Turning the tide of education research
with indigenous knowledge
WERA SYMPOSIUM 2011
Learning in the wild
Communities of practice
and
Teacher Education
Fernand Gervais
Ph.D.
Overview
• Introduction
• A sociocultural perspective on learning
• A few examples of « Learning in the Wild »
• Hunters from Mali
• Women mountain guides
• Fishermen in France
• (Delivery men in Paris)
• (Sheperds from Provence)
• Learning in the wild - A modern version: CoPs
• The shift from an individual to a collective perspective
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Our focus
This presentation focuses on how knowledge is
acquired, constructed and transmitted in
natural or concrete settings (i.e. field
experiences in Teacher Education).
Our intention is to illustrate how formalization of
training and a shift of focus from an individual
to a collective perspective has transformed our
views on the issue and our ways of doing
things
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Indigenous knowledge
• Local knowledge?
• Traditional knowledge?
• Collective knowledge?
• Practical knowledge?
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Sociocultural perspective
• Not a ”school” or ”particular” tradition, but
consists of a range of different perspectives and
theories (a inter-disciplinary field), but share some
basic asumption on knowledge, learning and
development
• The task of sociocultural analysis is to understand
how mental functioning is related to cultural,
institutional, and historical context
(Wertsch 1998)
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Individualist & social philosophies &
theories of learning (Gerry stahl 2004)
Descartes (1633)
Cognitivist
Instructionism
Rationalism
Empiricism
Kant
(1787)
Evidence-Based
Instructionism
Piaget
Wittgenstein
Husserl
individual theories
Wittgenstein
Conversation
Analysis
Situated
Cognition
Habermas
Communicative
Action
Heidegger
(1927)
Marx
(1867)
social theories
Ethnomethodology
Schutz
Hegel
(1807)
Constructivism
anthropology
Vygotsky
(1934)
Social Practice
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Activity Theory
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Learning is situated
Lave & Wenger(1991)
B.Rogoff (1990,2003):
• Learning occurs as a function of the activity, context and
culture in which it takes place (i.e., it is situated).
• Social interaction is a critical component of situated learning - learners become involved in a "community of practice"
which embodies certain beliefs and behaviors to be acquired.
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Transmission of knowledge
Hunters brotherhood from Mali
(Moussa Sidibé (2001)
Investigation of the practical knowledge of
Master Hunters
 Step by step transmission of knowledge
1. Probation
2. Listening!!
3. Sharing and living with the Master
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Socialization to the task
Women mountain guides (Mennesson,
2005)
Women geologists (Amireault, 2006)
• Family socialization
• Peer socialization (men)
• Tough initiation to the task (start at the age of
34!!)
• Probation (physical capacity)
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Formalization of training
Fishermen from France (Biget, 2005)
• From transmission by « oldtimers » to
hybrid training
• A theoretical part emerged
• A transformation of identity fueled by the
adaptation to a new economic and
technological world
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The formalization of training
Except for the Mali hunters all of these
occupations have been formalized and most of
them institutionnalized in a dual form:
theoretical and practical.
On the practical side we seem to have been
transiting from an oral tradition to a paper and
objectives acquisition of knowledge
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A modern version: Communities of
practice
• Learning in concrete settings is now being
examined from a different angle
• A basic principle: A group of people sharing an
activity
• Learning through participation within a group
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Communities of Practice
(Wenger, 2005)
meaning
Participation
living in the world
membership
experience
forms
acting
points of focus
interacting
world
documents
mutuality
monuments
projection
instruments
Reification
negotiation
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CoPs key concepts
Negotiation
Meaning
Identity
Participation
Reification
Mutual engagement
Joint enterprise
Shared repertoire
Transparency
Trajectory
Imagination
Alignment
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Legitimate Peripheral Participation
Initial interaction
is with other new
entrants
Acknowledged
"Master"
The boundary
is constantly
moving
Progress is being
allowed to take on
more key, or risky, tasks
Note : Lave & Wenger explicitly reject this kind of depiction of their model
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Shift from an individual to a
collective perspective
Impact on Field experiences in Teacher
Training Programs
• Dyads (students paired)
• Collective supervision (a group of teachers)
• Distance supervision
• Interdisciplinary approach
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Some side effects of these measures
• On evaluation…
• On accountability…
• On organization…
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Parallel Research endeavours
• Reconstruction of teacher narratives (problemsolving and supervision)
• Remote school network project
• Virtual communities of practice (ISP project)
• Marine pilots training (in progress)
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Thank you!!
[email protected]
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