Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger propose that learning is an inherently social phenomenon rather than a private, cognitive acquisition of information. They introduce the framework of legitimate peripheral participation to describe how newcomers enter a community of practice. By observing and performing low-risk tasks on the fringes of a group, individuals gradually move toward full membership. The authors support this model through case studies of Yucatec midwives, Vai and Gola tailors, navy quartermasters, meat cutters, and members of Alcoholics Anonymous to show how identity and mastery develop through social interaction.
Sociologists, educators, and organizational designers read this book to understand how knowledge circulates outside of formal classrooms. It provides a vocabulary for analyzing how apprentices gain competence through shared artifacts and social relations. Readers walk away with a specific lens for viewing learning as a transition in social identity. The text explains why traditional instructional methods often fail by ignoring the environmental context and the specific relationship between novices and experts within a functioning social system.
Deep; a demanding read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1991
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- ISBN
- 9781139643009
- Language
- EN
