LPP? As in Lanky Party Poopers? – Trevor Driscoll

Something I found interesting about LPP is that it is not meant to be interpreted in isolation. The phrase only has true meaning when the words that make up that phrase are applied in conjunction with each other. Lave and Wenger did not intend to create a term that can separated or reversed. There is no such thing as illegitimate central passivity. In this sense, LPP is more than the sum of its parts, and its meaning can not be deciphered by simply smashing together the traditional definitions of its components. However, the words’ individual meanings are necessary in understanding what LPP is and are useful if interpreted in a certain context. Most importantly, it must be clear that LPP is not a teaching method; rather, it is an “analytical viewpoint on learning” (40), a philosophy about how we as humans learn and what is required to teach us.

In LPP, I believe that legitimate is meant as learning something that has value. A learner must be motivated by something they perceive as having real world applications that they will encounter frequently in the future. I can say from experience that if the learner does not believe that what they are learning is a useful skill and reasonably applicable to their own lives, they will be harder to teach. That does not mean that it is impossible for learners to learn things that they see as worthless, but they will be more receptive of ideas that they can see themselves using. That is why people so often fail in subjects like math or history or English. They believe it is something they will never encounter outside of school, and they become resistant to having it shoved down their throats.

The P, meaning peripheral, refers to the social context in which learning should take place. No single member of the learning environment should be the center of attention the entire time. Because learning is “an integral and inseparable aspect of social practice” (31), learners should not be stuck in isolation as they learn. Nor should they be taught by being talked at by an old fogy while being refused the opportunity to socialize. In the interest of maintaining peripherality, all members of a learning environment should be peers and equals. While it can be helpful to have a more experienced peer to provide guidance in a learning environment, the more experienced individual should, nonetheless, be a peer. Doing so places learners in a relaxed social atmosphere in which they feel more free to express their ideas and interact with their community of practice. The more natural and unrestricted the social context of learning is, the more effective it will become.

The second P, participation, is more like the specific method through which learners learn (theory vs. practice). By undergoing more practical training, learners become more and more skilled at whatever they are learning. A clear example of this principle is the apprenticeship of tailors and how “they become, with remarkably few exceptions, skilled and respected master tailors” (30). The same could be said of almost any skill. How could you be expected to learn a new language without ever actually speaking the language? Strictly theoretical instruction of a given task is not sufficient to make a learner skilled at carrying out that task. However, learning the theory behind a skill is still necessary. How could you learn to speak a language without learning the grammar and vocabulary or learn to be a tailor without studying the various techniques of sewing and alterations? I would say that the best balance of theory and practice is one part theory, two parts practice. Understanding how and why a task is done is important, but being capable and experienced in carrying out that task matters a great deal more.

After founding an understanding of what LPP is, we can begin to implement teaching theories that are molded to fit in with the philosophy. But formal, government funded institutions will naturally be slower to make the necessary changes to adopt teaching/learning philosophies and methods that are scientifically proven to be  superior. I will stop myself now because if I follow the current train of thought, things will get political and ugly, and this is not the place for that.