Learning in and across
landscapes of practice
bodies of knowledge, knowledgeability, and identity
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Etienne Wenger-Trayner
Manchester Business School
March 6, 2012
A social theory of learning
some key concepts
Where do we
belong?
community
Who are we
becoming?
practice
learning
identity
What are we
doing?
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
meaning
What is our
experience?
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Learning as a social process
realignment of competence and experience
socially defined
competence
personal experience
learning
key
processes
Reflect and
self-design
Domain
Bring practice in
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Learning
partnership
Community
Practice
Create selfrepresentation
Push practice
forward
The birth of a theory
innovation at boundaries
Subject matters
Rethink
learning
Literary criticism
Psychology
Anthropology
Education
Computer science
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Linguistics
Innovation at boundaries
key ingredients
q
q
q
q
q
committed experts
willingness to engage
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
joint enterprise
boundary activities
methods close to phenomenon
q
q
committed newcomers
available identity
institutional commitment to innovation
commitment to real-world projects
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
A body of knowledge
the curriculum
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Landscapes of practice
a social body of knowledge
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Geographies of competence
economies of meaning, locality, and power
local
no subsumption
territorial claims
influence
Vertical accountability…
Vertical and horizontal
accountability
 Hierarchy
 Institutionalized accountability
 Evidence-based prescription
 Codification and regulation
 Standards of qualification
the need for transversality
Transversal accounts
through…
 People
 Processes and practices
 Objects
Horizontal
accountability…
 Communities and networks
 Peer-to-peer learning
 Personal meaning
 Engagement and creativity
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
CoP
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Knowledgeability
negotiating identity in a complex landscape
Knowledgeability
negotiating identity in a complex landscape
Training
Profession
al
body
Research
discipline
1
Research
discipline
2
Regulator
y body
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Workplace
Alumni
Client
Knowledgeability
negotiating identity in a complex landscape
Training
Profession
al
body
Research
discipline
1
Research
discipline
2
Regulator
y body
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Workplace
Alumni
Client
Knowledgeability
negotiating identity in a complex landscape
Informal
curriculum
s
Wikipedia
Institutes
Training
NGO’s
Profession
al
body
Research
discipline 1
Regulatory
body
Bloggers
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Google
Research
discipline 2
Alumni
Workplace
Client
Communities
of practice
Informal
communiti
es
Twitter
Personal
networks
Knowledgeability
the modulation of identification
An increasingly complex landscape entails a shift
in the burden of identity from the community to
the person
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner
Thank you!
Etienne Wenger-Trayner
etienne@wenger-trayner.com
http://wenger-trayner.com
Workshop: http://wenger-trayner.com/betreat