Be the change.

Reading Etienne Wenger's (1998) Communities of Practice - Learning, Meaning, and Identity was much like digesting a rather filling full-course meal. Inspired by his choice to illustrate concepts through a slice of the life of claims processors, as seen in Vignette I; for this blog, I will draw from his text and relate several ideas gained from his work to the realities of mine. These will include, but are not limited to: negotiation of meaning, preservation and creation of knowledge, spreading information, and home for identities (pp. 251-253) highlighting the impact of communities of practice. In the last five years I have witnessed first-hand the changing structure of a community-based learning network, as an Adult Learning Program (ALP) instructor, in a learning centre and work activity program. My employment as a math instructor to adult learners began as two communities of practice to which I belonged collided – the math man in me (academic success) and the teacher in me (Theatre and English as a Second Language). Despite not having a Bachelor of Education, I was eager to explore teaching a subject that I have always been quite fond of. However, as I did not have the formal training of my colleagues, I was able to connect with Wenger's words on how “practice is a shared history of learning that requires some catching up for joining” (p. 102). My first year as a full-time math instructor was spent adjusting to the written rules of the organization and the unwritten rules of the classroom. Fortunately, I was asked to review the newly drafted ALP Level II & III curriculum outcomes. After additional exchanges with experienced professionals, I began to acquire a shared repertoire with which to communicate ideas for further development.

One of the first identifiable priorities was to improve the poor example of reification in effect, in which graduating students were being supplied with identical copies of the chapters they had just completed. By simply redistributing replicas of what they had already finished, the learner is justified in feeling left out of their learning path. This was not the learning environment I wanted to condone. Throughout the years working for my current employer, I have inadvertently taken care to include the important factors within the social fabric of learning that Wenger reminds us of. In order to sustain a history of practice in the organizational design of my class curriculum, I created multiple units of study, designed specifically to accommodate the needs of adult learners, using an arrangement that builds upon previously acquired skills. Learners are also encouraged to participate in the process of owning the newly presented concepts. This is done through the maintenance of a math journal of terminology, hints, rules, examples, etc. that will also serve as a reference guide. Providing this continuity of learning and retention through a self-made resource are both examples of negotiation of meaning.

My experience teaching within Nova Scotia's School of Adult Learning (NSSAL) under the Department of Labour and Advanced Education has shown me that there is no short supply of adult learners who are eager to gain the skills needed to attain their Adult High School Diploma. To further meet the needs of our community, our organization submitted proposals for two new programs. Upon approval, we expanded our services to include Level I learners and an ESL class for newcomers to Canada. Each program was full with an ever-growing waiting list. Every adult’s decision to show up to school and upgrade his or her skills provides further proof of Wenger's thought that “learning is inherent in human nature” (p. 226). Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR) is utilized on intake to acknowledge existing skills and previous experience. These efforts, as well as the latest trend to incorporate the essential skills needed for the workplace into our lesson plans, are examples of the preservation and creation of knowledge.

The spreading of information has been shared through the professional relationships that have developed within different communities of practice. This happens while networking at conferences, participating in professional development workshops and faculty working groups, and attending classes in a Graduate Studies program in Lifelong Learning. Topics of interest have included classroom management, teaching tools and resources, online learning, and methods of instruction for students with learning differences, to name a few. Until reading Wenger, I always felt that I had the power to control the method in which my classroom functioned. Furthermore, I thought that the more information I gained in the field of adult learning the better my class curriculum would be. When Wenger explains that “communities of practice are about content, not about form and that one can design a curriculum but not learning” (p. 229), I understand that as instructors we do not cause learning; we create a supportive environment in which the learning occurs.

I am grateful for the initial advice I was given to not view the classroom as teaching 15-20 students, rather to see the classroom as 15-20 individual classes. This approach made it possible to work within a program with ongoing enrolment. Learners move at their own pace without feeling bored or left behind. The structure of the class then gives way to groups, promoting shared learning amongst students learning similar material. These were the metaphorical building blocks used to create a community of learning, or rather a home for identities. Identities that learners would bring forth through the discovery of their own potential. Our organization's most recent initiative to include a public business under the same umbrella allows participants to put their recently acquired skills and knowledge in practice in a real life setting.

This blog does not afford the capacity required to list all the ideas found in Wenger's book that surface in the daily-monthly-yearly goings-on of a community-based learning network. The examples that could be discussed are perhaps too numerous and certainly always accumulating, which has led me to the realization that what Wenger says about identity of formation is also true about learning itself. It “is a lifelong process whose phases and rhythms change as the world changes” (p. 263). Whether a learner is on an academic or vocational path, I hope to continue to shape my classroom to provide both a curriculum and atmosphere that encourages and engages the learner to imagine themselves progressing through the program, connecting the content to their life choices, realizing their potential, and furthering their lifelong journey of learning. To do this, I will embrace change and relish in the adaptable nature of life, the growth of relationships, and the ever-changing communities in which we belong.