The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Learning and Performance Systems THREADS OF CONVERSATION: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPATING AND LEARNING ABOUT KNITTING IN AN UNSTRUCTURED SETTING A Dissertation in Instructional Systems by Rucha Modak Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2011 The dissertation of Rucha S. Modak was reviewed and approved* by the following: Alison A. Carr-Chellman Professor of Education Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Head of the Department of Learning and Performance Systems Fred M. Scheid Associate Professor of Education Steven L. Herb Affiliate Professor of Education Heather Toomey Zimmerman Assistant Professor of Education *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT This study examines the lived experience of participating and learning about knitting in a drop-in knitting group that meets in a public library. The study was conducted in the phenomenological tradition of qualitative research and data was collected through interviews and participant observations. Data was analyzed using constant comparative analysis through the theoretical lenses of social capital and the sociocultural learning theory. The following themes arose: 1) conversation and interaction among members are cherished, 2) primary identities define the degree and kind of knitting-related teaching and learning that takes place 3) the diversity and high turnover of fringe participants in the group has consequences for teaching and learning needs, 4) the public library has a constant presence in the life of the knitting group, and 5) knitting with the group provides a sense of community. Analysis showed that the library’s social capital played a bigger role in members’ participation than vice versa and participant identities were important in shaping an unstructured experience. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Heading Page Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Problem Statement 4 Purpose of the Study 6 Definitions 8 Chapter 2 Review of Literature 9 The Public (And Academic) 9 Library And Social Space Social Interactions In A Public 14 Library Social Capital As a Context for 15 Learning Informal Learning and Social 18 Capital Defining Informal learning 21 Sociocultural Learning 24 Approaches Dynamic Interdependence of 26 Social and Individual Processes iv Participation and Identity 29 Formation Conversations and Informal 31 Learning Chapter 3 Method 35 Participants 37 Sampling 38 Data Collection 38 Data Analysis 42 Researcher Identity 44 Chapter 4 Results 47 Participant Biographies 47 Theme #1 Conversation and 49 interaction among members are cherished Theme #2 Primary identities 55 define the degree and kind of knitting-related teaching and learning that takes place v Theme # 3 The diversity and 61 high turnover of fringe participants in the group has consequences for teaching and learning Theme #4 The public library has 66 a constant presence in the life of the knitting group Theme #5 Knitting with the 73 group provides a sense of community Chapter 5 Discussion 79 Limitations of the Study and Future 85 Research Conclusion 87 Appendices Appendix A: Interview Protocol 89 Appendix B: Sample Transcript 90 Analysis Bibliography 94 vi Acknowledgements There is a long list of people to thank, as I suspect is the case at the end of every doctoral degree. I want to start by thanking my committee and especially my advisor, Dr. Ali Carr-Chellman, for the encouragement she provided throughout the process. Another important mentor was Dr. Fred Scheid for always being willing to give me time and invaluable feedback which helped shape the quality of my research. Many friends and colleagues stood by my side as I waded through the sometimes murky waters of graduate school and I want to give a special shout-out to Harshini, Mansi, Gauri, Babs and Shawn. My family in India and the U.S. were constant sources of support, advice and encouragement. All of you helped me stay sane, enjoy my life at Penn State and became a part of my life in a way that I hope will continue for the rest of my life. vii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter outlines the current perceptions on informal learning in public spaces and theoretical frameworks driving their research, followed by a description of the problem statement and purpose of the current study. Formal learning has a long history of research and a longer one of practice. Education in a structured environment with a didactic set up and well-established norms, roles, expectations and assessment strategies has the attention of many a researcher, educator and policy-maker. Learning that takes place in such an environment – whether in pre-school, middle school, college or beyond- is visible, controllable, measurable and reproducible. The informal learning that takes place on a daily basis by virtue of being active in the environment around, however, is an invisible iceberg. Not only media and first-hand experience, but relationships and networks too, inform and educate us as a part of routine life. Sharing information and informal learning – whether self-directed or incidental (Schugurensky, 2000), are two powerful ways in which resources are shared or accessed within a network or a community. In addition, interest in the learning that takes place in a variety of contexts and in a variety of ways is increasing: informal learning centers, in a network or a community defined by practice, interest, or geography and through informal interactions - either intentionally or unintentionally. The workplace and the labor market are prominent areas of research where the everyday transfer of resources is being studied. There are numerous studies about the way members of an organization learn to garner the information they need through informal channels (e.g. Powell, Koput and Smith-Doerr, 1996; Kilpatrick and Bell, 2001; Tsai, 2001; Knight, 2002, Wenger, 1998, etc.). Others have focused on informal meeting places, where the venue brings a relatively diverse group together and turns into a location for civic engagement (Oldenburg, 1997) or information sharing (Pettigrew, 1998). Fisher's (nee Pettigrew) research on social interactions in public places takes her to locations on a university campus (Fisher, Landry and Naumer, 2007), new immigrant population (Fisher et al, 2004), the general public (Fisher et al, 2005) and public libraries (Fisher, Saxton, Edwards and Mai, 2006). Libraries have been the focus of some research as theaters of social interactions, without a focus on informal learning. Academic libraries, e.g., have lately been getting some attention as public places where students and faculty converge for a variety of purposes - some of them social (Antell, and Engel, 2006; Bryant, 2009; Ludwig and Starr, 2005 and Stephan, 2005). Au (2005), e.g., investigated how an academic library helped local entrepreneurs build social capital. Public libraries, however, are not getting the same kind of attention. Given and Leckie (2003), Kretzman and Rans (2003) and Gong, Japzon and Chen, (2008), among others, have looked at it as a space for meeting and social activity, while Fisher et al (2007) are the only researchers to see the public library as a space where these interactions turn into opportunities for information sharing and informal learning. A public library is a civic institution which belongs to a specific geographically defined community and as such is a landmark. It's a venue where people from several different neighborhoods come together and possibly interact (Swinbourne, 2000). In addition to chance interactions, public libraries offer space for several leisure and learning activities such as hobby clubs, story-telling activities, book clubs, homework help, etc., thus creating a space for patrons to 2 interact on a regular basis. These interactions and conversations potentially build relationships and informal learning situations, similar to the ones in the research mentioned above. Research has several ways of looking at the dynamics between relationships and learning. One of the prominent and relatively recent approaches to of studying these dynamics is the sociocultural learning theory. The theory has its roots in Vygotsky's (1978) ideas about linguistic development in children and its central tenet is that learning is a matter of dynamic interdependence between the individual and his/her social world. This implies that the context – the 'what' - of learning is as important as the content or the 'how' (Sawchuck, 2003). In this sense, for instance, learning in a particular public library is unique and the learning experience of each individual learner is unique. Lave's (1991) situated social practice and Lave and Wenger's (1991) communities of practice view toe the same line. They go on to suggest that learning is a matter of participation in human activity or a community of practice more than either acquisition of knowledge or its construction. Relationships, activity and social interactions are prime players in one's learning experience (Roth and Lee, 2007). The core concept of this approach requires that the distinction between formal and informal learning take a back seat to interpretation of the experience itself (Eraut, 2000). There is a dedicated body of research about social interactions that is not necessarily related to a learning theory. Some of this research is from the point of view of the social capital of communities. Social capital is a concept with a burgeoning research literature concerned with the way communities built around a common focus share norms and resources. Courtesy the academic disagreements, it is referred to in terms of its many different features including mutual trust, an expectation of reciprocation, social norms, ties 3