Keynote address by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
- Introduction to speakers (Dawn Johnson)
- Community of Practice as a hill → mastery at the top
- CoP → a local negotiation of competence
- A place where learning is defined
- CoP can be modified over time
- Naturally occurring CoPs versus organised one (World Bank example)
- Helping people ‘build a hill’
- Relationship with, and orientation to, the landscape
- Many relevant communities in which you can claim no competence
- Claim to knowledgeability → a lot more ill-defined
- Language matters
- Social version of ‘critical thinking → way to orient yourself in the landscape
- Theory is a work-in-progress
- What does it mean to be a monk if we are fundamentally social beings
- Orientation to the landscape
- Move away from learning as information and as situated in social context
- Globalisation has not made boundaries disappear, and it shouldn’t
- CoPs will not disappear; specialisations are increasing
- Globalisation provides access across boundaries
- Identity becomes fragile, fractured → new boundaries are re-created to feel safe
- A shift in the burden of identity from community to the individual
- Learning is still social, but the community does less work for you
- Role of universities → allow people to navigate the landscape in a meaningful way
- Importance of looking beyond a single hill
- How do we connect across disciplines?
- Developing learning capability; talking across boundaries
- Landscape of hills (rather than a single hill)
- Where are the hills of competence in your own landscape? Where are you accountable?
- Identity is at the core of this view of learning
- You need to find a balance
- Does knowledgeability need to be validated by other people?
- Twitter example & Discussion groups
- Managers might not see the different levels of the landscape → but need to be able to at least visit the hills
- The hill of management is ‘just another hill’
- Knowledge + skills = competence?
- Landscape of practices, rather than body of knowledge that can be ‘extracted’
- University as ‘living in the landscape’
- University of Brighton example → takes seriously the need to cross boundaries
- Landscape view of learning → need to take the boundaries seriously
- How do we access students’ knowledgeability?
- Learning as ‘input-output’
- Danger of technology → can be used to do the same old thing
- Helping students to develop a digital footprint → a way of demonstrating their knowledgeability
- Exploratory theory
- Example of ‘John’s landscape’
- Landscape of practice → not necessarily free of conflict
- Full of places competing for attention
- Landscape is complexifying → multitude of accountabilities
- Different pulls on John’s identity as a teacher
- Access to information is no longer the issue
- Main problem: where am I in the landscape?
- Link between competence and future thinking → not always positive
- Do we create our own hills?
- Competence has to function (social element) → danger in ‘self-defined’ competence in isolation
- Crossing boundaries is related to the notion of knowledgeability
- Link to reflective learning
- Not all boundaries of practice are clearly marked
- Can ‘crossing boundaries’ be taught?
- You can provide the tools to cross boundaries
- Should be part of the high school experience
- ‘Helicopter’ as a metaphor for boundary crossing → landscape view
- What does a curriculum look like that provides a view from the top? (e.g. what if you’re never going to be a mathematician?)
- ‘What can your students do?’ vs ‘Where have your students visited?’
Updated on 01 August 2024, 6:05 AM; 2834 page visits from 27 May 2016 to 22 December 2024
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