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

new possibilities for meaning. Brokering is a complex process oftranslation, co­
ordination, and alignment between different perspectives. It requires the ability to link
practices by facilitating transactions between them, and to cause learning by introducing
into a practice, elements ofanother. In achieving this, brokering provides a participative
connection because brokers use their experience ofmulti-membership and the possibility
ofnegotiation. Brokering often entails ambivalent relations ofmulti-membership that
"...requires an ability to manage carefully the coexistence ofmembership and non­
membership, yielding enough distance to bring a different perspective, but also enough
legitimacy to be listened to" (Wenger 1998:110).
Communities ofpractice can connect with the rest of the world by means ofproviding
peripheral experiences (Wenger 1998:117). This refers to a situation where newcomers
who may not want to be fully-fledged members, can be offered various forms ofcasual,
but legitimate access to the practice without subjecting them to the demands offull
membership. Having this kind ofmultiple level of involvement is an important feature of
communities ofpractice as it presents opportunities for learning both for outsiders and for
communities. In a community ofpractice, mutual engagement can become 'progressively
looser' at the periphery, with layers ranging from "core membership to extreme
peripherality"(ibid.: 118). Communities ofpractice offer multiple and diverse
opportunities for learning where different participants contribute and benefit differently,
depending on their relations to the endeavour and the community.
Communities ofpractice can be found spread throughout and across institutions. Wenger
notes that "Communities ofpractice that bridge institutional boundaries are often critical
to getting things done in the context ofand sometimes in spite ofbureaucratic rigidities"
(Wenger 1998: 119).
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