Abstract
It has been argued that in higher education academic disciplines can be seen as communities of practices. This implies a focus on what constitutes identities in academic culture. In this article I argue that the transition from newcomer to a full participant in a community of practice of physicists entails a focus on how identities emerge in learning how to highlight certain aspects of personal life histories. The analysis of interviews with 55 physicists shows that physicists often perceive experiences in their childhood as the first step into their professional identities as physicists. These experiences involve recollections of the ability to think scientifically (e.g., ‘go beyond the surface’), and the ability to play with toys which can be connected to the practical life of physics. The process of identity formation can be described as developing in a relational zone of proximal development, where old-timers recognize particular playful qualities in newcomers as a legitimate access to a physicist identity. The article discusses how play which physicsts connects with a scientific mind can constitute a relational zone of proximal developments in a community of practice as a particular “space of authoring” in a physicist culture, which cut across other cultural differences.
Résumé
Il a été admis que les disciplines de l’éducation supérieure peuvent être considérées comme des communautés de pratique. Cela pose la question de savoir comment se constituent les identités dans la culture académique. Dans cet article, pour mettre en évidence la transition de nouveau venu à participant à part entière dans une communauté de pratique de physiciens, j’examine non seulement la manière dont des identités émergent au travers des pratiques, mais aussi les aspects biographiques que les participants identifient comme ayant facilité leur transition. Une cohorte de 55 physiciens a été interviewée et leurs analyses ont été comparées à des données supplémentaires, notamment tirées d’une observation participante d’étudiants en physique. Les physiciens identifient souvent des expériences de leur enfance comme premiers pas vers leur identité professionnelle de physiciens. Ces expériences requièrent une pensée de type scientifique et une capacité à jouer liée avec les pratiques de la physique. Le processus de formation identitaire peut être décrit comme se développant dans une zone relationnelle de développement proximal, dans laquelle les aînés reconnaissent les qualités ludiques des nouveaux venus comme légitimant leur accès à l’identité de physicien. L’article discute la manière dont le jeu, que les physiciens associent à l’esprit scientifique, constitute une zone de développement proximal dans une communauté de pratique, comme «espace d’auteur» dans la culture des physiciens-laquelle peut par ailleurs dépasser d’autres différences culturelles.
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The study of physicists play in childhood has been made possible through a grant from the Danish Research Counsil.
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Hasse, C. Learning and transition in a culture of playful physicists. Eur J Psychol Educ 23, 149 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172742
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172742