Again, the classroom setting is distinct when compared to the contexts of the coffee shop and job placements. Where the coffee shop and job placements were shaped by workplace culture and the expectations of that culture, the classroom was shaped by a schooling structure. Is this appropriate? In addition, how can the program reconcile the tremendous value students place on the classroom and schooling, compared to the need to create a context that is more in line with the other two settings?

Sub–Question 3: Who are the people and what are the activities that comprise the literacy and learning community in each setting?

Only one setting stood out as having consistent elements that could be described as a community of practice, and that was the coffee shop. Although certain job placements may have had many elements that constituted a community of practice, whether or not all of these elements surfaced at each site was unpredictable. The classroom, on the other hand, had very few elements that would allow it to be described as a community of practice. It is important to fully understand the elements that surfaced in the coffee shop that enabled it to become a community of practice.

While in the coffee shop, there was a focus on learning the operation of a small business as opposed to being taught how a small business works. This difference was evident because students were actively engaged in the day–to–day functioning of the coffee shop and were ultimately responsible for its operation. This responsibility meant there was a very clear learning purpose and related to this, the students were able to see and understand their activities as a whole: they were working together to operate the coffee shop for their paying customers. At no time would a student be engaged in an activity that was not purposeful and did not contribute to the functioning of the coffee shop. Finally, one of the greatest attributes of the coffee shop was that it had been set up as an environment in which students engaged in improvised practice, which meant that the focus was on learning, and not production.