Lines of Practice: A Practice-Centered Theory of Interest Relationships

Abstract

Based on a three-year-long ethnography of the hobby of model rocketry, I present a practice-centered theory of interest relationships—that is, the pattern of long-term, self-motivated engagement in open-ended practices that has been theorized under the concept of individual interests. In contrast to extant theories of individual interests, in which persistent engagement is pegged to a topic-specific relationship (e.g., a model rocketeer has an interest in the topic of rocketry, broadly conceived), I propose that persistence in a practice of interest is best understood in terms of what I call lines of practice. A line of practice is a distinctive, recurrent pattern of long-term engagement in a person's practice participation. Any line of practice entails a set of closely interrelated activities that are defined by two structural elements: preferences and conditions of practice. Preferences refer to the deep, long-term goals, values, and beliefs that a person develops in the practice, whereas conditions of practice refer to the constraints and affordances impinging on the person's practice (e.g., socioeconomic status and the norms of practice sites). A line of practice can thus be seen in the distinctive ways that a person's preferences are attuned, over the long haul, to specific conditions of practice, and how preferences cluster to form any single line. I show how persistent engagement can be understood in terms of the birth, death, and changes to a person's lines of practice and describe how this formulation broadens current theories of individual interests.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In developing this research, I benefited immensely from conversations with Andy diSessa, Rogers Hall, and Geoff Saxe. Discussions with members of the Boxer Research Group at Berkeley—including Andy diSessa, Nicole Gillespie, Rafael Granados, Orit Parnafes, and Eric Eslinger—kept me focused and productive throughout all phases of the research. I thank two anonymous reviewers and Leona Schauble for their helpful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this article, as well as Leona's great editorial assistance. I give special thanks to the subjects who donated their time to this research, especially David, Ervin, Bill, and George, as well as the organizational personnel in the rocketry clubs that I studied. This work was partly supported by a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Spencer Foundation, to which I am greatly indebted. The views espoused here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Foundation.

Notes

The following conventions are used for transcribing participants’ talk (adapted from Hall & Stevens, 1995):

… Ellipses show pauses of less than three seconds

:: Extending vowel sound (e.g., No::)

(()) Author's comments or description of activity

[ Beginning of overlapping talk

unint Unintelligible talk

caps EMPHATIC talk

There are two nationwide rocketry associations. The National Association of Rocketry (NAR) is the largest and has chapters throughout the country. Tripoli congregates rocketeers who fly very high-powered rockets (i.e., up to J designation).

To fly H (or higher) motors, however, one needs to be certified. Briefly, certification requires passing a multiple-choice test (taken on spot) on model rocketry basics and successfully flying and retrieving a rocket equipped with an H (or higher) motor. None of the subjects in this study is certified, although George aimed to be so one day.