A social learning theory perspective

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Learning for a small planet
A social learning theory perspective
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Teachers joining forces
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Nurse practitioners in British Columbia
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Formal and informal an opportunity
Rio Tinto is designing a new service organisation
to focus on excellence in strategic domains
Just when the organization focuses on knowledge
two complementary paths to
the same vision
Just when CoPs need a more strategic focus
We already have a set of functioning communities
of practice in key domains informal
infrastructure-gt some passionate coordinators
CoP
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A learning system for transition
55 partner organizations
OSERS
The IDEA partnership
51 technical assistance outreach network
States Regions
Districts Schools Communities
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Knowledge strategy at the World Bank
Communities of practice are key to the strategy
of becoming the knowledge bank. More than
100 thematic groups cut acrossregions
andsectors.Now some communitiesare taking a
strategic lead, applying the principles beyond
the bank, to organize knowledge among client
countries.
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Can we make sense of these challenges from a
social perspective?
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Purple in the nose ...
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Learning competence and experience
Socially defined competence
The experience of members

• Learning can be defined as a realignment of
  competence and experience, whichever leads the
  other.

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Identity involves complex set of characteristics
related to participation in social contexts.
Knowing as identity

• Constitution
• Participation and reification
• Individual and collective
• Inside-out and outside-in
• Participation and non-participation
• Time and space
• Trajectory and events
• Multimembership
• Local and global

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A social theory of learning
Where do webelong
community
learning
Who are webecoming?
practice
identity
What are we doing?
meaning
What is ourexperience?
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Communities of practice everywhere
Agents at Clarica
Mass storage at Sun
Windshield wipers at DaimlerChrysler
High availability at HP
Mayors in Central America
Turbodudes at Shell
Water modeling at Environment Canada
Stroke at St Luke
Quantitative biology at Eli Lilly
Global marketing at JJ
Urban Services at the World Bank
Prison catering in Victoria
Stress engineering at Westinghouse
Manufacturing processes at PG
Acquisitions at the Navy
Emergency care in Victoria
Financial Services at Oracle
Imaging at Agfa
Client CLOs at SABA
Nurse practitioners in BC
Electricians at TAFE
Mine geology at Rio Tinto
Hospital managers at Solucient
Telecommunication solutions at Siemens
Etc, etc, etc...
Telehealth in Alberta
Rumble Strips at FWHA
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Practitioners need a community

• To help each solve problems
• To hear each others stories
• To keep up with change
• To avoid local blindness
• To reflect on their practice and improve it
• To push the boundaries of their field
• To think of new ways to leverage their knowledge

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knowledge as information
First wave technology

• Knowledge is information
• Put the knowledge of the organization in a
  database

• Useless databases with outdated information
• Difficult to motivate people to use a database

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Second wave people
knowledge as practice

• Knowledge lives in communities
• The key to managing knowledge is connecting
  experts

• Develop communities of practice for strategic
  domains
• Technology is used to support the work of
  communities

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Third wave strategic capabilities
towards a knowledge strategy

• A strategic conversation involving the
  organization and the communities of practice

• Key issues - What are knowledge needs?- How
  connect communities and organization?- What are
  the mutual commitments?

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Becoming a knowledge citizen
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Improving health
Photographs WHO
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Learning capability as a moral bet
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A question of learning capability
How can I/we, as ________________ contribute to
the learning capability of the planet by
enhancing the learning capability of my/our own
sphere of participation?
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Social learning as a personal challenge
For more information, go to www.ewenger.com
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Discourse as a professional bet
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Please meet Sheena...
Who is she? What does she know? Where is she
going? What is she learning? How does it all add
up to the person she is becoming?
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A journey of the self
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Revisited
A social theory of learning
Theories of social structure
Learningsystems
A social theory of learning
Theories of practice
Theories of community/identity
Learningtrajectories
Theories of agency
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Multi-scale social learning systems
Dimensions of the community/identity structure

• Scale from individuals to large social systems
• Space boundaries with otherness
• Time aging and renewal
• Culture the meaningful and the imaginable
• Power claims to competence and ownership of
  meaning

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Multi-scale social learning systems
Functional dimensions of learning capability

• Performance imperatives negotiating what matters
• Governance emergence and stewardship
• Institutionalization/codification anchoring
  agreement
• Social fabric identities in networks
• Education managing trajectories through the
  system

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A research agenda
Learning for a small planet
Learning theory develop a social theory of
learning as a conceptual framework
Learning implications explore implications for
action, design, and institutions
Learning trends understand emerging trends for
learning in the world today
Conversations engage people across sectors
Learning stories build a diverse, cross-sectoral
corpus of early examples
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A learning system for Special Ed
Collaborativeteaching
Common language
Nationa partner organizations
Federalagencies
Deliverysystems
MH, drop-outjuvenile justice
Traditionaland alternateroutes
Inter-agency
National partnerships
Familypartnerships
Earlyintervention
Transition
Shared agenda
Title I/NCLB/IDEA
Professional development
Teacher quality
Intra-agency
School MHand PBIS
In-service
National research technical assistance
Referral practices
States Regions
Schoolculture
Youth andfamily
Federalprograms
Diversityin ranks
Blending funds
Districts Schools Communities
Academicnon-academic
Schools anduniversities
Familiesintegration
Youthinvolvement
Publicagenda
EmploymentPost-secondary Community
Induction
Schoolimprovement
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In government
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The future of learning
The 21st century will be the century of
identity.
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Horizontalization of learning
Provider
Negotiation of mutual relevance
Recipient
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We are witnessing a radical shift in the primary
source of value creation.
Personalization of value creation
The personal in the service of the formal
The formal in the service of the personal
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Partialization of learning imperatives
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A personal and social challenge
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• General project funding
• Funding an activity
• Funding a case study
• Funding an joint action research project

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• General project funding
• Funding an activity
• Funding a case study
• Funding an joint action research project

For more information, go to www.ewenger.com
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Components
Learning for a small planet
Learning theory develop a social theory of
learning as a conceptual framework
Learning implications explore implications for
action, design, and institutions
Learning trends understand emerging trends for
learning in the world today
Conversations engage people across sectors
Learning stories build a diverse, cross-sectoral
corpus of early examples
42
Components
Learning for a small planet
Learning theory develop a social theory of
learning as a conceptual framework
Learning implications explore implications for
action, design, and institutions
Learning trends understand emerging trends for
learning in the world today
Conversations engage people across sectors
Learning stories build a diverse, cross-sectoral
corpus of early examples