8. Individuals in community
This orientation, evident in about 41 articles or 19% of the dataset, maintains a clear
separation between the individual as a being and the community as a sort of monolithic,
identifiable container. The individual learns through action in this community, and
learning is affected by social, cultural cognitive contexts, but the fundamental focus
remains the individual. This is a key distinction from the communities of practice
orientation. Here, environment is only a mediating factor on individual learning and
cognition, separate from the individual, not entwined with it. The individual affects the
community knowledge by injecting new ideas, and the community affects the
individual’s behaviour through teaching, providing resources, enabling action
opportunities, etc. Research focused on what kinds of environments/communities
positively affect individuals’ learning and how to generate these conditions; and how
individual learning can help improve the community. Findings reported in the data set
stress differences among individuals in expectations, preferences and ways of
participating (Filstad, 2004) including women and younger workers. Individual
differences are affected by the collective’s structures and opportunities/barriers to
learning. Those with a greater sense of control over their work are more likely to engage
in learning (Livingstone, 2001), such as in more democratic work structures or
professionals developing individual expertise. The impact of the collective on individual
learning is greatest in socialization (task mastery, role clarification, and social
integration) and in defining or demanding particular competencies, and in the reward
system and values placed on learning. However, even embedded in social structures, the
individual retains a ‘durable disposition’ to act (Mutch, 2003), and workers organize
their own learning regardless of management boundaries and innovation expectations
(Poell & Van der Krogt, 2003).