Introduction
The authors establish the need for diversity in HRD literature, saying that as a heterogeneous and dynamic discipline, outcomes are characterised by differences. They state that this should not be taken as a weakness, but as an acceptance that real life problems occur between the application of theory and practice. Literature provides the platform to share experiences that generate new concepts to be used in other situations.
Jorgensen and Keller point out that it is HRD practitioners who construct the framework of HRD through their language. They suggest that particular attention to working communities of practice within HRD will greatly enhance the learning community. What is needed to understand the practice of practice is the language that identifies tacit and informal learning. Instead of looking at HRD activities, focus should be moved to the interplay of activities and their communities or contexts. Emphasis is placed on learning styles and histories and are based on real situations. This provides the opportunity for reflection and meaning-making.
Identity is the point of entry because learning is linked with being, Jorgensen and Keller state. In negotiating meaning, individuals negotiate identity. Tension exists as it is recognised that from an individual level HRD works towards fulfilling personal potential. From an organisational level HRD assumes the individual is a resource. The contradiction faced in organisational learning the authors say is due to learning being about creating differences and organising about creating standards. Identity works simultaneously with the individual and the collective where the collective is seen as the identity capital - the concept that individuals identify with. Learning through participation allows the individual to traverse from the periphery to becoming a community member. The community is created by mutual rules of engagement and language. Within the community, each individual contributes towards the social in mutually beneficial ways that can only be accomplished through the practices of a culturally specific framework.
The Concept of Identity in Communities Of Practice
Situated learning is indicated to be identity building. The use of symbols, artefacts and reification in a culturally given context becomes internalised. The authors argue that identity is better developed in communities of practice than in situated learning. Abstract societal perspectives are dismissed, dissolving the artificial concept of separation. Identity formation becomes mutually consensual, integrated in the process of participation. Language as the medium of social construction facilitates the development of a cultural framework.
Identity formation is seen as a continuous process, with its past, present and future interconnected. Points of disruption or disturbance are seen as learning curves. Individual trajectories afford personal perspectives on work and the future of work, and social acceptance. The reconciliation of individual trajectories presents a challenge. Jorgensen and Keller cite Wenger to discuss three modes of belonging - engagement, imagination and alignment. Engagement demands active participation. Imagination connects individuals to global concepts and their links to past and future through the banal, also known as narration. Narration adds coherence to view activities as part of a larger frame of reference. Alignment occurs when individuals co-ordinate themselves with the culture and tradition of a community.
Implications for HRD Research and Practice
Three ways in which communities of practice contribute to HRD:
- communities of practice positively affect the interactions between HRD practice and modes of participation;
- communities of practice reinforce HRD activities through which identity is negotiated so relations within the organisation are managed;
- combined communities of practice and HRD insights allow space for reflexive or reflective contemplation.
Point 2 emphasises identity. Trajectories are seen to comprise past, present and future. Individual construction of trajectories is understood to have temporal value indicated by means of significance attached to activities. To attach symbolic significance to activities is to position oneself on particular trajectories Jorgensen and Keller state, dependent upon individual forms of participation. Imagination plays an important role in learning and developing identity - envisioning a potential future based on historical and current events re-iterates the potential impact HRD has on developing activities that change practice.
Point 3 combines HRD and communities of practice as a means to create reflexive and reflective practice. Jorgensen and Keller believe that in isolation, Wenger's notion of identity creation is overly optimistic as it is specific to particular styles of communities of practice. Individuals learn by having knowledge of practice and are reflexive in practice. Reflexive practice is the systematic process of exploring and questioning direction as it relates to space and time (past, present, future). Activities in HRD are structured towards reflexive and reflective learning depending upon the approach of the individual. More methods for evaluation and reconstruction of past, present and future, and for coaching and communication are needed to make exploration more systematic in learning. An historical framework is created to facilitate understanding improvements made to individuals and the organisation.
Collective learning in communities of practice indicates a community of shared meaning. Once negotiation of meaning is resolved it becomes organisational memory perpetuated through mutual engagement being used and applied to create new meaning. Jorgensen and Keller have identified two aspects that generate an alignment or reconciliation between different learning trajectories. The symbolic represents the embedded processes of meaning making - examples given are the division of labour or mutual expectations - and the authors' ask if learning histories are applied to the individual. The explorative aspect of communication and the extent to which it facilitates reflexive and reflective opportunities is representative of discourse on embedded strategies and consequent negotiation.
Conclusion
Negotiating new identities through learning has developmental potential as a point of entry in HRD. Possibilities of connecting communities of practice to HRD contribute to intelligent working systems. Both individualistic and abstract societal perspectives are rejected through communities of practice. Trajectories are developed and implemented systematically as discourse through communities of practice promotes language on shared meaning. Jorgensen and Keller state that a community is constructed through communication.
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