英语论文网

r than by teaching; learning from other learners (social interaction) rather than pupil learning from teacher (individualised); informal, task driven learning rather than following a planned curriculum as it is in traditional learning models. They saw learning as a lot about understanding how to behave and act (which leads to identity change) rather than a mechanistic cerebral process of transmitting and absorbing ideas (Cox, 2005).

As laudable as the 'new invention' was, Lave and Wenger's concept of Communities of Practice had limitations and lacked clarity in some ways. Based on the examples of apprenticeship used to illustrate the formation of Communities of Practice, the content of the piece of work could be understood by readers as suggesting a reintroduction of apprenticeship styles of learning in the workplace, creating a notion that Communities of Practice are 'unified, neatly bounded group, whereas what is intended is a far more subtle concept' (Cox, 2005 p. 528).

Wenger, McDermott and Snyder in 2002 made what could be termed a 'major break-through' in Wenger's previous work, coming up with a piece that spotlights Communities of Practice as a management tool marking a decisive shift from earlier illustration focused on routine office work. The new writing accentuates the need for organisations to embrace knowledge management in an intentional and systematic manner; noting that though Communities of Practice as a concept is not new, organisations need to cultivate the concept in strategic areas as they seek to manage knowledge as an asset, just as they systemically manage other critical assets (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002).

Presenting a clearer and 'more useful' model focused on innovation and problem solving which could guide large, blue chip, multinational organisations on reinventing the concept as a managerialist conception (Cox, 2005), Wenger et al redefined Communities of Practice as 'groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis' (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002: 4). Describing how groups of people with 'common interest' learn through interaction, Wenger et al. emphasised that members of such groups do not necessarily need to work together everyday but feel the urge to frequently meet themselves having realised that there is value in the interaction through which they share information, insights and advise as they try to solve each other's problems (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002).

When learning occurs within Communities of Practice forming in organisations, such learning is communal and thus collaborative; it cannot be separated from 'everyday work' just as individual learning cannot be separated from collective learning (Brown and Duguid, 1991). Knowledge acquisition and sharing within the organisation, is therefore more effective when individuals learn through a collaborative means rather than learn in isolation of others; and in a knowledge economy, organisations can only ensure competitive advantage when they systematically manage 'knowledge on the cutting edge, deploy it, leverage it in operations and spread it across the organisation' (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002: 6) through 'Collaborative Learning'.

Communities of Practice have本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。