181Communities of Practice and Learning Communities
Communities of practice arise from the work of Lave and Wenger ( 1998 ) and
Wenger ( 1998 ), who conceptualized ‘communities of practice’ as particular kinds
of networks of people who were engaging in situated learning processes. In com-
munities of practice, members depend on each other for learning, mutual help, con-
structive critiques and collective thinking. Lave and Wenger refer to an individual’s
transition to becoming a practitioner is related to ‘that person’s legitimate peripheral
participation in a community of practice and is negotiated with members of the
community through the person’s participation’ (p. 122). Thus participating in and
contributing to communities of practice as they are described are invaluable learn-
ing opportunities for preservice teachers.
This experience of participation in a community of practice is an important fea-
ture of the three projects discussed in this chapter. Preservice teachers are immersed
in schools and communities where they work in collaborative teams to address spe-
cific needs. Importantly, they are concurrently developing knowledge and under-
standing about their students and how they learn. Le Cornu and Ewing ( 2008 ) refer
to reciprocal learning relationships that focus on learning for all participants. There
is the additional expectation that these participants will contribute not only to their
own learning and well-being but also to those other members of the community. Le
Cornu ( 2015 ) states that ‘a learning community program of professional experience
is easier to implement in schools that are themselves operating as professional
learning communities’ (p. 89). Working in professional learning communities has
been found to increase teachers’ sense of personal and shared commitment, resil-
ience and feelings of success and investment in the school (Day & Gu, 2010 ). In a
related study, early career teachers were also found to be best supported in school
cultures that operated as professional learning communities (Johnson et al., 2015 ).
This finding again supports the focus of the three projects in enculturating the pre-
service teachers to become valued participants and contributors to the professional
learning in their schools and communities.
Service Learning
In exploring the research for this chapter, the authors drew on the concept of service
learning and connected this premise with each of the programs. Nitschke-Shaw
et al. ( 1997 ) argue that there are three essential components of service learning: ‘an
identified community need, a delineated set of learning outcomes to be mastered
and planned opportunity for reflection’ (p. 10). In respect to teacher education, they
stated that service learning:
... requires effective collaboration among teacher educators in higher education, preservice
teachers, professional educators and community members ... Through service learning,
partnerships are formed between students, community members and organizations. It is11 Professional Experience and Project-Based Learning as Service Learning