Learning, instruction and assessment in the workplace: applying and augmenting Communities of Practice theory

Professor Jonathan Tummons, Durham University

Abstract

Derived from an ethnography of workplace cultures and practices, this seminar rests on a critical application and augmentation of Communities of Practice theory in order to account for the ways in which the assessment of complex and heterogeneous workplace learning can be conceptualised. Exemplified through a series of vignettes constructed from the ethnographic data, the argument foregrounds a variety of experiences of assessment – formal and informal – that characterise the trajectories of workers as participants within the Community of Practice. In addition to providing an account of a qualified and specialist workforce, this discussion also provides an exemplar for ethnographic research as a vehicle for exploring the assessment of workplace learning through Communities of Practice theory. This exploration is accomplished in two ways: firstly, through a critical use of certain paradigmatic elements of the theory; secondly, through the augmentation of the theory in order to address some of these past critiques whilst maintaining the epistemological coherence of the theory as a whole. The discussion concludes by arguing that Communities of Practice theory can be critically applied and augmented in order to and through the generation of ethnographic accounts that valorise the richness and complexity of the practices being assessed.

Joining Online
This event will be accessible via Microsoft Teams. If you would like to attend online, please contact ed.research@durham.ac.uk to request the Teams link.