The dissertation of Rucha S. Modak was reviewed and approved* by the following: Alison A. Carr ...

111 Pages·2011·0.37 MB·English

by  Rucha Sudhir Modak

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