Wenger-Trayner says that this story of special social places needs to be told. Learning Communities in Educational Partnerships tells how theory and practice come into lived interplay in social spaces where theory informs practice and practice turns into theory. It is an accessible guide which encourages students and practitioners working within communities, including school-college/university partnerships, to develop a critical and questioning disposition and be open to the idea of engaging with the research process, so that they may have the potential to become influential in many educational settings.
The authors begin by drawing on their own experiences of becoming a learning community as they studied for their PhDs. They introduce the ideas underpinning self-study action research. This is a form of action research that, they argue, is supportive of transformation and acknowledges the idea that practitioners are capable of making their own judgements. Through a series of first hand practitioner accounts, the chapters go on to describe and explain how to engage in processes of inquiry and establish learning communities, how to make space for professional conversations and how to develop living theories (Whitehead 1989) from within daily practice. The practical examples used are from the authors’ own experiences in learning communities, and focus on the immediate educational concerns of teachers with the aim of improving practice and developing educational theory. Chapter introductions and reflective questions will help to support students and guide readers in developing their own learning communities within educational partnerships.
Learning Communities in Educational Partnerships helps to show how meaningful change can take place, both in educational improvements and also in more transformative professional learning, when educators are encouraged to draw on their own personal educational values and share their ideas in a learning community.
