Etienne Wenger (also Etienne Wenger-Trayner) is a learning theorist who, with Jean Lave, developed the theory of situated learning and communities of practice. His work argues that learning is fundamentally a social process of participating in shared practices, not a matter of individual knowledge acquisition.
Core ideas
- Communities of practice: groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through regular interaction. Defined by mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire.
- Identity and learning: Wenger argues that learning transforms who we are — participation in communities of practice shapes identity, not just knowledge.
Notable works
- Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation (1991, with Jean Lave)
- Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity (1998)