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

engage with one another and acknowledge each other as participants. Practice therefore
entails the negotiation of ways ofbeing a person in that context.
The formation of a community ofpractice involves the negotiation ofidentities. An
identity is the 'layering ofevents' ofparticipation and reification in which a participant's
experience and its social interpretation inform each other (ibid.). These layers build upon
each other to produce a participant's identity. Identity exists in the constant work of
negotiating the self through the interplay ofparticipation and reification.
Membership ofa community ofpractice translates into an identity as a form of
competence. In a community ofpractice, participants learn certain ways ofengagement
with each other. They develop certain expectations ofhow to interact and how to work
together. Participants become whom they are by being able to play a part in the relations
ofengagement that constitute the community. Identity emerges as a form ofindividuality
defined in respect to a community. Identity as a learning process is a "trajectory in time
that incorporates both past and future into the meaning ofthe present" (Wenger
1998: 163).
3.3.3 Cultivating Communities of Practice
Wenger's most recent published work on communities ofpractice was a collaborative
effort with McDermott and Snyder, entitled "Cultivating Communities ofPractice: A
Guide to Managing Knowledge" (Wenger, Snyder and McDermott, 2002). In this work,
Wenger, McDermott and Snyder extend Wenger's theory as presented above. They
specifically apply Wenger's theory oflearning in a community ofpractice to real world
business situations, by drawing on examples from their consulting work. The book,
however, is aimed at multinational corporations and makes constant reference to
communities ofpractice that exist in large corporations like Shell and the Chrysler
Corporation.
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