A Cross-cultural Study of Learning Communities in Academic and Business Contexts

By Yang Yang and John Williamson.

Published by The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00
Article: Electronic	$US5.00

The concept Communities of Practice (Wenger, 1998), a component of learning communities, has had a powerful influence in areas as diverse as business practice, interaction in academic departments, and in the way that school teachers plan for their students. This paper reports data from an ongoing cross-cultural study of practitioners’ perceptions regarding ways to improve team and individual learning. The data are from three case studies: two university academic departments [one in Australia and one in China] and one Chinese hi-tech company. This allows comparison of ways in which learning communities operate in different cultural and political milieu. The study offers unique insights into how educational organizations operate as learning communities and, consequently, how we may be more effective in promoting workplace learning.

Keywords:	Learning Community, Community of Practice, Cross-cultural, Interdisciplinary

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Volume 5, Issue 9, pp.163-176. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 725.718KB).

Yang Yang

PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Mr. Yang Yang is currently a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Australia. His research interests include Community of Practice, ICT in Higher Education and Critical Discourse Analysis. Mr Yang Yang is also currently working as a research assistant on a number of research projects in the Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Australia.

Prof. John Williamson

Chair of Academic Senate, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

John Williamson is Professor of Education at the University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia. He is currently co-directing a 12 country study of school decision-making, particularly looking at the way principals and teachers perceive their contributions to the teaching-learning processes, school budgets and administration, and school community interaction.

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