Chris Noessel > Masters Project: Free Range Learning Support> Communities of Practice
Introduction  |  Process  |  The Service  |  Experience Prototypes  |  Conclusion  |  Appendices

Communities of Practice

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Wenger, Etienne. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge UP, 1999.
    Summary: From the frontispiece: [This book] presents a theory of learning that starts with this assumption: engagement in a social practice is the fundamental process by which we learn and so become who we are. The primary unit of analysis is neither the individual nor social institutions but rather the information "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.

    Use: This book is one of the definitive publications on Communities of Practice, which I have acknowledged as a core learner need and for which I have tried to develop service components that consider and facilitate the social aspects of learning.

    Zimbardo, Philip and Richard, Gerrig. Psychology and Life 14th ed. New York. HarperCollins, 1996.


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