Internal Conflict within Communities of Practice

We belong to various communities of practice throughout our lives. Many of these diverse communities of practice are in conflict with one another and create internal debate and practical implications within our lives. Everyone must address this conflict, however visible minorities, or more specifically, Afrikans throughout the Diaspora are constantly negotiating these divergent communities because of oppression and our marginalized position in society.

I am an assistant coach of a high school basketball team. Last weekend my wife and I had dinner with the head coach, a white man, and his partner at our residence. After a great meal and several cocktails our discussion turned to an incident last year when a young African Nova Scotian player from an opposing team posted some disparaging remarks about some of our players (the team is all white except my daughter) on-line prior to a tournament. This ultimately resulted in involvement by both school administrations and the NSSAF, the provincial governing sports body and it created hard feelings between the teams, coaches and parents. I knew this young player and her parents from my daughter’s previous involvement at the Community YMCA and other provincial basketball programs. She is a wonderful young woman and gifted athlete – a direct result of her parenting. In my mind, she simply demonstrated poor decision-making as all young people do in their maturation process. Throughout the incident last year and every time I have see her or her parents moving forward, I gave them daps, talked to her about her future and supported her play on the court. The coach took issue with my actions and asserted that I was being hypocritical as a coach of our basketball program. I, in turn became defensive, and indicated that although I disagreed with her actions, she was a young African Nova Scotian and that I believed it was my responsibility as one of the few African Nova Scotian coaches in the province and a positive male figure, to make contact with all African Nova Scotian players and to verbalize my ongoing support. Additionally, I stated that because of who I was and what I believed in, my commitment to the African Nova Scotian community easily superceded my involvement with the basketball program. I genuinely care about my players and was upset about the incident but believe I have an obligation to the Afrikan community that trumps all other responsibilities outside of my family.

This conversation generated a lot of internal debate about conflicting communities of practice and identity. It demonstrated that although we all belong to various communities there is overlap, tension and disparities that create demarcations and choices which reflect what believe we in. Wenger discusses the concept of diversity within communities of practice and asserts” that mutual engagement is a kind of community that does not entail homogeneity. He also posits that a community of practice is neither a haven for togetherness nor an island of intimacy insulated from political and social relations.” (Wenger, 75) The head coach and I have very different belief systems and perspectives about race that color our view of the team and any obligations to team members vs members of the African Nova Scotian community. We consider ourselves a coaching unit and the players, coaches, parents, administration, opponents create a community of practice and not only are there disparities about basketball related issues but we enter this community with differing experiences and histories. I believe that everyone present during the conversation benefited from the spirited dispute and that these types of interactions contribute to the history and future of the community of practice.

This is nothing new to African Nova Scotians because we have been required to function in both our cultural communities and broader societal contexts. All people must negotiate this conflict but visible minorities within Canadian society are enculturated to manage this as a function of integration. I am only beginning to understand Wenger’s theory of learning and I anxiously await further classroom debate about this issue during our next scheduled lectures but the readings present some interesting ideas about how we learn and our interactions with others and it seems to have parallels with Afrocentrism and Nguzo Saba such as community, collective responsibility and participation and shared history.