Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity
1998 · Cambridge University Press
Overview
A social-participation formulation of learning, meaning, and identity.
Core Question
How are learning, meaning, and identity organised through social participation?
Central Argument
Practice, community, meaning, and identity are negotiated through participation rather than formal membership alone.
Theoretical Contribution
Develops mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire.
Theory Relationships
- Communities of Practice — core work
- Teacher Identity Theory — adjacent theory source
Reading Focus
- Test whether sustained practice and participation are evidenced.
- Distinguish a community of practice from a named team or programme.
Legal Access Path
- Open the authoritative bibliographic record — Use the linked publisher, DOI, university, journal, library, or institutional record to locate lawful access through a library or the rights holder.
Sources & verification
- VerifiedThe linked record verifies this work's bibliographic details and lawful access route. — Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press.
- Editorially ReviewedThe central argument, theoretical contribution, relationship, and reading emphasis are bounded Syntag editorial syntheses, not quotations or claims of universal consensus.
- Research GuidanceReading priorities should be adapted to the research question, prior knowledge, access, and disciplinary guidance.
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