Extract 4 Participation and Non-participation
we know who we are by what is familiar and by what we can negotiate and make use of, and that we know who we are not by what is unfamiliar, unwieldy, and out of our purview.
Our relations to communities of practice thus involve both participation and nonparticipation, and our identities are shaped by combinations of the two.
Identities of Non-participation
Experiences of non-participation do not necessarily build up to an identity of nonparticipation. We inevitably come in contact with communities of practice to which we do not belong, non-participation is an inevitable part of living. Not all that we encounter becomes significant and not all that we meet carries our touch; yet these events can all contribute in their own ways to our experience of identity.
In a landscape defined by boundaries and peripheries, a coherent identity is of necessity a mixture of being in and being out.
· In the case of peripherality, some degree of non-participation is necessary to enable a kind of participation that is less than full. Here, it is the participation aspect that dominates and defines non-participation as an enabling factor of participation.
· In the case of marginality, a form of non-participation prevents full participation. Here, it is the non-participation aspect that dominates and comes to define a restricted form of participation.
Peripherality and marginality both involve a mix of participation and nonparticipation. The difference between peripherality and marginality must be understood in the context of trajectories that determine the significance of forms of participation.
· Newcomers, on an inbound trajectory that is construed by everyone to include full participation in its future. Non-participation is then an opportunity for learning.
· people whose trajectory remains peripheral, non-participation is an enabling aspect of their participation because full participation is not a goal to start with.
· long-standing members can be kept in a marginal position, so integrated in the practice that it closes the future. Forms of non-participation may be so ingrained in the practice that it may seem impossible to conceive of a different trajectory within the same community.
full participation (insider); full non-participation (outsider); peripherality (participation enabled by non-participation, whether it leads to full participation or remains on a peripheral trajectory); and marginality (participation restricted by non-participation, whether it leads to non-membership or to a marginal position).
Extract 5 Participation in Social Learning Systems
The perspective of a social learning system applies to many of our social institutions with implications at multiple levels.
· Individuals : importance of finding the dynamic set of communities they should belong to and a meaningful trajectory through these communities over time.
· Communities of Practice : balance between core and boundary processes, so that the practice is both a strong node in the web of interconnections – an enabler of deep learning in a specific area balance between core and boundary processes, so that the practice is both a strong node in the web of interconnections – an enabler of deep learning in a specific area
· Organizations: a need to learn to foster and participate in social learning systems, both inside and outside organizational boundaries. Organizations can take part in them; they can foster them; they can leverage them; but they cannot fully own or control them