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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.
Turning the tide of education research with indigenous knowledge
WERA SYMPOSIUM 2011
Learning in the wildCommunities of practice
andTeacher Education
Fernand GervaisPh.D.
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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)
Activity Theory
social theories
Husserl
Hegel (1807)
Kant (1787)
Marx (1867)
Heidegger (1927)
Schutz
Piaget
Vygotsky (1934)
Habermas
Situated Cognition
Constructivism
Evidence-Based Instructionism
Ethno-methodology
Communicative Action
Conversation Analysis
Descartes (1633)
Rationalism
Empiricism
Cognitivist Instructionism
Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein
Social Practiceanthropology
individual theories
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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 knowledge1. Probation2. 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)
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meaning
Participation
experience world
Reification
negotiation
living in the world
membershipacting
interacting
mutuality
forms
points of focus
documents
monumentsinstruments
projection
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CoPs key concepts
NegotiationMeaning
IdentityParticipation
ReificationMutual engagement
Joint enterpriseShared repertoire
TransparencyTrajectory
ImaginationAlignment
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Legitimate Peripheral Participation
Initial interaction is with other new entrants
Progress is beingallowed to take onmore key, or risky, tasks
The boundary is constantly
movingAcknowledged"Master"
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 (problem-solving and supervision)
• Remote school network project
• Virtual communities of practice (ISP project)• Marine pilots training (in progress)
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