Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

system or institution and the influence ofsuch institutions can indeed be pervasive. A
community ofpractice can respond to the conditions imposed by the institution in ways
that are not determined by the institution. To do what they are expected to do,
participants produce a practice with 'inventiveness that is all theirs' (Wenger 1998:79).
Their inventive resourcefulness applies equally to what the institution probably wants and
to what it probably does not want.
Because participants develop and produce a practice to deal with what they understand to
be their enterprise, their practice as it unfolds belongs to their community in a
fundamental sense. So although conditions, resources and demands may influence a
community ofpractice, it is the participants who negotiate these constraints and shape the
practice.
(N)egotiating a joint enterprise gives rise to relations ofmutual accountability" among
the participants. "These relations ofaccountability include what matters ... what is
important ... what to do ...what to pay attention to ... when artefacts are good enough
and when they need refinement" (Wenger 1998:81).
Information and resources are treated as something to be shared. Understanding and
taking responsibility for what makes life difficult for others is enforced among
participants. Participants understand that making their work life bearable is part oftheir
joint enterprise, a phenomenon described by Wenger as a "communal regime ofmutual
accountability" (ibid. :81).
In a community ofpractice, aspects ofaccountability can be reified in terms ofrules,
policies, standards and goals. Those aspects that cannot be reified are just as important.
These could include developing specialised sensitivities, an aesthetic sense, and refined
perceptions that influence a participant's judgement ofthe quality ofsomething produced
or an action performed. The sharing ofthese aspects in a community ofpractice allows
participants to negotiate the appropriateness ofwhat they do. The regime of
accountability becomes an integral and pervasive part ofthe community ofpractice;
because ofits very nature it may not be something that anyone can articulate very readily
(Wenger 1998).
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