‘사회적 실천에 참여’로서의 학습과 공동체

Abstract

Positing that experiences of meaningful learning are on demand to promote the life-long learning, this paper attempts to establish the viable understanding of learning conducive to them. In order to accomplish this, this paper intends: to examine the pitfalls of 'the acquisition view' as a way to understand learning; to introduce 'the participation' view as an alternative; and to discuss the ways to deploy it as a viable metaphor of learning. According to the acquisition view, learning is a matter of individual acquisition of knowledge or its structures. This view appears to rely on a widely accepted 'folk theory' that governs popular thinking. It is problematic in that it appears to facilitate the reactive forms of learning, to reduce learning to teaching, and to hinder the expansion of the meaningful experiences of learning. As an alternative, this study provides the participation view wherein learning is seen as a process of participating in various social practices and shared learning activities. According to MacIntyre, practices are recurrent series of meaningful activities that involve the obedience to rules, the pursuit of the standards of excellence, and the achievement of internal goods. In this view, learning is also a process of becoming a member of community by means of learning to interact according to its social norms and (re)constructing one's identity. The participation view discloses the purpose of learning as a quest for 'the good life' and allows us to reflect on the vision of education and its institutional practices, enriching the field of learning. However, the notions of practices, good life, and community fall into difficulties in establishing their empirical possibilities and normative validities. This predicament becomes exacerbated under the constellation of diverging and conflicting values we confront in school and society. It is a hard educational task to collaboratively search the good life and to build the community in school while striking the workable balance between differences and commonalities. As an attempt to ameliorate it, this study proposes to loosen the normative hold on practice and community. For this endeavor, this study discusses some insights drawn from Dewey's notion of educational community and Wenger's notion of the community of practice. It is then expected that diverse forms of practices contribute to the accomplishment and growth of viable communities and learning.