Sub–Question 4: How do people participate with each other and in the activities at each setting?

The notion of participation is integrally linked to a community of practice to the extent that one cannot be realized without the other. Further analysis of participation across the settings, permits us to see how sociocultural learning is sustained. If a community of practice is the road map that guides learning, then participation is its engine.

The coffee shop exemplified legitimate peripheral participation in a community of practice. Newcomers were fully accepted into the coffee shop community of practice and were trained by oldtimers, the students who had mastered one of the jobs in the coffee shop. The newcomers were immediately engaged in activities that were integral to the learning process and the operation of the coffee shop. They received monitoring and support from both the instructors and other students, and were given plenty of room to make errors. All of this led to the students' changed identity and new ways of seeing themselves as employees.

Unlike the coffee shop, which had instructors and students actively working to foster a dynamic, supportive, and valued learning experience, the employees and supervisors who hosted students at the various placement sites did not necessarily share this perspective. The ability for students to fully participate at each job placement site was completely dependent on the willingness of the employees and supervisors to work with a student on a placement and their personal approach to learning and teaching. Students had a range of participation experiences, from Judith who was told to job shadow, to Stacey who shared stories about family, to Marion who was essentially ignored.

Students who entered the classroom were legitimate members of that group despite striking differences in culture, abilities, and lifestyle. But without realizing the learning purpose of an activity, it was difficult to perform integral tasks and to engage in the improvised practice that is a big part of participation in a community of practice.

What can be learned from the coffee shop, the setting that best exemplified participation in a community of practice, and applied to other settings? In addition, can the dynamics of the coffee shop be fostered in other literacy program settings?