Community-based


 * Community-based/situative Learning Theory**

Elina Ithindi Dorothy Sebbowa
 * Team members:**


 * 1. Community-based/situative Learning Theory**

Community-based /situative Learning Theory is a social theory of learning in which "communities of practice" are formed by people to engage in collaborative learning and in a shared domain of interest through interacting and learning together. Communities of practice are referred to as groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Wenger, 2006:1). The theory is also referred to as a situated learning theory, where learning that takes place in the same social context in which it is applied. Lave & Wenger (1991) assert that, such learning is situative in a specific context and allows individulals to learn by socialisation,visualization and imitation. For example, an ethnographer who stays with a group of people learns their culture through collaborative interactions and imitations and therefore benefits from this group which is perceived knowledgeable.This view of learning focuses on the way knowledge is distributed socially. Anthropologists Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave coined the term 'Communities of Practice' which presents a theory of learning that starts with the assumption that:engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we learn as so we become who we are( Wenger, 2010).The organization of space and coordination among participants or, more generally, access for the apprentice to ongoing work and participation in that work are important conditions for learning(Lave, 1991).

//**Online Learning Communities: Brief explanation by key theorist E. Wenger**// media type="youtube" key="ifqh8_HgOMI" width="378" height="202"

This theory allows learning to take place through socialization, visualisation and imitation. It is based on the assumption that learning begins with people trying to solve problems real life problems... Dealing with authentic experiences is therefore a motivating factor. The primary focus of this theory is on learning as a social participation with three major components: They were prompted by the need to understand how learning occurred outside the classroom (informal settings) at the Institute of Research on learning(Learning research group in Palo Alto California). They studied how newcomers/novices to informal groups became established members of those groups (Lave&Wenger,1991). A structure of the community was then created over time through a process of **Legitimate Peripheral Participation** (LPP). LPP describes how new comers become experienced members and eventually old timers of the community over a period of time through observation and role play as they learn.For example a novice teacher would attend a class of an expert teacher, observe and establish how he conducts his lessons .This can help the novice teacher gain knowledge and basic teaching skills from the expert teacher which he can later use while conducting his classes. This seems to concurr with Mayes & de Freitas(2004:10) who claims that, for an environment of apprenticeship to be a productive enviroment of learning there need to be opportunities for the learners to observe and the practice activities which move them into more 'legitmate' participation in the community. LPP offers a two -way bridge between the development of knowledgeable skill and identity -the production of persons and the production and reproduction of communities of practice. New comers become old timers through a social process of increasingly centripetal participation which depends on legitimate access to ongoing community practice( Lave,1991)
 * 2. Key principles of Community-based/situative Learning Theory**
 * Learning as a meaning - to experience our life and the world as meaningful.
 * Learning as a practice -learning as mutual engagement into action
 * Learning as a community -learning as belonging/our participation is recognized as competence.
 * Learning as identity - a way of talking about how learning changes the way we are(Wenger,1998).The social learning theory is illustrated in the figure below
 * [[file:A figure showing the social theory of learning.doc]]
 * 3. Key theorists in Community-based/situative Learning Theory**
 * Wenger** and **Lave** coined the term 'Communities of practice' (living curriculum of the apprentice) in 1990 while studying anthropology as a learning model.

Wenger asserts that the conceptual tools**;**domains,boundaries (peripheries), community, identity/trajectories and participation play an important part in community of practice as a social learning theory. Wenger illustrates the shared domain of interest as an identity of a group of people with shared competence. Membership of a community of practice involves a shared common interest that binds the group together (Internal domain) and distinguishes the group from other people (external domain). For example, nurses in the hospital hold a shared competence and expertise that unites them towards a common cause/domain interest such as how to handle their patients which may not be an area of interest to other groups of people. Shared domain of interest is therefore a key concept in a community of practice.
 * 4. Key concepts highlighted in community of practice**
 * Domain**

The terms boundaries and peripheries both refer to the edges of communities of practice, their points of contact with the rest of the world but they all emphasize different aspects. Boundaries refer to discontinuities- lines of distinction between inside and outside membership and non membership,inclusion and exclusion(Wenger, 2010:131). Boundaries involve limited access and offer a distinction between those who have been participating in the community of practice and those who are have not. For example, a doctor who shares a seat with teachers who constantly refer to lesson plans, schemes of work may feel excluded in the conversation because he cannot figure out what they are talking about. Wenger proposes that shared practice by its very nature creates boundaries which connect communities of practice and also offers social learning opportunities.
 * Boundaries/peripheries**

C**ommunity** Wenger alludes that members of a community of practice engage in joint activities and discussions,help each other by sharing information that can be a solution of solving a problem at hand. They build interactions/relationships/that enable them to learn from each other, which is refered to as shared practice. For example teachers faced with a common challenge of low grades and poor performance of students in school would interact, share ideas and engage in joint activities to come up with a solution to their challenge.The community based learning theory enforces the aspect of social learning where members of a community of practise interact and learn together.The process of becoming a full practitioner in a community involves two kinds of production:the production of continuity with, and displacement of , the practice of old timers**.** Newcomers and old timers are dependent on each other: newcomers in order to learn , and old timers in order to cany on the community of practice. At the same time,the success of both new and old members depends on the eventual replacement of old timers by newcomers -become- old timers them-selves(Lave &Wenger,1991;Lave,1991). Wenger claims that, identity of a community of practice is reflected in a number of ways:
 * Identity/trajectories**
 * Identity as negotiated experience
 * Identity as community of membership
 * Identity as a learning trajectory (Wenger,1998).

According to him, trajectory is a continuous motion with a coherence through time that connects the past, the present and the future. For example in a community of practice, the old timers deliever the past and offer the present and future in terms of engagement and participation with new comers. This implies that the novice/new comers actively participate in the community of practice over and over again which therefore enhances community based learning.The construction of an identity is also a way of speaking of a community 's constitution of itself through the activity of its practitioners(Lave,1991) Wenger argues that '//we know who we are by what is familiar and by what we can negotiate and make use of, and that we know who are not by what is unfamiliar,unwiedly, purview'// //(Wenger, 2010:140).// This quote demonstrates that we donot only obtain identity through mutual engagement in activities of a community of practice but also identify ourselves with practices that we may not engage in. Wenger views both participation and non participation as opportunities for community based learning and concludes that,**'**//our relations to communities of practice involve both participation and non participation and our identities are shaped by the two'// //(Wenger, 2010).//
 * Participation** **and non participation**
 * 5.Relation of Wenger's learning theory to the use of ICTs in Education**

Wenger believes that knowledge should not just be viewed as transmission of abstract and decontextualised knowledge, it should also be a social process for constructing knowledge, whereby learning is situated in a specific context in a particular social and physical environment. It should involve interaction between the community and an ICT tool, whereby members of the community work together to create new knowledge. This explains why social networking applications such as blogs, e-mail, chat, discussion forum, face book and others are suitable as ICT mediated tools for this theory. These applications allow learning to take place through socialization (interaction with others), visualization (engagement with the tool) and imitation (learning from others). Wenger uses an example of a discussion forum that started as an e-mail list that later translated into something that could be called a community of practice, whereby Myeloproliferative (MPD) community members meet online to discuss issues and challenges related to their rare medical condition. Surerly this is an example of a community whereby members have a shared interest, and the discussion forum as a tool gives them the opportunity to interact with this tool to create knowledge collaborativelly.

Community-based/situative learning theory enabled by technology: **discussion forum**.
 * An illustration of a good example of how this theory has been appropriated to support learning in a technology-enhanced activity or program**

As reflected in the forum above, community of practice learning should (be):
 * **sharing of experiences** with each other (learning **from** and **with** each other),
 * **both formal and informal**, and
 * **from sources outside and inside** the community (Wenger,White & Smith, 2009). The community member who invited others who need help with Mathematics is sharing her experience with other members, and in response, some members responded in a formal way, while others did it informally. The knowledge to be created is from both inside (community members) and outside sources (links to other sources related to the key topic on discussion always provided at the beggining of the forum).
 * **Boundaries, identity, trajectories and participation** requirements are also met. Members of the community bring along different experiences and similarities and might have a variety of reasons for joining the community.


 * Poor** **example** of how this theory has been appropriated to support learning in a technology-enhanced activity or program

media type="youtube" key="ce0LaSWDcbA" width="533" height="262" //**Questionable quotes from the video that make the domain dimension questionable:**// "....for leadership positions". (Wrong reason to join the community.) " Honestly I did it (joined) for the parking". (Wrong reason for joining the community.) "I learned from them because they're different from me." (This can be interpreted in two different ways. Members can surerly learn from those who are "different" from them, but one key requirement for a community of practice is that members should share the same interest.) There are similarities between Wenger's theory and Vygotsky's development and community-based theory. According to Vygotsky, learning requires a social environment, and the community-based theory provides such an environment. **Online discussions**, that are suitable for a social learning environment, are a productive way of reflecting **interplay between community and technology** (Wenger, White and Smith, 2009). Discussions provide a **platform for engagement with the tool,** the forum, which enables members to express their views in order to solve real life/authentic problems. All these interactions/engagements **open doors for assimilation and accommodation of ideas** in the learning process. Technology facilitates community members to **establish a common identity** as members are unified by a common interest. "Technology accelerates the cycle through which members explore, test and refine good practice" (Wenger, White and Smith, 2009).
 * 6****. Recommendations of where this theory may provide a useful explanation for how learning occurs when using particular ICT tools in specific ways**
 * 6****. Recommendations of where this theory may provide a useful explanation for how learning occurs when using particular ICT tools in specific ways**

A platform for **ongoing exchanges of knowledge and solutions to authentic problems** is created over time (lifelong learning) via technology. (White, Wenger and Smith, 1991).The most common on-line facilities that communities of practice provide can include: a conversation space for online discussions of a variety of topics, a facility for floating questions to the community in some cases, a shared workspace for sychcronous electronic collaboration, discussion or meeting (Wenger, 2001). Members can share information and ideas from anywhere and at any time (unlimited access) e.g. mobile learning to discuss how to solve a variety of problems, and ability to solve authentic personal and global problems is an important skill. Learner differences are accommodated by technology, e.g. novice learners, and technology affords an opportunity for learners to learn at own pace in a community-based learning environment.. Technology therefore affords a collaborative learning environment..


 * 7.** K**ey critiques** of this theory
 * There is no clear guidance on assessment of learning. This is one area that Wenger has not clarified in terms of community-based/situative theory.
 * Lack of proper focus in terms of content production. What happens then after content production? How are different segments of "new knowledge" assimilated and integrated?
 * "Peripheral" participants might misuse the community's learning, e.g. for personal gains (e.g. for research, and also disclosing/misusing important/personal information generated by the community members).
 * Communities of practice leadership is dependent on one person- a risk on its own (Wenger, White & Smith, 2009). Should something bad happen to the sole leader, it might result in the "break down" of the whole community.

Lave**,**J(1991) Situating -Learning -in Communities of Practice, (PP 1-19). Lave, J. & Wenger,E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitmate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press, ISBN0521423740 Wenger, E., White, N. & Smith, D. (2009). Digital habitats stewarding technology for communities. Portland: CPSquare. Wenger, E. (2001). Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning and identity. London: Cambridge. Wenger, E. (2001). Supporting communities of practice: a survey of community-orientate technology. How to make sense of this emerging market under the potential of technology and set up a community platform. Draft version 1.3 Wenger,E. (2010). Conceptual tools for COPs as social learning systems: Boundaries, identity, trajectories and participation. In social learning systems and communities of practice. Springer: London.
 * 8. References**