Derived from an ethnography of workplace cultures and practices, this article rests on a critical application and augmentation of Communities of Practice theory in order to account for the ways in which the assessment of complex and heterogeneous workplace learning can be conceptualised. Exemplified through a series of vignettes constructed from the ethnographic data, the article foregrounds a variety of experiences of assessment–formal and informal–that characterise the trajectories of workers as participants within the Community of Practice. In addition to providing an account of a qualified and specialist workforce, this article also provides an exemplar for ethnographic research as a vehicle for exploring the assessment of workplace learning through Communities of Practice theory. This exploration is accomplished in two ways: firstly, through a critical use of certain paradigmatic elements of the theory; secondly, through the augmentation of the theory in order to address some of these past critiques whilst maintaining the epistemological coherence of the theory as a whole. The article concludes by arguing that Communities of Practice theory can be critically applied in order to generate ethnographic accounts that valorise the richness and complexity of the practices being assessed. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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