Learning to Make a Difference
Value Creation in Social Learning Spaces

This book updates Social Learning Theory, offering a practical and rigorous way to develop the capacity to bring about change.

Etienne Wenger-Trayner (Author), Beverly Wenger-Trayner (Author)

9781108497169, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 October 2020

288 pages, 17 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.6 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

'What this book offers is a language to talk about, reflect on, and be more intentional about, enabling learning that happens in interactions between people … For those with a scholarly interest in social learning this is … a must-read.' Dirk Roux, SAJS Issue

Today, more people want to know how to make a meaningful difference to what they care about. But for that, traditional approaches to learning often fall short. In this book, we offer a theoretical and practical way forward. We introduce the concept of social learning spaces for developing both new capabilities and a sense of agency. We provide a rich framework for focusing on the value of social learning spaces: how to generate this value, monitor it, and learn iteratively through the process. The book is a useful extension and refinement of 'communities of practice' for those familiar with the theory. For those who are not, the chapters will lay out a new way to approach learning. This volume is written to serve the needs of readers across fields, including researchers, educators, and leaders in business, government, healthcare, and international development.

Prologue: The Difference We Care to Make
Introduction: How to Read this Book
Part I. Foundation: Value Creation in Social Learning Spaces: Part I Section 1. Social Learning Spaces: 1. Social Learning Spaces
2. What About Communities of Practice?
3. Social Learning Spaces and Other Structures
Part I Section 2. Value Creation: Agency and Social Learning Modes: 4. The Perspective of Value Creation
5. Agency and Social Learning Modes
Part II. Framework: Part II Section 1. Generating Value: Value-Creation Cycles: 6. Immediate and Potential
7. Applied and Realized Value
8. Enabling and Strategic Value
9. Orienting and Transformative Value
Part II Section 2. Translating Value: Flows and Loops: 10. Flows into Learning Loops
11. Flows into Other Social Learning Spaces
Part II Section 3. Framing: Aspirations and Uncertainties: 12. Framing Participation
13. Framing Value Creation
14. Conducting a Framing Event
Part II Section 4. Evaluating: Effect and Contribution:15. Effect Data: Deriving and Monitoring Indicators
16. Contribution Data: Collecting Value-Creation Stories
17. Consolidating and Integrating the Dataset
18. The Art of Making Value Visible
Epilogue: An Ongoing Journey.

Subject Areas: Educational: History [YQH], Educational psychology [JNC], Philosophy & theory of education [JNA]