INTERCULTURAL LEARNING AND COLLABORATION

ASPECTS IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Ileana Hamburg

Institute for Work and Technology, FH Gelsenkirchen, Munscheidstr. 14, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Keywords: Communities of Practice, Social media, Intercultural learning, Disabilities.

Abstract: Communities of Practice (CoPs) and intercultural learning are approaches empowering people with the

skills and knowledge needed to turn change to an advantage d to help them to integarte in social life. In this

paper we firstly discuss CoPs to support learning, sharing, transferring and developing knowledge and then

present some statements for building CoPs based on Social media and using intercultural learning. We give

examples of projects where we develope CoPs and present some conclusions.

1 INTRODUCTION

Groups of people coming together to cooperate,

share knowledge and learn more informally from

one another face-to-face and virtually in a commu-

nity are becoming increasingly important for indi-

viduals and organisations. Examples are Communi-

ties of Practice (CoPs) (Wenger, 1998) researched

by many authors. Practitioners and people are held

together in a CoP by a common interest in a body of

knowledge and are driven by a desire and need to

learn through practice and social participation, to

share problems, experiences, insights, templates,

tools and best practices. One important aspect is that

in some cases different cultural backgrounds of par-

ticipants could affect the learning and collaboration

within CoPs. To tackle interculturality in such cases

requires taking a step from cultural incompetence

towards efficient application of cultural knowledge,

awareness, sensitivity and competence that is neces-

sary for professional practice (Kramsch, 1993).

Achieving intercultural competence by using inter-

cultural learning is a systematic process about un-

derstanding different cultures with their differences

and similarities and is required to moderate learning

and collaboration in CoPs.

Internet and Social media i.e. media for social

interaction, based on Web 2.0 (

O´Reilly, 2005) have a

vast potential to create prospering environments for

emerging virtual CoPs (VCoPs) allowing learners to

engage in intercultural communication and to

achieve intercultural competence. Social media tools

can help to create a more dynamic community of

practice and provide an ongoing and searchable con-

versation approach to benefit others.

Wild et al. (2002) show that eLearning is an im-

portant tool that can support knowledge develop-

ment particularly in CoPs (Barnard et al., 2000;

Hamburg, 2010).

In this paper we firstly discuss Communities of

Practice and then present some statements for em-

bracing interculturality in CoPs by using intercul-

tural learning. We give examples and present some

conclusions. The target groups of the two projects

we present as examples are people with disabilities.

Results of studies and other our projects show that

they have needs to collaborate and communicate

helping them to improve their life (Hamburg and

Ionescu, 2009).

2 CoPs

CoPs are networks of individuals who share a do-

main of interest and knowledge about which they

communicate (online in the case of VCoPs). Infor-

mal learning occurs more frequently in CoPs than

formal learning and according to Lave and Wenger

(1991) this involves “the process of becoming a full

participant in a sociocultural practice”.

CoPs are particularly important for people with

special needs. Many learners with disabilities need

continuous learning opportunities and in a commu-

nity and help; this could be realised by a combina-

tion of formal and informal education methods (in-

503

Hamburg I..

INTERCULTURAL LEARNING AND COLLABORATION ASPECTS IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE.

DOI: 10.5220/0003197405030506

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies (WEBIST-2011), pages 503-506

ISBN: 978-989-8425-51-5

 2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

cluding different cultural evenings, social activities,

health services, etc) (Hagiwara and Myles, 1999).

Through informal connections and learning in

their CoPs, members acquire social capital, which

gives value to individuals and to the group.

In a CoP, members share information, which is

boundless; they learn how to converse theory into

practice. CoPs help participants to bridge the gap

between tacit knowledge (How) and explicit knowl-

edge (That) (Duguid, 2005). This means the empha-

sis from the abstract bodies of knowledge taught in

formal education shifts towards “situated learning”

that occurs as people engage with real-world prob-

lems (Fox, 2000).

The design of CoPs is also important. Some

principles of “designing for aliveness”, followed in

some of our projects which can guide organisations

wishing to start a CoP are (Wenger et al., 2002):

 Design for evolution,

 Keep an open dialog between inside and out-

side perspectives of the CoP,

 Consider different levels of participation for the

members of the CoP,

 Develop public and private community spaces,

 Create a rhythm and rules for the community.

The use of eLearning 2.0 in CoPs improves the

ability of members to socially interact with the tech-

nology used (communication with technology)

(Engert et al., 2008; Beer et al., 2008). Using ICT in

learning environments supporting the community

afford the potential for the combination of synchro-

nous and asynchronous communication, access to –

and from geographically isolated communities (Hla-

panis & Dimitracopoulou, 2007) and international

information sharing.

Despite the great potential, there are also barriers

and limitations particularly of current technologies

in relation to virtual communities of practice. The

lack of face-to-face contact within a CoP can often

be an advantage, because it helps to suppress tradi-

tional group norm behaviour. On the other hand, it

remains open if a community of practice where face-

to-face contact is entirely excluded can be sustained

over a long period. Face-to-face interaction and so-

cialization processes consolidate the relations be-

tween members and group membership. Trust is

important for knowledge sharing and development

in a VCoP and this develops primarily through face-

to-face interactions.

Another important barrier to VCoPs refers to se-

lectivity in the choice of ICT to support the CoPs.

VCoPs need to use Internet standard technologies

such as bulletin boards and Web ones. Our experi-

ence and results of other projects show that members

have difficulties often with the ICT access and ICT

skills referring for example to the use of on-line fo-

rums and eLearning training. An aspect to be con-

sidered is the impact of cultural differences within

CoPs particularly in virtual ones. The next part pre-

sents some statements in this context.

3 EMBRACING

INTERCULTURALITY

IN CoPs

Currently interculturality and intercultural learning

receive much interest and socialisation and educa-

tional process influence the development of an own

identity by people and at times shape the way we

deal with cultural differences, developing a sensitiv-

ity for other cultures in a gradual process from de-

nial to integration of differences.

Particularly intercultural problems appear in

VcoPs. Because virtual community infrastructure

can be set up across cultures via the Web, cultural

and language differences can change interactions

and hinder the flow of CoP activities. The use of

technology to bridge geographical gaps can lead to a

misinterpretation of messages; cues and feedback

are often missing.

Culture impacts the choice of technology; it is

necessary to think about which technology can be

used for a certain community.

There are no universal solutions or specific rules

for responding to cultural diversity in CoPs and ap-

proaching intercultural learning. This is a compli-

cated and sensitive matter.

Some of the factors for approaching intercultural

learning are the following:

 Building up confidence is important for a mu-

tual learning process, sharing different points of

view, different feelings

 Trying to understand one´s own identity

 Discerning reality in the process of cultural

learning guided by respect for personal deci-

sions, acceptance of other views, seeking rec-

onciliation of different points of view, being

conscious of own personal responsibility in this

process

 Being in dialog with “the other”.

 Being prepared to break away from old beliefs,

traditions and ideas

 Taking into consideration that conflict is some-

times at the heart of intercultural learning.

WEBIST 2011 - 7th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies

504

Intercultural dialog can be used not only to de-

velop a sense of community and belonging in inter-

cultural learning process but also as a tool for the

prevention and resolution of conflicts by enhancing

the respect for human rights, democracy and law.

Intercultural differences call for intercultural

competences of CoP moderators. The role of the

moderator in a CoP with many cultures is a crucial

one; she/he should observe conversations, give ad-

vice and try to be a mediator between cultures.

However the challenge of different cultures also

affects the role of participants. They also need a

good deal of sensitivity and awareness of partici-

pants prejudices (and also their own), to be prepared

for collaborating with people from a different back-

ground.

Intercultural competence does not ask to behave

like someone else or imitate another culture, but to

learn actively about the people you are cooperat-

ing/working/learning with for effective collaboration

and communication (www.uq.edu.au). One impor-

tant step is to develop openness to differences for

example understanding that culture is not static, that

cultural context is changing. The ability to operate

across many types of boundaries, real and virtual

ones, is helpful. A key for developing intercultural

competences is to respect and understand diversity

and grounds of discrimination.

In connection with the used language to tackle

interculturality in CoPs, language that stereotypes or

shows bias against groups of people should be

avoided. The use of inappropriate language has the

potential to damage the credibility of the modera-

tor/trainer and alienate the learners.

Social media based on Web 2.0 helps i.e. mem-

bers of a CoP to work both in an autonomous way as

well as collaboratively. Social media can take many

different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs,

social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, photo-

graphs or pictures, video, rating and social book-

marking.

4 EXAMPLES

Gaining experience in the Grundtvig project BASKI

(Hamburg and Ionescu, 2009) aimed at the devel-

opment of a model of social basic skills for people

with learning disabilities by using multimedia, we

continued our work in the EU-Learning partnership

Bringing New Approaches to Education of Autistic

Children in Turkey and European Countries. The

target groups of the project are teachers and students

of vocational education, trainers working in special

education centres, social workers, parents of autistic

children and last but not least children with autism.

Results of the analysis carried up during the project

show that there are many isolated solutions for train-

ing for autistic children but cooperation forms be-

tween trainers, social workers, parents from different

European countries are missing. Now we started the

development of a VCoP with trainers, social workers

and autistic children recommended by trainers, doc-

tors, not only from partner countries but also from

other European countries. Access to documents,

discussions and training modules for achieving so-

cial skills are supported by a Moodle-based platform

(Dougiamas, 2004) because of the accessibility and

flexibility of this tool.

Three online moderated Webinars using Webex

to make them current, offering live interactive learn-

ing experiences in English will be organized in order

to discuss different cultures in education of autistic

people in partner countries and to choose best prac-

tices to put them in the project book. A special Wiki

will be used for the development of the project book

within the VCoP.

Another EU-Grundtvig project is about Creative

learning approaches for people with disabilities by

using intercultural events and environments

(CLINTEV – htpp://www.clintev.eu).

This project is based on research findings and

aimed at the development of informal learning ses-

sions within cultural events that can help adults with

moderate mental and/or other types of disabilities to

learn basic skills and in particular communications

skills.

The CoP within the project CLINTEV

(http://community.clintev.eu, Figure 1) is developed

by using the Social media tool Tiki Wiki CMS

Groupware, a free and open source wiki-based, con-

tent management system written primarily in PHP

and distributed under the GNU Lesser General Pub-

lic License (LGPL) license.

Figure 1: CLINTEV community.

INTERCULTURAL LEARNING AND COLLABORATION ASPECTS IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

505

The CLINTEV community offers:

• Intercultural training.

• Use of English language. Forums with intercul-

tural topics

• Common development of learning resources by

using Web-blogs.

5 CONCLUSIONS

We advocate the importance of intercultural learning

and collaboration particularly for person with autism

and language disabilities to overcome their commu-

nication difficulties and to achieve social skills so

this person can be included in lessons, in social and

work environments. Learning in CoPs will make a

positive contribution to spreading best practices and

find new innovative solutions helping people with

special needs. Creating efficient CoPs is a difficult

and complex task and it should be supported by dif-

ferent national and European initiatives.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The two projects are funded by the European Com-

mission within the programmes Leonardo da Vinci

and Grundtvig.

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