Rogoff, B. (1994). Developing understanding of the idea of communities of learners. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 4, 209-229.
Summary
This article examined transitions of perspectives that people have to make when faced with unfamiliar teaching and learning methods. The author argued that transmission of knowledge, as a model of education mostly exercised in the US, shortchanges children and adults from highly enriching collaborative interactions. The author defended her thesis by engaging in comparative analysis of two concepts: two-sided instructional models and the community-of-learners model. Her methodology involved two lines of observational investigations: 1) comparison between Mayan families in Guatemala, and middle-class American European families in the United States, and 2) the transition that middle-class American European adults faced when presented with a community-of-learners model implemented in a public elementary school.
Rogoff’s (1994) goal was to demonstrate the underlying differences between the two models (two-sided, and community-of-learner) in a non-hierarchical fashion. She concluded that adults and children are best served when instruction is oriented towards participatory transformation congruent with activities in their communities.
In examining underlying factors of paradigm shifting, the author appeared to have addressed a fundamental question: what is development? In an attempt to provide an explanation, Rogoff (1994) looked at development as a transformational participatory process vis-à-vis a product of transmission of knowledge handed down from others, or conceived by oneself. This latter assertion derived from two-sided models referred to as "adult-run" didactics, and "child-run" instruction positioned at both ends of a spectrum. On the one hand, the "adult-run" model assumed the teacher/adult as the expert of information, and the child as the passive recipient of information – banking system. On the other side, the "child-run" model viewed children as capable of constructing their own knowledge through self-discovery with minimal adult interference. Both extremes can be presented respectively in the form of control vs. freedom, passive vs. engaging.
Transformational participation developed from the notion of community-of-learners that views children and adults as active members of a community (i.e. classroom, home, neighborhood). In this model, adults assume the role of leadership (children sometimes), but the group defines its direction. The author is careful to explain that roles are asymmetrical and rarely "equal" (p. 213), because each community calls for different roles. For instance, one may be the supporter, observer, and leader. Also, not all endeavors are agreed upon, thus creating conflicts that are expected to happen within a community-of-learners. In essence, the community-of-learners revolves around Dewey’s notion of education as a "social process" where the adult becomes the facilitator in aligning meaning of activities as they relate to in and out of school experiences.
The author is critical of US schools that implement collaborative work as a secondary arrangement to an otherwise competitive, factory model of instruction. As a result of this incongruent approach, children are not consistently exposed to cooperative reciprocal interactive patterns that fall short of preparing them to transition into a community-of-learners model. The author specifically cited that pre-school Mayan children are brought up within a community-of-learners model that differs from formal schooling. Typically, Mayan teachers adopt similar methods of US instruction - "adult-run" models of rote learning and transmission. However, the author suggested that this inconsistent pattern might be a positive factor as evidenced by Mayan children’s adjustment to both settings. On the other hand, Rogoff (1994) commented that US children experience the same model of "adult-run" instruction in and out of school that may account for their difficult transition when presented with tasks that involve cooperation, and taking-turns. Further evidence is presented with parents, teachers, researchers and observers who displayed "either-or thinking"(p. 220) ("adult-run" vs. "child-run" instruction) pattern that inhibited their understanding of a community-of-learners model implemented in an elementary public school. Finally, their own active participation in a community-of-learners (process) to learn about community-of-learners (activity) helped the author illustrate that malleability and willingness to use varied approaches in different circumstances enabled teachers, parents, and observers to transform inner working models of instruction and learning.