Communities of practice : learning, meaning, and identity

Select an Action

Title:

Author:

Wenger, Etienne, 1952-

ISBN:

9780521663632

9780521430173

Personal Author:

Wenger, Etienne, 1952-

Publication Information:

Cambridge, U.K. ; New York, N.Y. : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Physical Description:

xv, 318 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Series:

Learning in doing

Series Title:

Learning in doing

Contents:

Prologue: Contexts -- Introduction: A social theory of learning -- Pt. I. Practice -- Intro I. The concept of practice. Ch. 1. Meaning. Ch. 2. Community. Ch. 3. Learning. Ch. 4. Boundary. Ch. 5. Locality -- Coda I. Knowing in practice -- Pt. II. Identity -- Intro II. A focus on identity. Ch. 6. Identity in practice. Ch. 7. Participation and non-participation. Ch. 8. Modes of belonging. Ch. 9. Identification and negotiability -- Coda II. Learning communities -- Epilogue: Design -- Synopsis: Design for learning. Ch. 10. Learning Architectures. Ch. 11. Organizations. Ch. 12. Education.

Abstract:

Communities of Practice presents a theory of learning that starts with this assumption: engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we learn and so become who we are. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions but rather the informal "communities of practice" that people form as they pursue shared enterprises over time. In order to give a social account of learning, the theory explores in a systematic way the intersection of issues of community, social practice, meaning, and identity. The result is a broad conceptual framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation.

Subject Term:

Organizational learning.

Social learning.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:MAIN	1:UNKNOWN	32981-1002	NO CONFIGURATION	2	Searching... Unknown
Searching... 1:VCSD	1:GEN-BOOK	002123056	153.15 WEN	1	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

This book presents a theory of learning that starts with the assumption that engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we get to know what we know and by which we become who we are. The primary unit of analysis of this process is neither the individual nor social institutions, but the informal 'communities of practice' that people form as they pursue shared enterprises over time. To give a social account of learning, the theory explores in a systematic way the intersection of issues of community, social practice, meaning, and identity. The result is a broad framework for thinking about learning as a process of social participation. This ambitious but thoroughly accessible framework has relevance for the practitioner as well as the theoretician, presented with all the breadth, depth, and rigor necessary to address such a complex and yet profoundly human topic.