Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...
Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ... Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...
Teacher learning would be enabled through teacher reflection on existing knowledge, experience, and practice. It would involve challenging teachers' current thinking and guiding them towards new understandings. Learning would involve teachers in reconstructing their existing knowledge rather than the passive assimilation and memorization ofnew knowledge. I hoped to use teachers' prior knowledge and practice as a central aspect in creating learning opportunities for this group ofteachers. It would involve using teachers' existing conceptions and understandings to challenge and engage teachers' thinking and their practice. The curriculum for teacher learning was developed from teachers' needs, as expressed by teachers and as observed by me in conjunction with the proposals in the new Revised National Curriculum Statement for EMS. 3.5 APPLYING WENGER'S SOCIAL PRACTICE THEORY OF LEARNING: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES? Although the theory significantly informed both the TEMS programme and the present research study, it does have some limitations. The purpose ofthis section is to identify such weaknesses in a South African context and to indicate how such wealmesses were addressed in this study. The model does not pay attention to wider social and economic inequalities within which participants in a community ofpractice are embedded. As such it does not offer insights into understanding inequalities and disadvantage that may be peculiar to individuals within a community. These phenomena are particularly overt in a context like South Africa where issues of ethnicity, social class and gender are likely to influence the structuring oflearning opportunities in learning a community. Wenger does not explore the barriers to learning posed by tensions originating from structural unevenness ofpower in communities ofpractice and how such unevenness can contribute to exclusion. He does not offer a detailed framework to explain ways in which communities could disempower members and how community tensions can be understood. The challenge 107
that the Wenger framework presents is to incorporate the broader issues of social and economic inequalities that may exist beyond the actual site oflearning, fully into the analysis oflearning. This is particularly significant in a South African context characterised by widespread social and economic inequalities. The model does not offer insights for explaining discontinuities in learning that stem from unequal access to learning. Learning opportunities may depend on an individual's status within a community. In learning communities more powerful members are able to gain greater access to learning opportunities. The model does not acknowledge that the development ofthe individual needs to be viewed as a negotiated process that is subjected to both facilitative and oppressive forces that may exist within and beyond the community ofpractice. Wenger's model ofa community ofpractice presents an account oflearning based on the formation ofa group-referenced identity. For Wenger, the group represents the primary unit ofanalysis, where learning becomes inseparable from forms ofsocial engagement. Exploring an individual member's learning trajectory is difficult using Wenger's model, as the model does not provide adequate tools for such analysis. This is significant, as a key barrier to learning is in fact discontinuity in the learning trajectory. In a teacher learning community, assessing the learning ofan individual teacher presents a challenge, as Wenger's model is silent on this issue. Wenger fails to deal adequately with teachers as individuals despite the explicit focus on identity. Understanding individual dispositions and personalities and how they play themselves out in a learning community are ignored in the model. The social approach to learning presented by Wenger is at the expense of an analysis ofthe way individual members ofa community ofpractice learn. While Wenger acknowledges the reflexive transformation ofindividuals in a community ofpractice, he does not offer a framework to explore how this occurs. The challenge then is to theorise a model that integrates individual members' learning in a community of practice. 108
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<strong>Teacher</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g would be enabled through teacher reflection on exist<strong>in</strong>g knowledge,<br />
experience, and practice. It would <strong>in</strong>volve challeng<strong>in</strong>g teachers' current th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
guid<strong>in</strong>g them towards new understand<strong>in</strong>gs. <strong>Learn<strong>in</strong>g</strong> would <strong>in</strong>volve teachers <strong>in</strong><br />
reconstruct<strong>in</strong>g their exist<strong>in</strong>g knowledge rather than the passive assimilation and<br />
memorization <strong>of</strong>new knowledge. I hoped to use teachers' prior knowledge and practice<br />
as a central aspect <strong>in</strong> creat<strong>in</strong>g learn<strong>in</strong>g opportunities for this group <strong>of</strong>teachers. It would<br />
<strong>in</strong>volve us<strong>in</strong>g teachers' exist<strong>in</strong>g conceptions and understand<strong>in</strong>gs to challenge and engage<br />
teachers' th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g and their practice.<br />
The curriculum for teacher learn<strong>in</strong>g was developed from teachers' needs, as expressed by<br />
teachers and as observed by me <strong>in</strong> conjunction with the proposals <strong>in</strong> the new Revised<br />
National Curriculum Statement for EMS.<br />
3.5 APPLYING WENGER'S SOCIAL PRACTICE THEORY OF LEARNING:<br />
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?<br />
Although the theory significantly <strong>in</strong>formed both the TEMS programme and the present<br />
research study, it does have some limitations. The purpose <strong>of</strong>this section is to identify<br />
such weaknesses <strong>in</strong> a South African context and to <strong>in</strong>dicate how such wealmesses were<br />
addressed <strong>in</strong> this study.<br />
The model does not pay attention to wider social and economic <strong>in</strong>equalities with<strong>in</strong> which<br />
participants <strong>in</strong> a community <strong>of</strong>practice are embedded. As such it does not <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>in</strong>sights<br />
<strong>in</strong>to understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>equalities and disadvantage that may be peculiar to <strong>in</strong>dividuals<br />
with<strong>in</strong> a community. These phenomena are particularly overt <strong>in</strong> a context like South<br />
Africa where issues <strong>of</strong> ethnicity, social class and gender are likely to <strong>in</strong>fluence the<br />
structur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g opportunities <strong>in</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g a community. Wenger does not explore<br />
the barriers to learn<strong>in</strong>g posed by tensions orig<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g from structural unevenness <strong>of</strong>power<br />
<strong>in</strong> communities <strong>of</strong>practice and how such unevenness can contribute to exclusion. He<br />
does not <strong>of</strong>fer a detailed framework to expla<strong>in</strong> ways <strong>in</strong> which communities could<br />
disempower members and how community tensions can be understood. The challenge<br />
107
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