difference does it make to them? Does everyone in the class have the same amount of experience of dancing? If not, so what (that rhymes!)?
ReplyDeleteI suppose the longer someone has been at the class, the more they know, and can help the others. Although this is true, I don't feel they have authority as such over the others but perhaps just more responsibility.
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