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Knowledgeability in landscapes of practice
from curriculum to identity
Etienne Wenger
SHRE conference
Newport, Wales
December 15, 2010
Etienne Wenger
"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
The individual and the socialcreativity and development
Etienne Wenger
learningpractice
community
meaning
identityWhat are we
doing?
Where do webelong?
Who are webecoming?
What is ourexperience?
A social theory of learningsome key concepts
Etienne Wenger
In gangs… they learn to survive on the streets
In organizations… they provide better service to clients
A community of practice is ...
… a self-governed learning partnership among people, who
• share challenges, passion or interest
• interact regularly
• learn from and with each other
improve their ability to do what they care about
Etienne Wenger
A body of knowledgethe curriculum
Etienne Wenger
KnowledgeabilityCompetence and experience
socially defined competence
personal experience
Etienne Wenger
Regulatorybody
Teaching
Researchdiscipline 1
Workplace
A
Workplace
B
Researchdiscipline 2
Profession IProfession II
Professionalbody
Service recipent A
Service recipient B
A complex landscape of practicea (social) body of knowledge
Etienne Wenger
Regulatorybody
TeachingResearch
discipline 1
Workplace
A
Workplace
B
Researchdiscipline 2
Profession IProfession II
Professionalbody
Service recipent A
Service recipient B
Competing views of practicecommunities and boundaries
boundaryobjects
broker
boundaryprojects
boundary practices
peripheralaccess
Etienne Wenger
Economy of meaningLocality and power
local
no subsumption
territorial claims
influence
Etienne Wenger
CoP
Vertical accountability…
Hierarchy
Institutionalized accountability
Evidence-based prescription
Codification and regulation
Standards of qualification
Horizontal accountability…
Communities and networks
Peer-to-peer learning
Personal meaning
Engagement and creativity
Individual identity/reputation
Vertical and horizontal accountability two simultaneous trends
Etienne Wenger
Regulatorybody
TeachingResearch
discipline 1
Workplace
A
Workplace
B
Researchdiscipline 2
Profession IProfession II
Professionalbody
Service recipent A
Service recipient B
A complexifying landscape of practicenew entrants and contenders
boundaryobjects
broker
boundaryprojects
boundary practices
peripheralaccess
Clientcommunities
Wikipedia
Bloggers
Informalcommunities
Twitterers
NGO’sOpen curriculum
Professional networks
Topicalwebsites
Social networks
Etienne Wenger
Knowledgeability as the modulation of identificationa shift in the burden of identity
Etienne Wenger
Engagement
Imagination
Alignment
Crossingboundaries
Beingcreative
Goingdeep
Making adifference
Building a trajectory
Locating oneself
Seeing afuture
Finding oneself in a landscape of practicemodes of identification
Etienne Wenger
Distinct carriers of knowledgeabilitypractice and identity
Etienne Wenger
Convening social learning spacesexercising complex identities
Combine engagement, imagination, and alignment
Use boundaries as learning assets
Develop modulation and improvisation capability
Balance accountability and expressibility
Etienne Wenger
The 21st century will be the century of identity
If you are going to be a driving force in the strategic remaking of the landscape of learning and innovation…
… how can your institutions help address this emerging learning challenge?
The future of learningfrom knowledge to knowledgeability
Etienne Wenger
Purple in the noselanguage and meaning in practice
Etienne Wenger
Learning can be defined as a realignment of competence and experience, whichever leads the other.
Socially defined competence:degrees of masteryparadigmatic trajectoriesbaseline and frontier
The experience of membersaccountabilityclaims to competencepersonal trajectories
Learning from a social perspectivecompetence and experience
Etienne Wenger
The role of higher educationa few questions
1. Is this view of learning relevant to the research and teaching mission of the university?
2. In what ways does it change how a university serves its students?
3. How does it affect the role of the university in society at large?
4. What would it take to institutionalize such a view?
5. What implications does it have for research into Higher Education? What kind of research questions does this view call for?
