The peer learning community: a contextual design for learning?

The term “learning community” is in common usage but appears to mask significant variation in practice. This article begins with a description of the “peer learning community” model within the MSc in Change Agent Skills and Strategies at the University of Surrey, UK. Tosey and Gregory have proposed five criteria as distinguishing this specific, designed model from more general usage of the term “learning community”. From this basis, it is argued that the effectiveness of learning programmes (such as action learning) will be greatly influenced by the framework and context within which they take place. The peer learning community is an example of a contextual design that could be applied within both business and higher education. As such it has relevance to the concept of the “learning organisation”. The presence or absence of conditions such as the five proposed may crucially impact on the effectiveness of programmes of learning. The article concludes by raising critical questions about the peer learning community model.