After discussing meaning, Wenger reviews the impact of a community of practice on the negotiation of meaning. He states together with meaning, the community interacts to promote learning. Thus, communities can either hinder or assist the learning process. This is an important implication, because it yields some explanation of why two classes composed of students with the same educational ability, the same instructor, and the same course content may have two opposite educational outcomes. Wenger defines a community of practice and its effect on the acquisition of meaning.
Joint enterprise is a process through which people work together toward a common goal.
According to Wenger, these enterprises create mutual accountability, which plays a central role in members attempt to or neglect to seek new meanings. The final dimension is a shared repertoire, which represents the common resources that members of the community use to negotiate meaning. The second segment of Communities of Practice examines the social theory of identity and its relationship to learning. Thus, identity helps to keep this tension alive. When discussing tension, Wenger employs many of the same concepts that underlie legitimate peripheral participation.