ABSTRACT

There has recently been considerable growth of interest in theoretical perspectives that view lifelong learning as a process of social participation in communities of practice, rather than as one of cognitive acquisition. Lave and Wenger’s seminal work on situated learning throws the spotlight upon the relationship between learning, biography and identity:

[S]ocial communities are in part systems of relations among persons. The person is defined by as well as defines these relations. Learning thus implies becoming a different person with respect to the possibilities enabled by these systems of relations. To ignore this aspect of learning is to overlook the fact that learning involves the construction of identities . . . identity, knowing and social membership entail one another.