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Book Review: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity

Book Review: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity BOOK REVIEWS Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity Edited by Etienne Wenger Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. $110. ISBN 0-521-43017-8 Wenger's recent book Communities oj practice: Learning, meaning, and identity deals with a topic that is of crucial importance to a range of contemporary concerns in fields as diverse as education, learning organisation, the management of change, and the analysis and administration of policy. Of particular significance is the idea that learning is primarily a social rather than an individual phenomenon, and that knowledge is a matter of practical competence gained through participation and engagement in the social enterprises of par­ ticular communities of practice. The key to learning in such contexts hinges on the nego­ tiation of interpersonal meanings, and the formation of personal and social identity there­ from. Thus, on this view, learning is an integral part of everyday life, and is more than a matter of merely acquiring and storing explicit information. Rather, learning has a much broader and more dynamic conceptualisation, in that it manifests itself in and through engagement in social activities as a way of being-in-the-world, which has a unique, but shared, temporal and historical trajectory, depending on the social context in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian Journal of Education SAGE

Book Review: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity

Allix, Nicholas M.
Australian Journal of Education , Volume 44 (2): 4 – Aug 1, 2000
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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 2000 Australian Council for Educational Research
ISSN
0004-9441
eISSN
2050-5884
DOI
10.1177/000494410004400207
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity Edited by Etienne Wenger Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. $110. ISBN 0-521-43017-8 Wenger's recent book Communities oj practice: Learning, meaning, and identity deals with a topic that is of crucial importance to a range of contemporary concerns in fields as diverse as education, learning organisation, the management of change, and the analysis and administration of policy. Of particular significance is the idea that learning is primarily a social rather than an individual phenomenon, and that knowledge is a matter of practical competence gained through participation and engagement in the social enterprises of par­ ticular communities of practice. The key to learning in such contexts hinges on the nego­ tiation of interpersonal meanings, and the formation of personal and social identity there­ from. Thus, on this view, learning is an integral part of everyday life, and is more than a matter of merely acquiring and storing explicit information. Rather, learning has a much broader and more dynamic conceptualisation, in that it manifests itself in and through engagement in social activities as a way of being-in-the-world, which has a unique, but shared, temporal and historical trajectory, depending on the social context in

Journal

Australian Journal of Education – SAGE

Published: Aug 1, 2000

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