View the following PDF for descriptions of sources that have been remixed/appropriated for this collage: CollageElements.pdf
Reader Interactions
Comments
JULIE FREAR SCHAPPEsays
Team Tiger, interesting visualization – looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the selections for the collage. Both groups selected a mode that emphasizes the visual. To what extent might our understandings of communities of practice be affected in multimodal environments?
Wenger discussed the shared ways of being within the group, but I’m not sure how to reconcile what happens when the group has to communicate with others that may not share their way of making meaning. In a global environment, are communities of practice implicated in ways outside of their own?
Any thoughts on how institutions complicate notions of communities of practice?
Laura Marchsays
Perhaps institutions solidify the fluid practices of an organic community. While institutions may make some things easier and more coherent, they can also stifle creativity and growth. What do you think?
JULIE FREAR SCHAPPEsays
Well, instead of ‘easier and more coherent’, I might say that they channel practices to meet expectations for particular ways of being. The ways that they channel may or may not make things ‘easier or more coherent’ for communities. I do wonder the extent to which individuals who join communities really have the freedom to form a ‘shared repertoire’ as Wenger observed. I suspect conformity may dominate schools in particular as communities of practice but would also add other organized efforts (think about law offices or naval operations – how much of an opportunity do those communities have to respond to change?). I suppose this is where history comes in.
I wonder if there is a question here of blending institutions with communities? They seem to have many traits in common (e.g. persistence over time with changing actors), but they also seem different, with communities being (or at least feeling) more fluid and dynamic than institutions. It does bring up questions of choice in belonging.
I wonder if there is a question here of blending institutions with communities?
Yes, I think so. One example that comes to mind is Detroit. The automotive industry has played a huge role up there in shaping the surrounding community. And along these same lines, a couple of the details within Team Tiger’s collage that catch my eye are the industrial gears and the red pulse visualization. Industries seem to create some of the conditions that might make communities of practice flourish and the pulse gets at the element of vitality within that CoP.
DANIEL JOSEPH MENDENHALLsays
I particularly like the visual on Discourse. It is the classic wine bottle image that develops within the image of two silhouettes. Nice analogy to Discourse occurring between people and existing due to the interaction of members of communities. The image of Discourse cannot be seen without the image of the two silhouettes to form it.
I interpret the engine visual as a similar analogy. Each cog could be a member of a CoP, with each person’s take on identity shaping the overall identity of the community. Each cog could also be an analogy of a person’s place in the world. The different identities that are formed from the different CoP that the person participates in come together to define the person’s meaning making (engine). Each identity is connected and formed in relation to the other identities already in existing in the person’s life.
I am left wondering if the image as composed speaks meaning to those viewing without the included PDF of each individual element? I felt like I was able to generate deeper meaning by looking at the deconstructed version of the larger image. I guess what I am asking is do we need the deeper context that the text associated with each image to generate the aggregate meaning?
JULIE FREAR SCHAPPE says
Team Tiger, interesting visualization – looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the selections for the collage. Both groups selected a mode that emphasizes the visual. To what extent might our understandings of communities of practice be affected in multimodal environments?
Wenger discussed the shared ways of being within the group, but I’m not sure how to reconcile what happens when the group has to communicate with others that may not share their way of making meaning. In a global environment, are communities of practice implicated in ways outside of their own?
Any thoughts on how institutions complicate notions of communities of practice?
Laura March says
Perhaps institutions solidify the fluid practices of an organic community. While institutions may make some things easier and more coherent, they can also stifle creativity and growth. What do you think?
JULIE FREAR SCHAPPE says
Well, instead of ‘easier and more coherent’, I might say that they channel practices to meet expectations for particular ways of being. The ways that they channel may or may not make things ‘easier or more coherent’ for communities. I do wonder the extent to which individuals who join communities really have the freedom to form a ‘shared repertoire’ as Wenger observed. I suspect conformity may dominate schools in particular as communities of practice but would also add other organized efforts (think about law offices or naval operations – how much of an opportunity do those communities have to respond to change?). I suppose this is where history comes in.
SCOTT P MCDONALD says
I wonder if there is a question here of blending institutions with communities? They seem to have many traits in common (e.g. persistence over time with changing actors), but they also seem different, with communities being (or at least feeling) more fluid and dynamic than institutions. It does bring up questions of choice in belonging.
Phil Tietjen says
Yes, I think so. One example that comes to mind is Detroit. The automotive industry has played a huge role up there in shaping the surrounding community. And along these same lines, a couple of the details within Team Tiger’s collage that catch my eye are the industrial gears and the red pulse visualization. Industries seem to create some of the conditions that might make communities of practice flourish and the pulse gets at the element of vitality within that CoP.
DANIEL JOSEPH MENDENHALL says
I particularly like the visual on Discourse. It is the classic wine bottle image that develops within the image of two silhouettes. Nice analogy to Discourse occurring between people and existing due to the interaction of members of communities. The image of Discourse cannot be seen without the image of the two silhouettes to form it.
I interpret the engine visual as a similar analogy. Each cog could be a member of a CoP, with each person’s take on identity shaping the overall identity of the community. Each cog could also be an analogy of a person’s place in the world. The different identities that are formed from the different CoP that the person participates in come together to define the person’s meaning making (engine). Each identity is connected and formed in relation to the other identities already in existing in the person’s life.
Cole W. Camplese says
I am left wondering if the image as composed speaks meaning to those viewing without the included PDF of each individual element? I felt like I was able to generate deeper meaning by looking at the deconstructed version of the larger image. I guess what I am asking is do we need the deeper context that the text associated with each image to generate the aggregate meaning?