Readings – Cornford

Chapter 4: Social Learning – Cornford 

What are the significant aspects of social learning theories that relate to learning communities / networks?

Again – aspects of the works in this chapter can be useful frameworks for analyzing your community.

You may like to select a framework or focus for analysis – even before you select your community! This will also provide you with some focus when researching further for articles in journals!  

1)     Piaget – Genetic Epistemological Theory  

Piaget developed a cognitive development theory which is based on a genetically determined stages with a strong emphasis on social interaction.  Piaget’s theory is similar in nature to constructivist theory of learning and has been applied to curriculum development and teaching practice for many years.  For example, children in the sensorimotor stage require a rich and stimulating environment with lots of objects to play with whilst children in the operational stage should work with problems of classification, ordering, location using concrete objects. The focus on child cognitive development, fixed sequencing of genetically determined stage has limited application to the adult learning context and limited application as a framework for the assignment which primarily deals with adult learners.   

2)     Vygotsky – Social Development Theory   Vygotsky  (1978) developed theories to explain the links between socialization, language and the development of behaviour and cognitive process in children. 

For Example Vygotsky (1978, p56) provides the example of pointing a finger. Initially, this behavior begins as a meaningless grasping motion; however, as people react to the gesture, it becomes a movement that has meaning. In particular, the pointing gesture represents an interpersonal connection between individuals. http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html

Concepts include self-verbalisation, proximal development and scaffolding Proximal development – developing skills which are closer to a child’s immediate capability and may be realistically attained with a help of a teacher.  Full proximal development depends upon socialization.  Scaffolding -  process where teachers support children as they attempt to learn behaviours beyond their immediate capability. *p74  

The relevance of Vygotskys work for adult learners has not been established (Cornford 1999 ) 

 3) Situated Learning  Bilett (1996) has claimed that situated learning represents the means of reconciling cognitive and socio-cultural influences (Conford, p75) Lave argues learning as it normally occurs is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs (i.e., it is situated). http://tip.psychology.org/lave.html 

Social interaction is a critical component of situated learning — learners become involved in a “community of practice” which embodies certain beliefs and behaviors to be acquired. As the beginner or newcomer moves from the periphery of this community to its center, they become more active and engaged within the culture and hence assume the role of expert or old-timer. Furthermore, situated learning is usually unintentional rather than deliberate. These ideas are what Lave & Wenger (1991) call the process of “legitimate peripheral participation http://tip.psychology.org/lave.html 

According to Etienne Wenger (1998), a community of practice defines itself along three dimensions:

What it is about – its joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by its members.

How it functions – mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity.

What capability it has produced – the shared repertoireof communal resources (routines, sensibilities, artefacts, vocabulary, styles, etc.) that members have developed over time. (see, also Wenger 1999: 73-84) http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm#comms 

Limitations of the theory include lack of detailed analysis of processing involving learning in cultural contexts, lack of accountability for memory (acquisition and storage of knowledge) and lack of adequate consideration for individual learning (Conford 1999).

However as our assignment is focused on analysing a community of practice the work of Lave and Wenger cannot be underestimated and play important role in defining and refining our understanding of a community of practice.      

  4) Social Learning/Social Cognitive Theory – Bandura 1977.  Bandura’s model provides a more holistic framework for analysis as it draws from a range of theories including information processing, and cognitive, behavioral and social psychology (Conford 1999).

 Bandura’s model described the vital role which models and observational learning play in  1)     the learning of behaviour and attituders2)     abstract rules governing social interaction 3)     change of self 4)     development of self-regulatory process  (Cornford)

Bandura’s Model of  ’Process Governing Observational Learning’ can be broken down into four sets of factors that explain the process of matching ones own behaviour to that of the model (Conford )  

1. Attention Process – learner selectively extracts information from the modeled event.-   just focusing on aspects of a model not sufficient for learning to take place ….. 

2. Retention Process – Info must be maintained for the long term memory to be avail for future reference.  

3. Production Process – converting the images and info into stored memory in some kind of physical process (this is where practice and feedback variables are established)  

4. Motivational Process – important in the initial skill learning but also in the maintenance of skills standards and improvement of skills over time (Cornford 1999).

The holistic nature of the model and its ease of application to a wide range of different  leaning contexts, most particularly in social learning education situations makes Bandura’s theory the best framework to adapt for the purpose of the assignment.