Exploring the Meaning of ‘Learning’ in Learning Communities: Focusing on Jean-Luc-Nancy's Theory of the “La communauté désœuvrée”

Purpose: This study re-examines the meaning of “learning” within learning communities, which are emerging as core units in the lifelong learning system during an era of profound transformation. Method: Drawing on Jean-Luc Nancy’s “La communauté désœuvrée” as theoretical framework, it reveals that learning in a community transcends singular purpose or outcome-driven utility, unfolding as an open-ended process of meaning-making through relational encounters and mutual exposure among heterogeneous beings. Results: Employing Nancy’s concepts of ‘désœuvrement’, ‘exposition’, and ‘clinamen’, the study demonstrates learning is not confined to productive value or finalized results, but emerges as a dynamic, verb-like event incessantly reconstituted through encounters and relations within the community. Conclusion: Interpreting the “learning” of learning communities as a field of relationality, singularity, and emergent meaning among members, the study suggests new directions for future discourse.