I had no idea about the meaning of situated learning,
the term itself seemed really unfamiliar to me until I was asked to read and
draw some conclusions about the topic. Lave and Wenger helped me to have a
better understanding of this way of approaching learning defining it as: “learning
that takes place in the same context in which it is applied.” (Lave and Wenger 1991). I absolutely agree with the idea that learning
is related to a certain context or situation because it is there, in a
community of practice, where an acquisition of knowledge and skills from
experts occurs. It is there where knowledge is to be acquired.
This knowledge is acquired when people are in
engagement with social interactions, in collaboration with people who share a
profession, that is to say in a community of practice. As Mark Tennant states:”
New knowledge and learning are properly conceived as being located in
communities of practice (Tennant 1997: 77).
As stated above, learning is situated in social
interactions, consequently, if we want to acquire this authentic knowledge and
skills, we definitely have to get involved in these social interactions,
participating in daily life, observing, imitating, interacting, and learning
from experience. Lave and Wenger states this better when they point out that: “A
person’s intentions to learn are engaged and the meaning of learning is configured
through the process of becoming a full participant in a socio-cultural
practice. This social process, includes, indeed it subsumes, the learning of
knowledgeable skills. (Lave and Wenger 1991: 29).
Now, how could situated learning play a role in my
receiving institution and what potential benefits may it bring to it? First of
all, I think teachers could learn a lot from each others’ experiences. New teachers,
for instance, can acquire the necessary knowledge and skills by observing and
imitating, by sharing information with time teachers or teacher who have more
experience doing the same job, which could be called “a community of practice”
It would bring some benefits to the institution like having qualified teachers
to do the job.
On the other hand, I think students could also learn
from each other by observation, imitation by interaction with their classmates
and by sharing experiences. For example, they could learn new skills; improve
their skills and so on by observing, imitating, interacting and sharing
experiences with each other. They could learn, for instance, learning
strategies observing or listening to how a partner learns particular aspects of
the language. It would definitely bring a lot of benefits for students since
they would considerably improve their learning skills.
In sum, knowledge and skills are acquired through
social interaction, through actively participating in a community of practice
where we learn from observing others, from interacting with others, from
imitating others, from sharing our experiences with people who share our same
profession, that is to say, in the context of our daily activities.
References
