♫ La la lala la ♫ la best community of practice

In the spirit of sharing the discoveries I have made in class, this blog will take you through the process of how I came to realize that the Smurfs could be the ideal community of practice. As suggested in Wenger's (1998) book, communities of practice can be recognized through numerous different indicators. My interest here is to highlight the characteristics of the most ideal community of practice beneficial to the process of lifelong learning. In my own experiences in this class, I have discovered that learning can be attained in many ways. My 'aha' moment came through assigned readings and classroom discussions. It is through these discoveries that I arrived at the conclusion that the best example of a community of practice that I could think of was the Smurfs living in their village.

In our GSLL 6206 class, we have seen how human beings experience life in an unrefined primate-like manner. Some knowledge comes naturally or instinctively; like scratching an itch, balancing to stand, or developing the skills to walk. Tomasello does well in guiding us to the point of becoming humans in Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. This served as an appropriate introduction to Wenger, who examines how we, as humans, learn with and from each other. In his book, Wenger provides a detailed list of what one might consider criteria for a community of practice to exist. It is from these indicators that I will make my associations.

From Wenger's indicators of a community of practice (p. 125-126)

1. sustained reciprocal relationships
2. mutual engagement
3. rapid flow of information
4. ongoing interactions without preface
5. ability to quickly set up discussions of resolve
6. mutual consensus of who belongs
7. knowing each other’s contributable strengths
8. reciprocally shaping identities
9. able to measure actions and products as appropriate
10. use tools and artefacts specific to their culture
11. common ground based on shared stories
12. integrative terminology easing communication
13. certain manners representing membership
14. shared view of the world

When Pierre Culliford (Peyo) created the Smurfs in 1958, he may not have intentionally set out to portray an excellent example of a community of practice. He has in fact given us an ideal society in which learning occurs through interacting with each other. Everyone's own expertise in a certain area uses their particular set of skills to contribute to the group. If there is some heavy lifting to be done, the Smurfs call on Hefty. To have a hearty laugh, follow Jokey around. Enjoy the beauty of music with Harmony. Learn to love your self like Vanity. Need something fixed, Handy will handle it. The list goes on and on, but I want to focus now on how this long standing community of practice reflects the same qualities as mentioned by Wenger.

In relation to Wenger's fourteen indicators of a community of practice:

1. lifelong relationships with each other, Smurfette, and her evil creator Gargamel
2. shared participation at work and play
3. easily communicated ideas in a closely-knit community where..
4. understood meanings facilitate information sharing
5. issues most often resolved directly by Papa Smurf
6. those who are blue and about three apples tall belong
7. each smurf is able to contribute to their cooperative society
8. celebrations, adventures, events are all shared
9. can distinguish between good and bad, do what is best for the community
10. a range of tools from Handy's toolbox, Painter's paints, to Papa Smurf's potions
11. shared cultural history from years of living together
12. the word 'smurf' used as a noun, a verb, or affixes in almost any situation (a smurfy day to go smurfing for smurfberries) 
13. all but Papa Smurf and Smurfette wear white pants, white shoes, and a white hat
14. a united society with family values

The discussions we have had in class further build on this idea. Separated groups were assigned the task to list the qualities needed to fulfil Wenger's ideal community of practice. Without referencing his book, some of the key elements that we thought necessary included: a shared interest, open communication, self-motivation, trust, respect, being open to different ways, and a desire to belong. These qualities are also present in the land of the Smurfs. They are happy to be a member of their society, respectful to each other, with equal contributions, open to others as they demonstrated in welcoming Smurfette to their group, and in a way dependent on each other's strength and sense of unity.

This notion of drawing from each other to benefit the group is a manner in which to learn from the individual strengths of others. Through this collaborative process we share our skill set with those who are interested, and we learn with the help of experts from all walks of life. This collaborative learning environment supports Wenger's idea that “we cannot become human by ourselves” (1998, p.146). It might not be a very practical choice in our daily lives, as we are expected to participate in an educational system designed with specific curricular outcomes. Fiscally it might be difficult to have so many specialists on hand to share their acquired knowledge with others. With so many different professionals, a structured schedule of learning may be a challenge administratively. The example of Smurf village as a viable community of practice may not be a realistic possibility as there would be practical issues to overcome. Although it might not be the most ideal community of practice, I think that we can all agree that it is the smurfiest.

Here comes the sun...

This tale originates many millions of years ago when an important group of mammals existed on planet earth, the primates. Classified into two distinct groups: the Prosimians and the Simians, who tend to be larger. The Prosimians resemble earlier primates, and include the lemurs of Madagascar. The island of Madagascar was a result of a piece of landmass breaking off of India about 88 million years ago (Torsvik, T. et al., 2000). Lemurs found their way onto this island 62 to 65 million years ago by means of rafts made vegetation (Huber & Ali, 2010).  Like the primates, lemurs can be distinguished by size; the smaller being more solitary and nocturnal, whereas, the larger are more social and active during the day. Like most animals, this group of lemurs has much potential. Within their species, they communicate with each other through sounds and calls, establish relationships, and work together. In essence, they live in a social environment. For the purpose of this blog, I will take artistic license by personifying the lemurs to provide an example of the concept brought forward by Wenger (1998) regarding reification within a society.

Let us consider for a moment the lives of a group of lemurs that co-habit a shared nesting area. It should be noted that prior to this, the lemurs would always sleep in. They lived their lives day by day, awake after dawn and nestled in before dusk. The sun seemed everlasting to them. Our story begins one morning, when this group of lemurs wake up at sunrise. The littlest lemur woke up earliest, went for a walk, and gasped in disbelief. Returning to the others, he proceeded to wake them up to share in this amazing discovery. As the sun rose over the east coast of the island, each and every lemur basked in the clearing they were led to under this powerful source of light and warmth. Having been the first time that they witnessed the complete rising of the sun, the group was all a twitter about its significance. They had always taken this light for granted. To them it was a given that there was light during the day. The day went on with excitement and restlessness in the air. The enthusiastic lemurs were buzzing about this newly observed phenomenon. Given the limitations of their vocal patterns, this big great thing soon became referred to as “Oooii”. 

Now that they had a shared understanding of this entity in the sky, Oooii was the hot topic during the day’s activities. What began as a shared experience at dawn had now trickled into their daily routine. Their lives were now permanently altered. It became commonplace for a lemur to stop whatever it was doing to stare at the sun, for a moment, in wonderment. As the first day under Oooii’s light grew longer and nightfall approached, they anxiously saw the sun slowly set over the horizon. That first night was long. Some awoke in the dark of night, uncertain; some had trouble getting to sleep. The important new role that the sun played in their lives was already having a significant impact. The lemurs were beginning to attribute meaning to it. Needless to say, they no longer simply cared for themselves and each other; they now took into consideration the powers of this far-away object. The next morning, the lemurs collectively woke up to witness the sunrise. This practice persisted and became more elaborate as days passed. Some would dance to celebrate the new day; others would leave food on the east shore of the island as offerings to the brightest star. At dusk, the group would all gather and collectively vocalize their desires for the sun to return.

The lemurs seemed to have complete control of their lives until that one fateful day when they witnessed the rising sun. On one occasion, the group had begun to prepare a welcome for the newest member of the community, but it was overcast. Although there were rays of light beaming through the clouds, the sun was nowhere to be seen. Panic set in amongst the group. Next morning, upon seeing the sun rise, the more socially dominant female of the group began to migrate west, hoping to see where Oooii went each evening. The rest of the group followed suit. The next night saw the demise of a number of lemurs. The most eager of the group went further ahead in their journey to track the sun. As it began to set off the west coast of the island, lemurs gave up their natural connection to land and continued to follow their mighty sun off of cliffs, only to be swallowed by the ocean.   

Lemurs react to the sun as it emerges through an overcast sky.

This story illustrates the dangers of giving too much meaning to something which has reified into one’s society. In Wenger's (1998) book, Communities of Practice, he states that reification exists when “we project our meanings into the world and then we perceive them as existing in the world, as having a reality of their own” (p. 58). The example of the lemurs following the sun to their eternal resting place, no doubt demonstrates how putting more emphasis than necessary on something can be detrimental; highlighting how misappropriated power can affect the way we live our lives. In the case of the lemurs, the amount of power attributed to the sun began to take control of their lives. This cautionary tale allows us to see some of the risks involved with reification.