Situated Learning in Seminars from a Community of Practice Perspective

This chapter illustrates the process through which a community of practice (CoP) was established and maintained by conscious efforts by participants. Personal narratives by both teacher and students were validated as a legitimate form of knowledge. The highly interactive nature of the classroom environment was propitious to community building, which turned out to be conducive to critical reflection on learning. By highlighting the tensions, challenges, and struggles within the community of practice created in the bilingual teacher education program, this chapter demonstrates how critical theory of literacy learning and social identity can contribute to CoP theory building.