Wenger's Communities Of Practice
In Communities of Practice, Wenger explains that education is not accomplished through a structured, formal method per se, but rather through social interactions. Interestingly, Wenger’s belief overlaps with some of the ideas of popular psychologists. “Theory of social structure” is a respect to agency, and compliance to social axiom. “Theory of situated experience” is independent understanding of the everyday experience through implied positive and negative reinforcements. “Theories of social practice” is the understanding of relationships between atomic individuals in a collective unit. Together, along with other theories, these elements define the social theory of learning. It is surprising to see the process and elements of learning defined
in such a way that almost all aspects of learning are account for and interrelated.
Jane Jacobs supplements Wenger’s theory through real-life observations of youth in urban areas. Youth, according to Jacobs, learning through interacting with others on the streets, not in designated, sheltered areas such as parks and playgrounds. The distrust of ordinary people has led parents to forbid children from playing on sidewalks. Perhaps the power of media, and the word of mouth, often exaggerates crime and danger to parents. Bad news sells; good news doesn’t. The distrust of ordinary folks contributes to the danger of the city, ironically. We must keep in mind that the majority of commoners are not “bent-on-ill”, but rather casual observers who like to keep the city peaceful.
Aaron Golub, in his research on transportation impacts on African Americans, finds that the East Bay black population has been continuously sidelined through transportation planning of AC Transit and BART. It is interesting to see Golub mention the white-flight effect as the “white noose” which chokes the poor inner-city blacks. It shocks me to read that even though de facto racism has been eliminated, de jure racism survives through “race-blind” planning. Some people argue that affirmative action is unfair on its own, and they have a point. But to solve the economic and social problems of the city, planners must focus on equity rather than equality sometimes. This makes the distribution of funding even more critical. Following precedent, most of the funding is allocated by “benefits received” through VMT, but decision making on equity concepts can be reconsidered. Other methods like “ability to pay” and “process/participation” are equitable alternatives to “benefits received” funding distribution.
in such a way that almost all aspects of learning are account for and interrelated.
Jane Jacobs supplements Wenger’s theory through real-life observations of youth in urban areas. Youth, according to Jacobs, learning through interacting with others on the streets, not in designated, sheltered areas such as parks and playgrounds. The distrust of ordinary people has led parents to forbid children from playing on sidewalks. Perhaps the power of media, and the word of mouth, often exaggerates crime and danger to parents. Bad news sells; good news doesn’t. The distrust of ordinary folks contributes to the danger of the city, ironically. We must keep in mind that the majority of commoners are not “bent-on-ill”, but rather casual observers who like to keep the city peaceful.
Aaron Golub, in his research on transportation impacts on African Americans, finds that the East Bay black population has been continuously sidelined through transportation planning of AC Transit and BART. It is interesting to see Golub mention the white-flight effect as the “white noose” which chokes the poor inner-city blacks. It shocks me to read that even though de facto racism has been eliminated, de jure racism survives through “race-blind” planning. Some people argue that affirmative action is unfair on its own, and they have a point. But to solve the economic and social problems of the city, planners must focus on equity rather than equality sometimes. This makes the distribution of funding even more critical. Following precedent, most of the funding is allocated by “benefits received” through VMT, but decision making on equity concepts can be reconsidered. Other methods like “ability to pay” and “process/participation” are equitable alternatives to “benefits received” funding distribution.