Exploring the hermeneutic foundations of university life: Deaf academics in a hybrid "community of practice"

This paper derives from a study of organizational socialization and induction in universities. It uses some of the data from that study to critique social practice theory and to further develop a model to illuminate the characteristics of professional knowledgeability and practices underpinning daily life in universities. This is done through the analysis of a case study of one unusual sub-departmental workgroup in an unchartered English university: one that comprises both Deaf and hearing academics. Using such a case study highlights factors that are less evident in hearing-only situations, displaying important features in exaggerated form which exist less palpably in most micro-social situations in universities. As a result it offers a suitable locus for the modelling of the processes underlying much which is taken for granted in universities' daily life. The structure of the paper is as follows: it outlines the broader study from which this is derived and makes some general comments about using "unusual" case studies. It then goes on to describe the characteristics of workgroups in university contexts through the case study example and to explore their theoretical corollaries. Finally the paper considers the implications for aspects of the model developed, particularly in terms of local leadership. (HRK/text adopted).