Nota-se um crescimento constante da importância dos espaços de Educação Não Formal frente ao de Ensino de Ciências. Com isso, passa a ser imprescindível a presença de profissionais que promovam a interação da ciência com o público e, consequentemente, a formação dos mesmos para que possam atuar de maneira efetiva no desenvolvimento de atividades educativas nesses locais. Nesta perspectiva, este estudo de caso teve por finalidade analisar o processo de formação de mediadores de um espaço de Educação Não Formal de ciências, utilizando a perspectiva da teoria de Comunidades de Prática, elaborada por Jean Lave e Etienne Wenger. Mais especificamente, teve como objetivo analisar como o elemento engajamento mútuo, proposto pelos autores como um dos pontos fundamentais da participação dos membros de uma comunidade de prática, pode contribuir para a formação inicial de mediadores. Para realização dessa investigação, foi necessário, primeiramente, averiguar se o local de estudo escolhido - Estação Biologia (EB), projeto de extensão universitária vinculado ao Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, poderia ser considerado uma comunidade de prática, sendo necessária, para isso, a identificação de três elementos básicos: o repertório compartilhado, o engajamento mútuo e o empreendimento conjunto. Os dados coletados a partir de análises documentais, entrevistas gravadas semiestruturadas, filmagens e observações de visitas evidenciam que os três elementos básicos coexistem na EB, podendo, assim, ser considerada uma comunidade de prática. Nessa comunidade, às possibilidades de flexibilização de funções e o estabelecimento de negociações internas promovem o aumento do engajamento mútuo que está diretamente envolvido com a transformação de um mediador periférico em um mediador central, e consequentemente, com a sua formação tanto para atuar como mediador, quanto para atuar profissionalmente, seja na carreira de bacharelado ou de licenciatura. Isso pode ser afirmado visto que, ao aumentar o engajamento na prática da comunidade, esse mediador se apropria de conhecimentos que poderão ser usados dentro e fora da EB. / There has been a steadily growing role of non-formal education within science teaching. Thus, the presence of professionals is crucial for promoting the interaction of science with the public. Consequently, the formation of these professionals is essential to enable them to act effectively in the development of activities at educational sites. Accordingly, this case study aims at examining the process of formation of mediators in the area of non-formal education in science, using the Theory of Community of Practice, coined by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. More specifically, the analysis of the mutual engagement element, as proposed by the authors as one of the key points in the participation of members in a community of practice, may contribute to the initial training of mediators. To undertake this study, it was necessary to first determine whether the chosen place of study, Estação Biologia (EB) of the University of São Paulo, could be considered a community of practice. For this, the identification of three basic elements were required: shared repertoire, mutual engagement and joint enterprise. The data that were collected from documentary analysis, semi-structured registered interviews, recorded visits and personal observations, showed that all the three basic elements were present in EB, and thus it can be considered a community of practice. In this community, the flexibility of functions, and the establishment of internal negotiations, promote increased mutual engagement that is directly involved in the transformation of a peripheral into a central mediator, and consequently, their training both to act as a mediator and how to do so professionally. Considering that by increasing engagement in the practice of community, this mediator appropriates knowledge that can be used inside and outside the EB.

Nota-se um crescimento constante da importância dos espaços de Educação Não Formal frente ao de Ensino de Ciências. Com isso, passa a ser imprescindível a presença de profissionais que promovam a interação da ciência com o público e, consequentemente, a formação dos mesmos para que possam atuar de maneira efetiva no desenvolvimento de atividades educativas nesses locais. Nesta perspectiva, este estudo de caso teve por finalidade analisar o processo de formação de mediadores de um espaço de Educação Não Formal de ciências, utilizando a perspectiva da teoria de Comunidades de Prática, elaborada por Jean Lave e Etienne Wenger. Mais especificamente, teve como objetivo analisar como o elemento engajamento mútuo, proposto pelos autores como um dos pontos fundamentais da participação dos membros de uma comunidade de prática, pode contribuir para a formação inicial de mediadores. Para realização dessa investigação, foi necessário, primeiramente, averiguar se o local de estudo escolhido - Estação Biologia (EB), projeto de extensão universitária vinculado ao Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, poderia ser considerado uma comunidade de prática, sendo necessária, para isso, a identificação de três elementos básicos: o repertório compartilhado, o engajamento mútuo e o empreendimento conjunto. Os dados coletados a partir de análises documentais, entrevistas gravadas semiestruturadas, filmagens e observações de visitas evidenciam que os três elementos básicos coexistem na EB, podendo, assim, ser considerada uma comunidade de prática. Nessa comunidade, às possibilidades de flexibilização de funções e o estabelecimento de negociações internas promovem o aumento do engajamento mútuo que está diretamente envolvido com a transformação de um mediador periférico em um mediador central, e consequentemente, com a sua formação tanto para atuar como mediador, quanto para atuar profissionalmente, seja na carreira de bacharelado ou de licenciatura. Isso pode ser afirmado visto que, ao aumentar o engajamento na prática da comunidade, esse mediador se apropria de conhecimentos que poderão ser usados dentro e fora da EB. / There has been a steadily growing role of non-formal education within science teaching. Thus, the presence of professionals is crucial for promoting the interaction of science with the public. Consequently, the formation of these professionals is essential to enable them to act effectively in the development of activities at educational sites. Accordingly, this case study aims at examining the process of formation of mediators in the area of non-formal education in science, using the Theory of Community of Practice, coined by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. More specifically, the analysis of the mutual engagement element, as proposed by the authors as one of the key points in the participation of members in a community of practice, may contribute to the initial training of mediators. To undertake this study, it was necessary to first determine whether the chosen place of study, Estação Biologia (EB) of the University of São Paulo, could be considered a community of practice. For this, the identification of three basic elements were required: shared repertoire, mutual engagement and joint enterprise. The data that were collected from documentary analysis, semi-structured registered interviews, recorded visits and personal observations, showed that all the three basic elements were present in EB, and thus it can be considered a community of practice. In this community, the flexibility of functions, and the establishment of internal negotiations, promote increased mutual engagement that is directly involved in the transformation of a peripheral into a central mediator, and consequently, their training both to act as a mediator and how to do so professionally. Considering that by increasing engagement in the practice of community, this mediator appropriates knowledge that can be used inside and outside the EB.

Integration of immigrants has become a major focus of the EU policy agenda in recent years with Sweden being one of the first EU countries to address the need for immigrant integration. However, in recent times integration outcomes in Sweden have become unfavourable. Malmö Sweden has a unique context of immigrant integration being Sweden’s third largest city and having the highest percentage of immigrants within Sweden. The city transitioned from being an “industrial” city to a “professional” city in the 1970’s with a large percentage of jobs requiring a college degree. This job gap for workers with “limited skills” led to an employment shortage for immigrants, with a disproportionate impact on women.  This study explores how social sector organizations in Malmö are fostering learning and knowledge sharing through communities of practice (CoP) among immigrant women in Malmö with limited skills in order to integrate into the Swedish system and reach economic & social integration. The study covered four social sector organizations’ program facilitators and participants that participate in communities of practice programs. The study’s primary source of data collection was Semi-structured interviews conducted at four social sector organizations that work with integrating immigrant women in Malmö, Sweden and analyzed through thematic analysis. The learning programs were not publicized as communities of programs. When examined, learning programs at the four social organizations followed the classification of CoPs based on the individual learning program’s domain, community, and practice. Through the analysis of the interviews, the learning programs at the four organizations were uncovered to be “hidden” communities of practice. The study also found a unique municipal-non-profit partnership that existed in every learning program studied, allowing more resources and opportunities to the women within the CoP for better integration. Each woman in the CoP had a Shared Goal or Joint Enterprise of socially, culturally, and economically integrating into Sweden. The "safe space" and average age attracted by the program created mutual engagement or collaboration through relationship building. The shared native language and Swedish language between the women became communal tools or their “shared repertoire” that the women developed and used together to improve their Swedish as well as their professional skills These communal tools enhance the immigrant women’s ability to learn and open opportunities needed to integrate into Sweden such as employment or further education.

This study takes a particular look at mathematics teacher education communities of practice (CoPs) in order to provide rich descriptions of the CoPs and make claims about its relation/in relation to teacher preparation and particularly the preparation of preservice teachers for teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. The three dimensions of communities of practice proposed by Wenger (mutual engagement, shared repertoire and joint enterprise) were used in conjunction with Mortimer and Scott’s notion of meaning making as a dialogic process as a theoretical lens to gain an entry into the nature of communities of practice in pre-service mathematics teacher education classrooms. Data was collected through pre-observation interviews of 12 teacher educators at four Universities in one Province in South Africa in Phase One of the study. A methodological approach based on Wenger’s CoP theory and Mortimer and Scott’s dialogic process was developed and used to analyse classroom observation videos of four of these teacher educators’ classroom communities of practice in two universities in Phase Two of the study. Using the privileged practices in the CoPs as points of departure and how these practices shaped and were shaped by other dynamics in the CoPs, the findings emerging from the study indicate that within the multiply layers of teacher education, there is an overarching emphasis given to the acquisition of mathematical content. Nevertheless, the communicative approaches and patterns of discourse used by the different teacher educators opened up different possibilities as far as preparing preservice teachers for teaching (in multilingual classrooms) is concerned. Wenger’s community of practice theory has found applications in different spheres of life and in different organisational and educational settings. Its use to understand and describe mathematics pre-service classrooms is, however, still largely unexplored. A theoretical contribution that this study makes lies in the extension of Wenger’s CoP theory to include dialogic processes. A methodological contribution lies in the development of an organisational language (based on Wenger’s three dimensions of CoP) to characterise pre-service teacher education classrooms.