The Evolution of the Communities of Practice Approach

Omidvar, Omid; Kislov, Roman

doi:10.1177/1056492613505908

Cited by 69 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The practice turn in twentieth century philosophy had far-reaching impact on learning theory (Lave 2012). Participation is seen as the crux of learning, and humans participate in a number of more or less overlapping communities of practice (CoP) (Omidvar and Kislov 2014;Wenger 1998). The three main indicators of a CoP are mutual engagement, around a joint enterprise, with a shared repertoire of thought and action.…”

Section: Situatedness Of Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-contextualising real-life learning to a university setting

Jansson¹

2021

Teaching in Higher Education

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The topic of this paper is the relocation of a proven learning mechanism in a real-life working situation to a university setting. The aim is to discuss to what degree the types of learning generated in the original setting can survive the recontextualisation and what might be done to retain as much value as possible. The original learning situation was an aesthetic experiencechoral singing and conductingthat allowed nine senior managers to sense various relational phenomena, such as control and empowerment, multi-voice teamwork, the impact of own body, empathy, and vulnerability. The target learning domain is a university setting. The paper draws on various theories of learning. The re-contextualisation is discussed in the form of five hurdles that must be overcome. For each hurdle, a design hypothesis is proposed. The presence of an aesthetic objectthe sounding musicilluminates the crucial linkage between discipline knowledge structures and everyday practices.

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Section: Situatedness Of Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-contextualising real-life learning to a university setting

Jansson¹

2021

Teaching in Higher Education

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“…His theory of situated learning based on practice and learning trajectories lends itself well to studying learning that takes place over a longer period of time -in the case of choral conductors often throughout a life-time. CoP has had a great influence within the social sciences as a way of exploring learning processes (Omidvar & Kislov, 2014). It has been applied to education (Korthagen, 2010) and also specifically to music -primary education (Kenny, 2014) as well as academy settings (Virkkula, 2016).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others later attended to the boundaries between CoP as loci of negotiating and transforming knowledge (Gherardi & Nicolini, 2002). Attention then shifted back to learning within several interconnected practices (Oborn & Dawson, 2010;Omidvar & Kislov, 2014). Choral conductors belong to several communities that are quite distinct, although they overlap: the choir (possibly more than one); conductor peers (fellow students, tutors and colleagues); and, the wider local community (constrained to the music sector or in more geographic terms).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Choral conducting education: The lifelong entanglement of competence, identity and meaning

Jansson

Balsnes

2020

Research Studies in Music Education

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Choral singing is one of the most widespread musical activities, and choral conductors work in a variety of social settings that involve every imaginable type of choir and musical genre. The conductor role draws on a number of skills and competencies that are partly acquired through education but, equally importantly, through experience. Choral conductors shape their practice in highly individual fashions as amalgamations of background, formal education, career development and working situation. The present qualitative study seeks to uncover how choral conductor practices arise and unfold, by using Etienne Wenger’s theory of communities of practice and situated learning as the key analytical framework. The study elucidates the choral conducting practice as an ongoing educational project and theorises the dimensions of variety in choral conductors’ trajectories. The study situates the conducting practice in a Western choral tradition, based on interviews with a diverse sample of 20 conductors in Norway. The theoretical framework proved to be highly appropriate; however, applying it to the choral conducting practice requires the explicit positioning with regard to the academic debates on the theory’s development following Wenger’s original conceptualisation. The study therefore contributes to knowledge development in three ways – (1) by shedding new light on the theory, (2) by proposing a sub-structure to the main theory for its application to choral conducting and (3) by tracing some initial implications for choral conducting education. One of the key findings is that a conductor’s background continues to impact competence and identity throughout a conductor’s work-life, while practice seems to be predominant over formal education.

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“…The focus and goal of a choral conducting degree seems to be qualitatively different from other types of music education. Belonging to a practice community and the building of a professional identity are crucial elements in the learning process (Lave and Wenger 1991;Omidvar and Kislov 2014;Wenger 1998). Self-perceived capability may go beyond mastery of the situation, it encompasses the stature that comes from entering a 'guild of the select few'-being awarded a degree in conducting.…”

Section: Education and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Universality and situatedness in educating choral conductors

Jansson¹,

Elstad²,

Døving³

2019

Music Education Research

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The purpose of this study was to investigate a broad range of choral conductors' views on competences needed in their own practice, and how education and experience have contributed to their current level of mastery. Choral conductors (N=685) in Norway, Sweden, and Germany completed a survey covering 15 competence items that together constitute a holistic view of the choral conducting role. The survey also captured contextual data related to academic education and working situation. The analysis sought to determine the degree of situatedness and universality of the various competency items. The results show that there is a general agreement on the relative importance of competencies across various contexts, with some notable differences. The two key factors that drive self-perceived competence level are leading advanced choirs and years of experience. A degree specifically in choral conducting matters, but primarily for gestural skills. Music degrees in general do not explain variations in the sample. With regard to aural skills, we observe that the retrospective appreciation of education grows with longevity of experience.

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The Evolution of the Communities of Practice Approach

Cited by 69 publications

References 32 publications

Re-contextualising real-life learning to a university setting

Re-contextualising real-life learning to a university setting

Choral conducting education: The lifelong entanglement of competence, identity and meaning

Universality and situatedness in educating choral conductors

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