Pattern Language Developed for Learning Communities of Practice Page 1 of5 ~AIA Pattern Language Developed for Learning Communities of Practice by Peter C. Lippman, Assoc. AlA, with Jeffrey Elliott, AlA In the first part of this article, What are Small Schools, Small Learning Communities and Learning Communities of Practice? published In the October issue of the CAEnet, I defined small schools and delineated the concept of small schools from small learning communities. I then proposed the term learning communities of practice for describing the larger autonomous settings for educational facilities that are learner-centered and support the needs of approximately 400 students. In this submission, Part n, I will describe the learning community of practice (LCP), assert that this understanding provides the groundwork for designing the LCP, and propose design patterns for developing a pattern language (Alexander, 1977) for the LCP. I contend that if we accept the concept of the LCP, the term 'school' may no longer be used when referring to settings that are described as 'learner-centered.' In a 'learner-centered' environment, the social and physical settings are organized specifically to encourage the diverse ways in which IndiViduals acquire knowledge. The LCP Is an environment that is arranged to support Individual, one-to-one, small group and large group activities. The activities are structured so that students acquire knowledge and master skillS as they solve the project at hand. For example In the classroom, the teacher organizes the physical setting to provide opportunities for the social environment so that students can choose where they might work in the classroom, with whom, and on which projects they might work (Lippman, 1995). The teacher works with the fixed and fiexible elements of the classroom to create opportunities for learning and knowing. Whereas the teacher structures learning, the learner, and what needs to be learned In the classroom, in the LCP, the entire physical environment Is arranged to provide opportunities for learning to occur throughout the setting, In the classroom and the areas outside the classroom. While housing approximately 400 students, the design of the LCP, which also integrates both fixed and fiexlble elements throughout the setting, is designed to promote the diverse ways In which learning and knowing occurs. The concept of the LCP builds on the conceptual framework described in Wenger's book, CommunitIes of Practice, published In 1998. This book examined the interrelationship of how the psychological, social, and physical environments function. According to Wenger, all places are communities of practice. While I agree with this notion, the purpose for Introducing this concept is to encourage the design professional to consider the psychological, social, and physical components that are factors for the making of a place. By considering the elements of the community of practice and, more important, understanding them, the design professional can create places that go beyond the current practice of design that tends to focus on style and aesthetic. The physical setting for each learning environment would be designed congruently with the social environment to encourage development. Furthermore, the design would build on an understanding of the activities which are antiCipated to occur In the spaces rather than be a reproduction from an earlier model. Building on this perspective, a learning community of practice Is composed of the following psychological, social, and physical elements: identity; meaning; practice; and community. • Identity-Identity is the development of personal histories. The creation of one's identity arises from their experiences In their physical and social environments. It is the synergy of these experiences that facilitate in the formation and transformation of personal histories. Personal histories develop as Individuals work In relationship with others sharing Ideas, developing knowledge and mastering skills required for the task-at-hand. Therefore, personal histories occur in places and are shaped as individuals are engaged in activities with others (Wenger, 1998). • Meaning-Meaning Involves participation and relfication (Wenger, 1998). Participation entails engagement In activities with others. By working with others, words, phrases, and concepts specific to the setting become understood. For example, In building a diorama, the everyday concept, "bird's eye view," Is translated to the formal concept, "fioor plan" (Lippman, 1995). Hence, participation in activities became the vehicle through which Individuals are able to make sense of formal or scientific concepts as they pertain to everyday or Informal concepts (Hatano, 1993). From transactions In their physical and social enVironments, the formation of scientific concepts becomes relfied. Additionally, participation and reification facilitate individuals' understandings about themselves, their changing abilities, and their Identity (Wenger, 1998; Tharp and Gallimore, 1997; Lave and Wenger, 1991). • Practice-Practice entails the mastering of skills so that learning and knowing can occur from individuals' engagements In the environment. Engagement Involves different levels of activity that Include peripheral or limited engagement in the task-at-hand, guided or directed engagement with others In solving the endeavor-at­ hand, and full or complete engagement by the individual with solving the project-at-hand (Lave, 1996; Lave and Wenger, 1991). Whereas peripheral engagement may be associated with large groupings led by the faCilitator, guided participation may be understood as involving small groups of people working cooperatively. While guided http://www.aia.org/nwsltryrint.cfm?pagename=cae_a_20070 I_language 1119/2007 Pattem Language Developed for Leaming Conununities of Practice Page 2 of5 participation occurs In relationship with others, full engagement occurs as Individuals work Independently with others. In addition, these levels can occur in the same setting at different moments during the course of a day. Therefore, the practice of learning and knowing occurs through engagement In activities, as students work with others and Independently acquiring knowledge for themselves (Brown, A.L., Ash, D., Rutherford, M' I Kakagawa, K., Gordon, A' I and Camplone, J. 1997; Moll, L. c., Tapia, Javlarl and Whitmore, K. F., 1997). • Community-Community should be understood as the physical environment that locates learners, learning, and things to be learned within a place (Wenger, 1998; Lave, 1996; Werstch, 1995). This physical environment situates the learner within a specific social environment that Is structured to provide opportunities for the sharing, negotiating, and reifylng of Information. Whereas the physical environment provides the place for engagement, the social environment fashions the values, ideals, mission of the place, and the pedagogy for how people learn. Since the social environment structures the systems and Initiatives of the place, the manner In which physical environment Is designed becomes the vehicle through which the systems and initiatives are reflected and reinforced. Therefore, the milieu of the community may be described as a physical environment that encourages opportunities for Individuals to evolve identity, develop meaning about their social environments and themselves, and to participate in activities with others (Lippman, 2002a; Lave and Wenger, 1991). Designing Learning Communities of Practice What is the relevance for understanding Identity, meaning, practice, and community for the designing learning communities of practice? One can argue that these components do not specify how to create a physical environment that is congruent with the social setting and the learner. In addition, by emphasizing these elements, I am going against the current trend of architecture practice where the penchant Is to emphasize the aesthetic as the primary objective of the building design. However, I contend designers who envision educational settings should understand how knowledge acquisition and the mastering of skills takes place. Developing knowledge of how learning and knowing occurs In these practice communities extends the perspective of what these places can become as well as connects the potential design of the LCP to the emerging pedagogles that are being used to educate people. In addition, understanding the elements that comprise the LCPs extend the conceptual framework for considering the diverse ways in which people learn-individually, one-to-one, in small groups, and in large groups (Lippman, 2004, 2002b). Within this framework, the social and physical environments can be designed congruently to support the activities for the learner, what needs to be learned, and how learning occurs. Furthermore, this knowledge grounds the designer In real-world situations and encourages them to consider the everyday activities that occur in the LCP . In considering these everyday activities, common themes emerge in how people use and organize space as they develop meaning and identity through practice within the community. Furthermore, the common themes that emerge become the building blocks for designing the LCP. These building blocks are the design patterns for structuring the LCP. As words have semantic and grammatical relationships that make the spoken and written language useful, design patterns have relationships that are hierarchical, can be generalized across and between settings, and can