a journey of the self

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Learning in Communities of Practice

• a journey of the self

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Etienne Wenger P.O. Box 810North San Juan, CA
95960, U.S.A. Phone [phone] Fax
[phone] E-mail etienne.wenger_at_cpsquare.com
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What does a flower know...
about being a flower?
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What does a computer know...
about being a flower?
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Five invitations to explore ...
Agenda
Hypothesis 1

• what is learning about
• the knowledge organization
• the potential of the web
• a broader social movement
• education in a learning society

Hypothesis 2
Hypothesis 3
Hypothesis 4
Hypothesis 5
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A perspective on learning
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4
1
3
2

• Hypothesis 1 Learning is changing
  participation in the practices of one or more
  communities.
• Practical corollary It is more important to
  provide access to the right set of communities of
  practice than to optimize the delivery of
  information in the name of efficiency.

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at Health Canada
The Public Involvement community
visions of government
publicvoices
new directions
community-orientation
Strategy
Vision
Practice
Advocacy
need forconsultation
community
policymakers
toolkit
working groups
voluntary organizations
website
science
advice
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A new type of community
"The positive development of a society in the
absence of creative, independently thinking,
critical individuals is as inconceivable as the
development of an individual in the absence of
the stimulus of the community."
(Albert Einstein)
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Learning competence and experience
Socially defined competence
The experience of members

• Learning can be defined as a realignment of
  competence and experience, whichever leads the
  other.

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Some principles about learning

• Learning is embedded in practice
• Learning is happening everywhere
• Learning is a lifetime undertaking
• Learning is a social as well as a cognitive
  process
• Learning is a tension between competence and
  experience
• Learning takes place in the core and at the
  boundaries of communities
• Learning is part of the construction of an
  identity

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In education?

• Internal structuring
• At multiple levels administrators, teachers,
  students
• How to structure the the organization and
  experience of schooling according to principles
  suggested by communities of practice?
• External relationships
• The school in the world
• How to open the educational experience to
  broader communities and allow students and
  teachers to learn through direct participation in
  these broader communities?
• Lifelong learning
• Beyond front-loaded education
• How to serve the lifelong learning needs of
  students and teachers by opening ways to
  participate in communities?

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The new "knowledge organization"
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4
2
1
3

• Hypothesis 2 The shift to a knowledge economy
  does not merely entail a focus on knowledge but a
  transformation of organizations.
• Practical corollary Our thinking about
  education has to be placed in the context of a
  transformation of organizations.

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QB at Eli Lilly
Quantitative biologists develop a community of
practice after an acquisition.They create a
common identity, build trust, and develop a
shared practice.
They learn to collaborate, avoid repeated tests,
pool supply purchases, share equipment--saving
frustration, time and money.
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Key dimensions
Social knowledge structures
Major strategic impact?
How relevant to our work?
Source of identity?
Recognized?
What are we about?
Reasonably scoped?
Domain
Enduring significance?
What knowledge to share?
What do we know?
Community
Practice
Who has it?
Key players?
Who needs it?
Who are we?
What knowledge is missing?
Energy for leadership?
What roles needed?
What to document?
Quality of our relationships?
What activities?
Who knows what?
Rituals?
Rhythm of interaction?
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Providing sponsorship
Sponsoring and supporting
Providing support
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Strategic knowledge management
Strategy
Stewardship Shared knowledge Learning
Domains Communities Practices
Performance
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The potential of the web
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4
3
1
2

• Hypothesis 3 Online is about creating
  interactive connections across distance.
• Practical corollary It is more important to
  expand the reach and quality of interaction of
  communities than to capture all information as a
  goal in itself.

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Early approaches

• Knowledge is information
• Put the knowledge of the organization in a
  database

• Useless databases with outdated information
• Difficult to motivate people to use a database

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New approaches

• Knowledge lives in communities
• The key to managing knowledge is connecting
  experts

• Develop communities of practice for strategic
  domains
• Technology is used to support the work of
  communities

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Agents at Clarica
By agents, for agents
Corporate Home Office
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A class as a community
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A broader social movement
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4
1
3
2

• Hypothesis 1 There is an increasing emphasis on
  horizontal processes of peer-to-peer learning as
  opposed to vertical processes of transfer from
  producer to consumer of knowledge.
• Practical corollary It is crucial to create
  vehicles for the negotiation of knowledge and its
  relevance to multiple and complex contexts.

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Ancient structures
communities of practice have been around for a
long, long time.
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Knowledge strategy at the World Bank
Communities of practice are key to the strategy
of becoming the knowledge bank. More than
100 thematic groups cut acrossregions
andsectors.Now some communitiesare taking a
strategic lead, applying the principles beyond
the bank, to organize knowledge among client
countries.
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The practitioner as knowledge manager entails a
transformation of the traditional organization.
The practitioner's knowledge
Turning taylorism on its head
Knowledge is the realm of management
Knowledge is the realm of practitioners
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Education in a learning society
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4
1
3
2

• Hypothesis 3 Education is about opening
  identities to embrace learning as an ongoing
  journey of the self.
• Practical corollary It is more important to
  create transformative experiences of identity
  than to cover a full curriculum.

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Information has become a commodity...
Three new learning realities
the half-life of knowledge is getting shorter
traditional canons are destabilized
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From the early explorer...
An ongoing journey of the self
to the internet explorer
(.. or netscaper)
-- pushing the frontiers --
(or escaper)
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A transformation of identity
Imagination
Processes of identity formation
Alignment
Engagement
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Three questions to explore ...
The future of education
Engagement

• how to create meaningful activities
• related to the life of significant
  communities
• how to build productive images
• of who we are, of the world, of the
  possible
• how to enable our students to act
• effective participation in broader
  enterprises

Imagination
Alignment
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Identity as an invitation

• A teachers deepest resource a slight breach
  of the law, it is almost a theorem of love, that
  we can invite others into our own identities of
  participation, let them be what they are not, and
  thus start what cannot be started.

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The end
For information, seewww.CPsquare.org
Etienne Wenger P.O. Box 810North San Juan, CA
95960, U.S.A. Phone [phone] E-mail
etienne_at_ewenger.com