3.2 Communities of practice
3.2.3 Alignment
This process of being in a CoP means making sure that local activities are sufficiently aligned with other processes so that they can be effective beyond the CoP members’ own engagement.
The concept of alignment refers to a mutual process of coordinating perspectives, interpretations and actions so the participants collectively realise higher goals.
54 3.2.4 Networks
CoPs also contain different elements (Wenger-Trayner et al., 2015). These elements can be identified as different network connections – social networks, specific networks, community and learning communities, which all contribute to the building of new identities and levels of confidence. They are discussed here briefly.
3.2.4.1 Social networks
Social networks are sets of connections among people. They use their connection and relationships as a resource in order to quickly solve problems, share knowledge and make future connections. Yousefi-Nooraie et al. (2012), Boh (2014) and Kothari et al. (2015) have all shown that the use of external social networks for information seeking purposes in CoPs is a beneficial strategy for individuals as they move from a stage of confusion to a stage where one is competent and able to use jargon easily as a result of collaborative efforts to collect information from organisations and individuals.
3.2.4.2 Specific networks
Specific networks refer to relationships, personal interaction and connections among participants who have personal reasons to connect. They facilitate information flow, make helpful linkages, and contribute to joint problem solving and knowledge creation. The value of specific networks as learning resources depends on an individual’s judgement to act as a responsible communication point and evaluate the relevance of the network’s potential information flows for the CoP. Communities of practice are mostly self-sufficient, but they can benefit from some resources, such as outside experts (counsellors, nurses and pharmacists) meeting facilities, and communications technology. It will be seen that the concept of social capital is particularly relevant to Wenger’s notion of networks.
3.2.4.3 Community
Community can refer to the development of a shared identity around a topic or set of challenges (Battacharyya 2004). It represents collective intentions which focus on a domain of knowledge in order to sustain learning about it. Through personal and community networks, multiple networks are connected and confidence is built through learning (Wenger, 1998).
55 A learning community is a community which has created a social space in which participants can work together to further their learning partnership related to their common purpose. This partnership can be formal or informal and its intention can be explicit or tacit. The key characteristic is the shared practice of both individual and collective learning. Over time, the shared experience of learning together also becomes its own resource among the participants because they have built up a shared repertoire of cases, techniques, roles, stories, concepts, and perspectives. The challenge of community is that it requires sustained identification and engagement. Preece (2014) argues that learning as a group helps to simplify complex issues and enables sharing of resources such as expertise. Therefore, she sees the importance of Wengers’
(2006) CoP through utilisation of the collective responsibility for their learning. The three support groups in this study were analysed for the extent to which they negotiated and renegotiated their reason to learn together, helped each other, followed up on ideas, developed shared resources, and sustained a social space for learning. It is important therefore to explore how Wenger defines the process of learning through networks and the impact that has on confidence and identity.
3.2.4.4 Learning and networks
The connections in a network can function as learning ties providing access to information flows and exchanges (Wenger, 1998). The learning value of a network derives from access to a rich web of information sources offering multiple perspectives and dialogues, responses to queries and help from others because of personal connections. Contacts made through networking enable people to gain access to relevant learning resources. Bates (2014) argues that the significance of acquired learning should be seen through knowledge management where acquired learning is shared to widen the scope at which learners benefit. Trahar (2006) cautions, however, that learning outcomes are never universal between individuals even if exposed to the same stimuli, due to the uniqueness of each learner. Personal connections and networking are nevertheless resources to enhance each learner’s understanding. Dugan (2012) also confirms that access to learning resources acquired as foreign materials are likely to need assessment and domestication to ensure familiarisation of discourses and to ease acceptance by the local community of
56 learners. This process results in confidence for individuals who are engaged in the learning process.
Confidence in relation to learning
Broekmann and Scott (1999) explain that confidence in relation to learning is the knowledge or belief that one can learn to do whatever is expected of one. This linking of confidence to being a learner concurs with the aim of this study. Lave and Wenger (2002) highlight the significant role of confidence in the learning environment as it enables the learner to seek clarifications and to share accumulated knowledge, hence the power of networking for learning and identity purposes.
Murphy (2003) argues that confidence is usually gained through the teach-back strategy where information intended to be shared gets repeated over and over amongst the participants until each has understood the information.
Identity development
Gee (2000) suggests that identity development includes new ways of being ‘identified’ by others.
Identity is crucial in learning groups for many reasons. First, our identities evolve through our enhanced competence and experiences so that we develop new ways of knowing. Identities enable us to associate with others and build trust with those who matter to us. Identities are not necessarily strong or healthy. A strong identity requires that people can establish deep connections with others by sharing histories and experiences, which can result in reciprocity and trust. The work of identity building is an evolving process which re-shapes who we are and how we learn.
Communities of practice are group/s of people who share a similar or common problem, who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour. Communities of practice theory is linked with social capital theory because both theories are concerned with how individuals and societies who share similar or common characteristics or attributes get involved in the learning activity systems occurring in their surroundings. They provide a means of understanding how networks and relationships help to introduce new knowledge and skills that address their problem, resulting in changes of perceptions and behaviour which can be identified as transformative learning. Therefore, transformative learning theory, social capital
57 theory and communities of practice theory can be used together as an analytical lens to explore how support groups show their capability in exploring and responding to certain information, education and communication strategies in relation to the contradictions they encounter in their families, communities and from the support group members themselves.