The term Communities of Practice (CoPs) was coined by Lave and Wenger during their research on apprenticeship from 1988. They considered some studies carried done with participants from very different backgrounds and cultures; such as those of Maya midwives in Yucatan, Vai and Gola tailors in Liberia, U.S. Navy boatswains’ drill-grounds, butchers of some American supermarkets and among the members of Alcoholics Anonymous Association. The common denominator of these studies, according to Lave and Wenger, is the presence of learning mechanisms not surveyed before by others scholars and not connected with the direct interaction between apprentice and master, but with the participation to a practice shared with other actors such as other apprentices, masters and journey folks. Lave and Wenger have therefore considered learning as something strictly linked to the social practice. They have observed the mechanism, defined as Legitimate Peripheral Participation, according to which the apprentices are considered members of the community, that they call Community of Practice. This mechanism legitimizes the apprentices so they are permitted to share resources and experiences of the Community of Practice and to take part in discussions and to have an equal interaction with senior experts. Based in an academic background, dealing with issues connected to the study of language and social interactions, the CoPs have quickly come into the business world where they are becoming successful serving as support strategies for training by e-learning, Knowledge Management tools and, in general, development perspectives for studies on organizational learning.
Alessandrini, G. (2012). University training on communities of practices. In V.A. GUETTA S (a cura di), La communauté de pratiques comme outil de dialogue interreligieux et interculturel (pp. 9-16). Firenze : Firenze University Press.
University training on communities of practices
ALESSANDRINI, Giuditta
2012-01-01
Abstract
The term Communities of Practice (CoPs) was coined by Lave and Wenger during their research on apprenticeship from 1988. They considered some studies carried done with participants from very different backgrounds and cultures; such as those of Maya midwives in Yucatan, Vai and Gola tailors in Liberia, U.S. Navy boatswains’ drill-grounds, butchers of some American supermarkets and among the members of Alcoholics Anonymous Association. The common denominator of these studies, according to Lave and Wenger, is the presence of learning mechanisms not surveyed before by others scholars and not connected with the direct interaction between apprentice and master, but with the participation to a practice shared with other actors such as other apprentices, masters and journey folks. Lave and Wenger have therefore considered learning as something strictly linked to the social practice. They have observed the mechanism, defined as Legitimate Peripheral Participation, according to which the apprentices are considered members of the community, that they call Community of Practice. This mechanism legitimizes the apprentices so they are permitted to share resources and experiences of the Community of Practice and to take part in discussions and to have an equal interaction with senior experts. Based in an academic background, dealing with issues connected to the study of language and social interactions, the CoPs have quickly come into the business world where they are becoming successful serving as support strategies for training by e-learning, Knowledge Management tools and, in general, development perspectives for studies on organizational learning.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
