Two years ago I did a PGCE at University of the Arts in London and in the course of study looked at different models for learning. Of course learning is not collaboration, but there are areas of cross over in looking at how we learn and the essence of being part of a group, a community or in a collaborative relationship. One of the texts I read was Wenger's Communities of Practice (1999) which keeps returning to my thoughts in relation to the work being done in SW Burnley.
In essence, Wenger sets out three elements that distinguish a community of practice as opposed to other groups.
These are
- the domain - a shared identity defined by a domain of interest, more than a connection but a competence, commitment and knowledge
- the community - helping each other, engagement in joint activities and with a group relationship that enables shared learning
- the practice - shared skills, resources, experiences and stories. the actual practice of working together effectively over time and with constant reflection and evaluation that feeds into new ways of working
Wenger's theory is also about learning through doing and generating meaning through being and this is something I can see is really happening in SW Burnley, for the groundUP artists and the communities we are all engaging with. Wenger doesn't see learning as acquiring knowledge in a pure and separate form but as part of social structures. He calls it Situated Learning - I think I would describe it as Contextualised Growing, Learning and Being since for me learning is about all of us growing as people and as a society together.
Caroline (W)
(in case you are wondering, the drawing is from a series
of works made a few years ago exploring relationships)
