Social Learning among Organic Farmers and the Application of the Communities of Practice Framework

Abstract

The paper examines social learning processes among organic farmers and explores the application of the Community of Practice (CoP) model in this context. The analysis employed utilises an approach based on the CoP model, and considers how, or whether, this approach may be useful to understand social learning among farmers. The CoP model is applied to case studies of social learning fora among organic farmers. The case studies are compiled from in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation with farmers and other actors, and the data are analysed with reference to three dimensions of the CoP model, namely mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoires. Farmers associate and engage in social learning more readily with peers determined by similar attitudes to farm business, farming styles and understanding of what organic agriculture entails. Such associations support the hypothesis that CoPs are self-organising structures that generate their knowledge in sympathy with community definition and identity. A CoP framework applied within relatively unstructured and dispersed communities, such as described in this paper, emphasises the fluid nature of CoPs, and their essentially self-organising nature. Extension approaches may be facilitated by regarding farmers as de-facto members of CoPs and by understanding how CoPs may form and develop. The CoP model is applied as a heuristic to examine social learning processes in organic farming.

Triggering change: Towards a conceptualisation of major change processes in farm decision-making

“…Learning is key in this stage. As well as on-farm learning by the individual, social learning allows sharing, reflection and validation which assists and enables consolidation (Morgan, 2011. It is also arguably a vital process for building farm resilience.…”

Learning in the Permaculture Community of Practice in England: An Analysis of the Relationship between Core Practices and Boundary Processes

“…The founders of the permaculture movement lament the popularized spread of permaculture as an alternative lifestyle choice or system of organic gardening, arguing that this significantly understates its scope and objectives. As with organic farming, some feel that permaculture's goals and preferences are being appropriated and redefined, and thus diluted, by various actors (Darnhofer, Schermer, and Schneeberger 2008;Morgan 2011). This might suggest that, rather than invigorating the CoP, a mixed constituency with differing perspectives might compromise the community by threatening its coherence.…”

“…Permaculture community members do not personally interact on a daily basis nor do they share any former links which might provide a common basis for understanding, unlike, for example, organic farmers who, as Morgan (2011) found, are already embedded in social and farming networks and thus allowed the process of conversion to organic farming to further build shared understanding amongst them. Nevertheless, by virtue of membership of the permaculture CoP, an individual can access and contribute to its collective identity.…”

“…In recognition that communities have increasingly problematic and permeable boundaries, often do not rely on face-to-face meetings and can comprise multiple communities, scholars have proposed modified concepts such as 'Distributed Communities of Practice' and 'Constellations of Practices' (Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder 2002). The application of CoP within relatively unstructured and dispersed communities such as farming communities has emphasized the fluid nature of CoP (Morgan 2011), and led researchers to describe them as 'Networks of Practice' (NoP), which share similar features to CoP but are characterized by looser ties, a weak organizational framework and greater external influence (see Brown and Duguid 2001a, 2001b, 2002Oreszczyn, Lane, Carr 2010).…”

“…Brown and Duguid 1991, 2001a, 2001b in the context of debates about knowledge, learning and innovation in organizations. It has been widely used and adapted to describe learning as a social activity in a number of contexts, including: stakeholder management and decision-making (PahlWostl et al 2007), participatory planning (Madsen and Noe 2012), extension for organic farming (Morgan 2011), negotiated learning in a dairy project (O'Kane, Paine, and King 2008) and farmer networks (Oreszczyn, Lane, Carr 2010). It is particularly valued as a practical approach to thinking about real-life situations which 'operationalises social learning relating it directly to social structures and to the practice of the participants in the process' (Morgan 2011, 100).…”