431 Wenger Readings

Wenger’s goal is to explore the possibilities of learning through communities, independent thinking, determining what matters about learning, and accessing the identities of education and theory of learning. The passage I found interesting was when Wenger states “an adequate vocabulary is important because the concepts we use to make sense of the world direct both our perception and our actions. We pay attention to what we expect to see, we hear what we can place in our understanding, and we act according to our world views” (8). Wenger is discussing the importance of having a wide and diverse memory of vocabulary in order to fully understand concepts in discussion. If the person is lacking this vocabulary they will not fully understand the concept and will have to rely on what they already know. He believed that by knowing the vocabulary it helps people see the world in different perspectives and affects their actions. The reason this matters is that with a diverse amount of vocabulary a person is able to communicate more effectively with people by selecting their words that best fit the situation. For example, when a teacher is talking to a 4^th grader they may limit their vocabulary or simplify it so that the child can understand, but when the teacher is talking to another teacher they may choose terms that involve that profession or more complicated terms to describe certain topics. With this flexibility the teacher is able to communicate effectively among a diverse age range, educational level, and among familiar professions.