Participation & Reification – Clear Definitions and the Link to Educational Support

     My (very old) Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary provides short definitions of reification and participation that I found very clear and helpful:

Reification - to regard (something abstract) as a material thing

Participation – the state of being related to a larger whole

     When I look at these two simple but poignant definitions it is clear to me why Wenger chose these two words as his descriptors for the processes at work within a community of practice. People coming together in mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire, the three dimensions of a community of practice as suggested by Wenger (1998), clearly are involved in something that is larger than them and intertwined with others. They are, through their participation, contributing to a larger whole. Subsequently, when people are together as part of a larger whole they are creating the shared history of meaning which is how things that are meaningful to the group become reified. It is the shared understanding of abstract things as material that contributes to linking people together in the community. Wenger (1998) spends a significant amount of time in his book Communities of Practice – Learning, Meaning, and Identity describing reification and participation. They are important concepts to review and consider in order to deepen our appreciation of communities of practice as complex functioning units in and of themselves.

     As discussed in class, communities of practice function productively when there is an complementarity between participation and reification. A community of practice which is governed by too many rules and regulations can be viewed as dictatorial in that there is little room for members of the group to create new meanings or alter existing practices. Conversely, a community of practice which is almost fully participatory and holds few reified ideas can be viewed as chaotic with little order or communal construction.

It is interesting to me to contemplate how a community of practice can navigate their path to create the most advantageous mix of participation and reification without ever thinking about it in terms of these concepts. Although the individuals may never know these words to describe their group and what they do, they are still actively involved in the process. People in communities of practice are negotiating new meaning, challenging reified ideas, and creating updated normalcy as part of the course of doing regular business.

     For example, in the nursing profession (like many other professional bodies) there is an enduring assessment and discussion of what it means to be competent. The word competent is reified to mean capable and knowledgeable to be able to do all the duties and activities prescribed for a Registered Nurse. A competent Registered Nurse in 2011, however, would look quite different in terms of their skills and abilities than a Registered Nurse in 1950. Both are deemed competent at the point in time but what defines competence has changed significantly. So, the term competent has remained reified for many years in the nursing profession but new meanings to support the understanding of it have been negotiated by the members of this community of practice. The educational community which supports the education of nurses has been required to respond to the increasing demands of nurses to complete more complex clinical procedures and take on a leadership role within health care teams. The scope of practice for a Registered Nurse has become broader and deeper creating higher expectations when measuring competence. Nursing educators have had to take direction from the regulatory body for the nursing profession (influenced by the health care sector) to re-create curriculum to meet new and increasing expectations. As educators, this has meant the need to adapt to considerable change and formulation of new ways of teaching and opportunities for learning which have not been explored before. It is a responsibility and challenge for educators to ensure that today’s Registered Nurses are competent as defined by the community of practice.

     Few people are likely familiar with the terms community of practice, and reification and participation in this context. However, as discussed above, all people in communities of practice are involved in these processes as part of their everyday interactions with others. As an educator involved with a community of practice it is beneficial to understand how communities operate and what conditions foster an environment for negotiating meaning and collaboration within the group. Supporting an environment where there is complementarity of participation and reification creates an opportunity for growth but with stability and order within the community.

References

Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary. (1963). Thomas Allen Limited, Toronto: Ontario.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.

New Versus Old – Finding Common Ground in Communities of Practice

 

Attempting to join or participate in any kind of an established group can evoke a nervous response for many people. Established groups can seem closed and unwelcoming to a new person hoping to fit in. A sense of belonging and being seen as legitimate is important to people striving for acceptance by others. But how do people trying to fit in get to the stage of feeling that they truly belong?

Lave and Wenger (1991) describe people endeavouring to participate in communities of practitioners for the purpose of obtaining mastery of the skills and knowledge of the group as legitimate peripheral participants. They use the concept of apprenticeship to describe people as learners who are new to a community of practice. I have always thought of the term apprentice as associated with skilled trades but Lave and Wenger use this term more broadly to describe anyone who is new to a practice community and working towards the ultimate goal of achieving full participation through learning about the community including its activities, identities, knowledge, and artifacts.

One of my experiences as a legitimate peripheral participant arose following completion of my undergraduate degree. I was required to complete a one-year internship program, which for me took place in a hospital setting, to become a registered professional within the licensing body. In this case it would seem that internship and apprenticeship were a like experience. I identify with the description provided by Lave and Wenger when they detail the initial experiences of newcomers as associated with “tasks positioned at the end of the branches of work processes, rather than in the middle of linked work segments” (1991, p. 110). I recall beginning as an intern and being given work to complete that was simple and straightforward, and as well being tasked with lots of reading and reviewing of policies and procedures, guidelines, and even commonly used language including acceptable abbreviations and symbols. I understand now that this was a part of the process for me to start understanding the shared knowledge and skills within this community of professionals. As I progressed through my internship year, my contributions to the processes of work became increasingly more skilled and valued and the sense of belonging to this community of practitioners was influencing how I saw myself within the group. I recall towards the end of my year being offered the opportunity to complete a staff-relief placement where I would be acting in the role of the professional during their planned absence. This was my sign that I belonged. This community of practitioners had given me the opportunity to work with them as a full participant within their community.

I retell my experience above as though it was a smooth, fulfilling experience of entry into that community of practice that followed the stages of apprenticeship as described by Lave and Wenger. I did become a full participant within the community but the journey was not smooth or predictable. There were some members within the community that did not support or value my input as a newcomer. Their interest in interactions with me seemed more focused on ensuring that I would be the type of practitioner that they saw as legitimate within the community. Lave and Wenger (1991) discuss people within communities who act upon newcomers with the intent to change them to conform to established practices as didactic caretakers. In some instances, old-timers in a group who have a history of shared meaning and learning within the community can act this way in an effort to preserve their own sense of the community and how it should be maintained. The old-timers in a community are usually those who have the respect of newcomers. If there are old-timers acting in the capacity of didactic caretakers it is problematic because newcomers, who are unsure of themselves and their abilities, may bend to conform to the expectations of the old-timers. This is an exertion of power within the community and can potentially impact the formation of identity in newcomers and as well limit the creation of a communally constructed community where all participants hold value in forming and sustaining the community of practice. Lave and Wenger (1991) describe the communal construction of a community of practice as advantageous related to the contributions from differing perspectives of all members which benefit the community overall by creating a rich history of shared experience. In my internship example there were times when I questioned my own abilities and contributions based on participation in the community of practitioners because it was restricted by some of the old-timers. I would suggest that facing this situation as a newcomer to a community of practice is more common than uncommon. There is pride in belonging to a community of practice and when newcomers are entering some of the old-timers may feel threatened and worried that change may lay ahead.

Navigating successfully as a legitimate peripheral participant to become a full practising member in a community of practice can be a tricky endeavour. As lifelong learners and educators, understanding the perspective of both newcomers and old-timers holds great potential to be useful in mediating and assisting people to reach common ground in their communities of practice.

References:

Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation, New York, N.Y.:

            Cambridge University Press.