| Through this study I identify, characterize and evaluate learning processes and outcomes among diverse groups of stakeholders that are working to address various complex conservation and land-use issues in California. Drawing on learning theory that emphasizes the importance of sociocultural context, I employ an analytical framework in which learning is conceptualized as a social process that occurs when individuals participate with others in meaningful social activities, or communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). This collection of case studies examines learning as participation in communities of practice in three working landscape contexts: collaborative research between grain crop growers and conservation professionals, oak woodland monitoring by citizen scientists or non-scientist volunteers, and a watershed restoration education program for youth. Following a qualitative approach to inquiry (Merriam, 1998) and a constant comparative method of data analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), I collected and analyzed ethnographic data drawn from interviews, field notes and document analysis compiled during extensive participant observation in each of the case settings. In the first case, I found that the process of collaborative research between grain growers and conservation groups developed into a boundary practice and resulted in the creation of new knowledge, management practices and shifting identities for the groups involved. In the second case, I found that the quality of participation afforded to volunteer citizen scientists, specifically related to their influence on, interactions in, and insight about the research process, had a direct impact on how and what they learned about science and the environment. Finally, I analyzed the learning processes and outcomes in the youth watershed restoration education program based on the extent to which student participants were afforded an experience of legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and found that while the program did not necessarily provide an authentic experience of restoration practice per se, the program did provide opportunities for participants to learn through participation in social activity and try out new roles and identities in the process. To conclude, I identified several processes and elements that facilitated or hindered learning as participation within and across communities of practice in each of the three cases, including: 1) access and legitimacy; 2) power to negotiate meaning and make decisions; 3) authenticity of activity; 4) engagement in shared practice; 5) sharing and creating knowledge; and 6) identity building. Through these findings, the study not only contributes to refining theories of situated learning in the realms of environmental education and natural resource management, but also more broadly illustrates how such sociocultural and situative theoretical perspectives on learning, including the communities of practice concept, can be applied to new learning contexts. |
