Assignment: Community of Practice 10/8/12

Situated learning is a concept posed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Lave and Wenger. In brief, the practice is used intentionally or unintentionally, all over the globe, for countless centuries. Situated learning involves a process the requires engagement of like-interested people who commonly practice their situation in a social circle. In other words people who are doing the same/similar thing that often collaborate to further their trade, skill, etc. “Their model of situated learning proposed that learning involved a process of engagement in a ‘community of practice’.” 
A couple examples communities of practice can be a PTA, a college football team, a group of scientists working on the Mars Rover, the history faculty at the local high school, real estate agents in a development seminar, TED, members of AA meetings, or even a dog club like the “Beagle Brigade.” These groups have a common bond that produces a community. Within these communities there are different levels. Often times, the longer you belong to the community, the more comfortable you feel exchanging and accepting information beneficial to the groups participants. 
I’m going to elaborate on the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) community of practice and situated learning. Wether an individual personally decides to attend AA or it is court ordered can already alter your development and acceptance into the new group they are about to explore. We’ll start with the intrinsically motivated individual. When somebody decides to being attending AA meetings, it would not be out of the social norm to be a wallflower; to come in, sit in the back, talk to nobody, exchange no information, and generally contribute nothing to the wholeness of the group. If this individual continues to attend meetings, they will begin to learn layout and process for how these meetings work. Eventually, this individual will start recognizing people, stories, and how the meetings flow in general, thus reducing one’s anxiety because they now know what to expect. They may soon begin to contribute to the group by meeting people, exchanging stories, sharing things that do and do not work for them, even offering help to new comers, as they once were in the same position. Now they have shifted from being “in the margins” to an active member of the community of practice. If an individual is forced into these meetings, they may have a block or a grudge holding them back from becoming an active member of the community of practice. Depending on the length of time spent in the group, and the value associated to the group from the individual ordered to go, this group may take some time or never be accepted by this individual, thus excluding this individual from the community of practice. 
I do believe in communities of practice and find them to be natural as well as structured. Unfortunately, in our society, we base many things on merit. Which, on the surface, sounds like a logical stand point of a structured society. However, things are not always what they seem to be. For example, if you attend Harvard University for virtually anything, people may assume that you a brilliant, on the flip side, if you attend a local state college, people may scoff at your achievement. They may not take into account that this particular Harvard student is on scholarship to play basketball (i.e. Jeremy Lin http://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2012/07/18/jeremy-lin-may-be-the-dumbest-harvard-grad-ever/) and is taking the most basic classes, with massive “help”, to maintain eligibility, while the state student is focused on helping with her family while she takes the top English courses (i.e. Amy Tan, author of the Joy Luck Club). I do believe that reducing anxiety of students in my classes in a mainstay of producing high quality work from all of my students. I believe that once my students truly believe their voice is being not only heard, but welcomed without scorn, that the students themselves will begin to bond. With this bond true learning can take place. Students will not be scared to embarrass themselves because they will realize their social capital is valued. When the students feel connected, they will begin to worry less about their hair, shoes, the cute member of the opposite sex, “sounding dumb in class”, etc. and the essence of the beings will begin to grow together, as compared to masking who they really are to avoid social ridicule. I strive to create a low anxiety classroom where really learning can take place, regardless if you are tall or short, thin or hefty, black or white, etc.