Keynote
Etienne Wenger Participation and professional education in the 21st century I will introduce a branch of social learning theory in which learning is viewed, not merely as the acquisition of information and skills, but primarily as our changing ability to participate in the world. This entails not only a change in a person’s knowledge, but a transformation of their identity. Relevant participation happens at two levels. First it happens in communities of practice where we develop specific forms of competence. Second it happens in relation to broader landscapes of practice. This includes many communities and practices in which we cannot claim membership or competence, but about which we can claim some degree of knowledgeability that informs our participation.
‘In the complex world of the 21st century, the interplay of these two forms of participation becomes central to professionalism’ In the complex world of the 21st century, the interplay of these two forms of participation becomes central to professionalism. For a traditional school, the danger of ignoring participation is to view competence as a degree and knowledgeability as information. For forward-looking professional educators, social learning theory suggests approaches that go beyond degrees and information to focus on the formation of a robust professional identity.