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Situated Learning
In 1989, Brown, Collins and Duguid presented the model for situated cognition, or situated learning thought their article entitled: ‘Situated cognition and the culture of learning’, drawing upon work done by Vygotsky, Leontiev, Dewey and Jean Lave (Herrigton and Oliver, 1995, n.p). In their article, Brown, Duguid and Collins (1989; cited in Herrigton & Oliver, 1995, n.p) advocate that ‘meaningful learning will only take place if it is embedded in the social and physical context within which it will be used’. The model for situated learning opposes to common classroom learning practices where knowledge is usually disassociated with the authentic context. The situational approach to learning posits that learning is inherently social in nature and is shaped by the nature of the interactions among learners, the tools they use within these interactions, the activity itself, and the social context in which the activity takes place (Hashmann, 2001). This definition is not as vague as it sounds when it is seen in conjunction with the concept of ‘community of practice’.

What is a community of practice?

According to Lave (1996, cited in Hansman (2001, p.46) ‘real-world contexts, where there are social relationships and tools, make the best learning environments’. These learning environments are seen to feature the following characteristics (Herrigton and Oliver, 1995; McLelan, 1991):
 * Provision of authentic context that reflects real-life
 * Engagement in authentic activities
 * Participation in communities of experts; access to expert performances and the modelling of processes
 * Promotion of collaborative construction of knowledge
 * Promotion of reflection to enable abstractions to be formed
 * Coaching/scaffolding when needed or at critical points
 * Addressing multiple perspectives and roles
 * Assessment within the authentic task
 * Opportunities for articulation so that to enable tacit knowledge to be made explicit

Are there any educational benefits?Read more>>

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