Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

more useful and effective than particular tools and techniques for learning. Relations of
participation are foregrounded at the expense ofthe conventional teacher/learner dyad.
Absent from Wenger's framework is a 'community ofpractice' perspective of 'teaching'
and its implications for conventional approaches to teaching.
As discussed earlier, many would argue that most forms oftraditional teaching have in
fact been successful in relation to learning and that it is indeed problematic to discount
teaching in relation to learning (Graven 2002). The theory suggests that we consider ways
that will maximize learning by minimizing teaching. It also suggests an alternative way
ofinterrogating conceptions ofteaching so as to maximise learning.
Adopting a situative framework as espoused by Wenger raises the question as to whether
knowledge is context bound and whether situative learning can lead to the acquisition of
discipline knowledge. Situated learning trivialises knowledge that is decontextualized,
abstract or general. It could well happen that learning might occur that could appear
unrelated to a particular context.
Wenger's theory is derived from research and consultation in the business world. His
earlier work with Lave (Lave and Wenger 1991) has its origins in apprenticeship training.
They challenge the conventional master-apprentice relationship by arguing that mastery
is not located in the master but in a community ofpractice to which the master also
belongs. The implication ofthis perspective is that the focus ofanalysis shifts from the
master as teacher to the organisation ofthe community ofpractice resources. In the
school context, teachers could be viewed as masters who need to structure the curriculum
in a manner that maximises learning. The conventional notion offace-to-face teaching is
challenged as an efficient and effective way to enable learning.
In the South African education context, curriculum policy documents are littered with the
loose usage ofconcepts like 'learner centred', 'teacher as facilitator', 'co-ordinator of
learning', 'group work', 'discovery learning' and 'selfstudy'. These principles are
subject to wide variations in interpretation. While some teachers have ignored this
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