University of Technology, Jamaica

Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies

TVET Industrial Technology

Learning Theories and Practices

Mrs. Leonie Simms

Major Paper: PEP and Community of Practice

Rushanda Buchanan

1803538

November 21, 2019

 The term ‘community of practice’ was coined by Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave in the

early 1990s to describe ‘a group of people who share a concern, a set of problems or a passion

about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis’

WRS4Wenger et al., 2002). Communities of practice is characterized by mutual learning, shared

practice and joint exploration of ideas, distinct from other types of groups, such as project teams,

working groups and social networks in that they are self-selecting, often voluntary and have fluid

goals around learning rather than management objectives. They acquire and spread new

knowledge focusing on implementation, rather than just theory, and can embrace an ongoing

2cycle of learning and doing. To better understand the concept of community of practice, it is

important to have a solid understanding of social learning theory. Initial ideas of social learning

theory are attributed to the work of Bandura in the late 1970s. In 1977 Bandura emphasized on

the importance of observing and modeling the behaviours, attitudes and emotional reactions of

others. Bandura (1977) believed that most human behaviors are performed, and on later

occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. Bandura constructed social

learning theory as both a behaviorist and cognitive model as he used it to explain human action

in terms of a continuous reciprocal interaction between behavioral, cognitive and environmental

influences. In many ways, bandura’s work complimented ideas from Vygotsky’s (1978) theory

that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition and Lave’s

(1988) theory of situated learning. Etienne Wenger is probably the most prominent theorist in the

areas of both social learning theory and communities of practice.

In communities of practice; learning, meaning and identity, in 1998 Wenger posits that

today’s modern institutions are largely based on the assumption that “learning is an individual

process, that it has a beginning and end, that it is best separated from the rest of our activities,
and that it is the result of teaching. Within the context of social learning theory, the idea of

learning in this sense is displaced. Learning becomes, fundamentally, a social phenomenon and

is placed in the context of our lived experience and participation in the world. Community of

practice can provide a social container for linking and learning between practitioners, knowledge

producers and policy processes to analyze, address and explore solutions to problems. They can

bring together a range of perspectives on a problem, and ensure that relevant knowledge is

accessible to those who need it. The concept of community of practice has found a number of

practical applications in business, organizational design, government, education, professional

associations, development projects, and civic life. However, the researcher will be focusing her

attention on community of practice within the Jamaican educational sector.

Schools and districts are organizations in their own right, and they too face increasing

knowledge challenges. The first applications of communities of practice have been in teacher

training and in providing isolated administrators with access to colleagues. There is a wave of

interest in these peer-to-peer professional-development activities. But in the education sector,

learning is not only a means to an end: it is the end product. The perspective of communities of

practice is therefore also relevant at this level. In business, focusing on communities of practice

adds a layer of complexity to the organization, but it does not fundamentally change what the

business is about. In schools, changing the learning theory is a much deeper transformation. Take

for instance, in Jamaica the practice of community of practice have been introduced to the

primary education sector in the form of PEP known as Primary Exit Profile, in this practice the

students are facilitated by their teachers to achieve a sense of cognitive and social critical

thinking skill and creativity of students by the end of primary level education. This is a major

shift from the traditional way of learning when G-SAT was the way. PEP is primarily taking the
approach of discovery and cooperative learning. Discovery Learning is a method of inquiry-

based instruction, discovery learning believes that it is best for learners to discover facts and

relationships for themselves. (Bruner 1915). The theory is closely related to work by Jean Piaget

and Seymour Papert. Proponents of this theory believed that discovery learning; encourages

active engagement, promotes motivation, promotes autonomy, responsibility, independence,

develops creativity and problem solving skills, and tailors learning experiences. However, critics

believed that discovery learning; creates cognitive overload, may result in potential

misconceptions, makes it difficult for teachers to detect problems. (David 2017). While,

cooperative learning is an organized and way to use small groups to enhance student learning

and interdependence. Students are given tasks or assignments, and they work together to

accomplish these tasks. Each individual has responsibilities and is held accountable for aiding in

an assignment’s completion; therefore, success is dependent on the work of everyone in the

group. (Olsen 2018). In addition to learning from each other, students also learn teamwork.

Many benefits can result from using cooperative learning strategies within classrooms, some of

which are; cooperative learning is fun and interactive, cooperative learning allows discussion and

critical thinking.

The effectiveness of PEP (community of practice) is that it gives students a way to think

out of the box instead of just limiting themselves to textbook information. The level of

effectiveness for this approach in Jamaica is far beyond satisfactory, but paves a way for a better

society and labor force. However, the ineffectiveness of the community of practice approach in

the form of PEP lies on the level skilled educators the country has to foster such a move, the

drawbacks come when the government has to leeway money and extra effort to support the

change. Although community of practice is used in all sectors of education island wide, the main
focus is on the most recent application of PEP. This has fundamentally changed what education

is really about.

The perspective of communities of practice affects educational practices along three

dimensions; Internally: How to organize educational experiences that ground school learning in

practice through participation in communities around subject matters? Externally: How to

connect the experience of students to actual practice through peripheral forms of participation in

broader communities beyond the walls of the school? Over the lifetime of students: How to serve

the lifelong learning needs of students by organizing communities of practice focused on topics

of continuing interest to students beyond the initial schooling period? From this perspective, the

school is not the privileged locus of learning. It is not a self-contained, closed world in which

students acquire knowledge to be applied outside, but a part of a broader learning system. The

class is not the primary learning event. It is life itself that is the main learning event. Schools,

classrooms, and training sessions still have a role to play in this vision, but they have to be in the

service of the learning that happens.

In addition, give the demonstrable value of community of practice within education, the

question is, how can they be better developed/supported by the government within schools? Like

most tools, community of practice is useful only when implemented in the right places for the

right purposes. To make the most of their potential, the government need to consider how best to

support community of practice and create the right conditions for their sustained value. There are

a number of factors that can help develop, sustain and enhance community of practice.

Foster instead of control, the key is to foster rather than try to control community of

practice. Because they are about learning, not about fulfilling mandated tasks, they will thrive

only when members have adequate incentive to participate. Objectives and goals, if helpful,
should be set by the members and should remain fluid, with the focus on group learning rather

than simply the fulfilment of tasks. Controlling community of practice can often stifle and kill

them off. What they need is support, such as technology support. It is important to help them

move their ideas into wider practice and to give them stimulating feedback and challenges.

Balance participation and reification, in learning theory, Etienne Wenger (1998) suggests

that there is a back and forth between participation and the production of learning ‘artifacts’,

such as publications. Participation and thinking often go through a process of reification.

Participation in a community of practice may mean discussing, practicing, learning, researching

and experimenting. If a community focuses too much on participation, it leaves less time to share

what they learn with each other. If they focus only on the production of artifacts, there may be

less opportunity for making sense of and interpreting new knowledge and learning. Both are

important and both must be monitored by teachers to enforce them.

While PEP is a small sample of the concept of community of practice and have been

around for as long as human beings have banded together it is representative of the major

thinkers and theories which underlie this emerging concept. The question is can they be

leveraged to build better linkages between knowledge, policy and practice? The research above

suggests that the answer is yes and that there is an ongoing need to share the ways in which this

can be done and learn from them.

 References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice Hall.

David L, (217). "Discovery Learning (Bruner)," in Learning Theories. Retrieved from:

https://www.learning-theories.com/discovery-learning-bruner.html.

Hearn, S. & White, N. (2009) Communities of practice: linking knowledge, policy and practice.

Overseas development institute (Odi).

Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in practice. Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situating learning: legitimate peripheral participation:

Cambridge University Press.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity.

Cambridge, U.K., New York, N.Y. Cambridge University Press.

Olsen, P. (2018). What Is Cooperative Learning in the Classroom? - Strategies, Benefits &

Definition. Retrieved from:

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-cooperative-learning-in-the-classroom-

strategies-benefits-definition.html

Trayner, E. & Trayner, B.W. (2015). Introduction to community of Practice. Retrieved from:

https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

Vygotski, L. S., & Cole, M. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological

processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.