Transforming practices through social learning: change and stability, collectivity and materiality

Despite arguments that learning processes are drivers of sustainability transitions, the dynamics of how learning processes take place in everyday life and influence practices remain unclear. An analytical framework for exploring these dynamics is developed in this article. I argue to build the framework on basis of theoretical concepts that shed light on the role of collectivity, materiality, change and stability in learning processes and practices. Transactional learning theory, the community of practice approach and social practice theory are concepts with complementary explanatory power regarding these aspects. Transactional learning theory serves as a starting point to understand how change can come about in everyday practices. Practice theory provides an understanding of the stability and material embeddedness of practices. The community of practice approach is drawn upon to better understand learning in groups. I illustrate the applicability of the conceptual contribution by an exemplary secondary analysis of empirical data.