Thank Goodness for Participation and Reification!

            Similar to my fellow bloggers out in cyberspace, I am a member of several communities of practice.  The most notable one that continuously pops into my head as I read Wenger is my membership into the community of practice at my workplace.  We constantly have to deal with new policy and product changes, along with staff turnover.  Some of you may question – “Does Lindsay work for a horrible organization?”  Absolutely not!  Yes, my job involves a high stress level at times and there is pressure to perform, but when you work hard, you reap rewards.  My recent trip to New York is a great example. 

I think anyone can relate to stressful times at work and at home.  I attribute much of our staff turnover to promotions both inside and outside the company.  As far as the policy and product changes are concerned, I may not always agree with them, but they are a part of my practice.  New government regulations and changes in the economy are always bringing changes to my practice.  As I read Wenger, I realize how important a role his processes of participation and reification play in this community of practice.

Wenger (1999) defines reification in various, yet similar ways.  According to Wenger, reification allows us to project ourselves onto the world and become organized in order to provide meaning within a community of practice.  Wenger states that reification is a, “...process of giving form to our experiences by producing objects that congeal this experience into ‘thingness’” (p 58).  

Within this community of practice, various forms of reification include the computer system we must utilize to process transactions and the strict lending guidelines and access to basic banking rules the federal government has outlined.  It is the numerous forms we must utilize with every transaction.  I can identify with Wenger’s Ariel and the forms she must use and the phone calls that interrupt a transaction you must terminate in order to deal with a phone call.      

            Without reification in the financial industry, there could be chaos in Canada’s economic system.  No policies and procedures, no government regulation and regulators mean that almost anyone could open a financial institution and determine how they can invest or lend money.  This is not a good idea!  The United States over the past few years is a prime example of how lack of regulation and reification can lead to disaster.  Due to the lack of government regulations and codes of conduct banks were expected to follow, financial institutions were being opened that did not have the backing of major financial institutions. 

When the economic problems hit, these institutions did not have the capital to sustain themselves or the mortgages they provided their customers.  Therefore, when the customers who could no longer pay when their interest rate increased, they defaulted their mortgage.  With no capital to cover the cost of the mortgage and pay back their investors, they default as well.  This issue was a huge contributing factor to the fall of the United States economy and why the Canadian government’s policies in mortgage financing continue to change.  I could write a blog alone on the recent changes to mortgage financing and how it has affected my community of practice.

Along with reification, participation is an important element of a community of practice.  Wenger (1999) describes participation as an action and connection, a source of mutual recognition between community of practice members.  Wenger states that, “...participation in social communities shapes our experience, and it also shapes those communities; the transformative potential goes both ways” (p. 56-57).  Participation involves taking the objects, tools and artifacts that result from reification and utilizing them within your community of practice.

Participation allows the community of practice masters to teach the apprentices how to work within their community of practice.  When Lave and Wenger’s (1991) strategy of legitimate peripheral participation is utilized, it allows for a transformative process to potentially occur within the practice.  Apprentices will be able to observe the master and learn the tacit knowledge of that master and others within the community.  Once the observation is complete, the apprentice will be able to apply their learned skills and potentially be able to provide new ways of completing tasks and utilizing tools and artifacts of reification.

Due to constant change within my community of practice participation is essential.  masters are constantly called upon to work with apprentices to pass on their knowledge.  When reification changes occur, participation is needed in order to implement the changes in a fashion that works for that specific environment. 

Every branch within a financial institution is different, especially in culture and the geographic area it serves.  How to implement a new procedure in a “big” city, may not work in a “small” town.  Through participation and community of practice member’s tacit knowledge, the implementation can be smoother as the members will have the knowledge in place to make this reification work in their area.  A recent change in mutual fund policies involves the branches having to reprint new account applications and have the customers sign them for accounts that were opened prior to the year 1998.  As a result, we implemented a rule that every time we meet with a mutual fund customer, we must pull their file prior to the appointment to verify if an account application is completed.

Participation and reification lead to the negotiation of meaning (Wenger, 1999).  These processes allow us to understand why we complete tasks the way we do within our community of practice.  The financial industry is an extreme example of the importance of these two processes and how they allow a community of practice to function properly.

References

Lave, J. And Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation.

            Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press.

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity (1^st ed.). New

York: Cambridge University Press.

Acquisition Theory vs Situated Theory in Communities of Practice.... Implications in Lifelong Learning

Communities of practice can be found everywhere.  Everyone, when prompted, would be able to claim membership in several communities.  Learning is an extremely important aspect of these communities as it ensures the knowledge of these communities is continuously communicated to newcomers (apprentices) via the old timers (masters).  Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger write about two learning theories that are utilized in communities of practice that assist members in lifelong learning.  These theories are acquisition and situated learning theory.   

Lave and Wenger describe acquisition as more of an individual learning theory.  Everything is internalized and knowledge is not always shared between the old timers and the newcomers.  It is very task oriented where everyone learns a task that contributes to the completion of a project (the meat packers example in a grocery store is an example).  If a person only learns the one task and never has the opportunity to learn the whole cycle, they will never be able to become an old timer in their community of practice.

Situated theory is a more holistic approach to learning.  Lave and Wenger argue that it goes hand in hand with legitimate peripheral participation as newcomers have the opportunity to learn from the old timers.  “Legitimate peripheral participation provides a way to speak about the relations between newcomers and old-timers, and about activities, identities, artifacts, and communities of knowledge and practice” (Lave and Wenger, 1991, 29).  It concerns the process by which newcomers become part of a community of practice. Newcomers learn about their community of practice through observation and implementation and are able to utilize their acquired knowledge in efforts to improve the practices and tools of the community. 

I recently had the opportunity to act as the old timer!  I spent several days at another branch in which I was assigned the opportunity to teach a new employee my role in the bank.  This opportunity began with the newcomer participating in what Lave and Wenger would consider acquisition theory.  She was responsible for completing several computer courses to familiar herself with information about the products, procedures and policies of the bank. 

This is a very much an internalized way of learning as they are solely learning on their own and not benefiting from the knowledge of their co-workers that surround them.  While this is a great way to familiarise yourself with the theory involved in working for this organization, until you get to put this knowledge into practice, you do not fully understand why you are expected to complete transactions and offer products in the ways that you encouraged to follow.

Lave and Wenger’s situated theory of learning in a legitimate peripheral participation environment is also utilized in this example and in my opinion is a much better way to learn in this particular community of practice.  During our time together, we began with her observing my customer interactions.  This included explanations from myself about why I performed a certain task or made a certain recommendation in particular situations.  This time also allowed her to ask questions and make references to concepts she learned during her acquisition of learning period.

After a brief period of observation, we agreed that she would begin to perform transactions while I observed.  Therefore, we moved into the next step in legitimate peripheral participation.  While hesitant at first, she eventually became comfortable interacting with customers and completing transactions, as she had the peace of mind I was by her side to provide guidance and answer questions as needed. 

Our time together consisted of putting the knowledge she had already gained into use.  As well, she was able to benefit from the tacit knowledge I had gained in my role as I was able to show her tips and techniques I had gained from working in the role and the knowledge I acquired from the old timers that took the time to assist me in my learning journey in this community of practice.  We were then able to reflect on transactions and how they can be improved next time, along with how she can perform the tasks in a way that works best for her.

We all participate in various communities of practice in both our personal and professional lives.  We take these opportunities to learn from old-timers how they are and are not successful and utilize this tacit knowledge to improve ourselves.  If we internalized all our knowledge, I believe this would lead to demoralized workplaces and uninspiring communities of practice, similar to Lave and Wenger’s examples of meat packers, in which only old timers reside and there are no opportunities for improvement or social interaction.

What are the implications for lifelong learning? Lave and Wenger show us that while both situated and acquisition learning are important forms of learning, situated learning theory is extremely important in communities of practice.   I believe situated learning allows newcomers to learn the required knowledge to perform their required tasks, along with the tacit knowledge from old timers that can assist them to perform these tasks in a more efficient manner. 

Situated learning through peripheral participation allows us to implement the knowledge we acquired through acquisition learning theory, instead of internalizing it.  Learning by performing the tasks allows us to understand why we are completing the task and how it affects our co-workers and the customers.  We are able to share what we have learned, which may lead to new techniques, tools and techniques that can enhance the abilities of those within the community of practice.

A community of practice can only benefit from the flow of new comers and old timers within its environment.  This allows for lifelong learning as new minds, mean fresh ideas and innovations which ensures the community of practice will always stay relevant.

References

Lave, J. And Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press.