Hermeneutic Reconstruction of the Role of Community in the Learning Ecology

Community is often treated as an external support for schools, which makes its role in learning ecology conceptually peripheral and weakly integrated into explanations of learning across contexts. This study aims to reconstruct the role of community within the learning ecology so that it is positioned as a constitutive dimension of learning alongside school and family. The study used a systematic literature review of 62 publications, followed by narrative meta-analysis and philosophical-hermeneutic interpretation within the Triad Human Learning Ecology framework. The results show a school-centered tendency in the literature, while community is more frequently framed as contextual support than as an epistemic site of learning. Keyword co-occurrence mapping indicates a dominant cluster around school learning, with family engagement bridging toward community participation, which is most strongly linked to authentic learning. The synthesis further identifies three recurring community roles: relational infrastructure for participation, co-design through boundary-crossing joint work, and a normative horizon shaping educational meaning and purpose. The study concludes that learning ecology should conceptualize community as internal to cross-context learning systems and translate this into designs that strengthen participation pathways, co-design routines, and coherence across school, family, community contexts.