This 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.
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'Wenger's book is stimulating, insightful, and challenging.' Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education
Book Description
This book presents a new social theory of learning. As learning becomes a topic of great urgency for nations, businesses, and schools, Communities of Practice presents a broad conceptual framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation.
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Being alive as human beings means that we are constantly engaged in the pursuit of enterprises of all kinds, from ensuring our physical survival to seeking the most lofty pleasures. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Being alive as human beings means that we are constantly engaged in the pursuit of enterprises of all kinds, from ensuring our physical survival to seeking the most lofty pleasures. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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44 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book presents a clear and thorough exposition of learning, locating it firmly as a social process, and using the concept of the Community of Practice to describe the social structure within which learning takes place.
The basic style of the book - the precision and completeness of its arguments, the care with terminology, the extensive footnotes and bibliography - suggest its primary audience is intended to be academic. However, I recommend it as reading for anyone with an interest in understanding and promoting learning in organizations. I would argue that 90% of the effort expended on training and development in UK companies is ineffective precisely because it ignores the principles set out in this book.
I feel slightly uncomfortable with the intensity of some of the jargon. For example, a word such as 'reification', used to describe the central concept of how abstract ideas are made into something tangible, needs to be translated into something more user-friendly if it is to be used in general conversation.
Nonetheless, an essential read and reference.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is to be highly recommended.
Authoritative yet easy to read. Don't be put off by the rather ponderous extended title! This is a classic of research in practice. Practical examples providing ease of insight.
Authoritative yet easy to read. Don't be put off by the rather ponderous extended title! This is a classic of research in practice. Practical examples providing ease of insight.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Bobby Moon
Format:Paperback
Wenger is well know in the socio-cultural fields especially in education. I come from an ethnography background and performing arts fields and it was suggested to me that Wenger and Lave's CoP could offer my research a critical frame. I have to say it is deceptively simple and elegant in fact it is a very useable, accessible provides an excellent framework for my research. CoP basically presents learning as a social process people engage in with other people like plumbers, dancers, politicians and other diverse communities of practice including the AA, tailoring and horse racing. Wenger has his detractors, and they are worth reading, his earlier work is more relevant for academic work though his later work - tailored for the business market - is still poignant. Whereas his long term collaborator and mentor Lave remains in academia and some of her work on situated learning, and their joint work on peripheral learners adds to this read and the concept of Communtities of Practice.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
While highly theoretical, this gives an accessible and in-depth explanation of effective collaborative work through the lens of communities of practice.
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