Current Practices In Workplace And Organizational Learning

The central assumption that guides this book is that research and practice about learning at the workplace has recently lost its critical edge. This book explores what has happened to workplace learning and organizational learning and studies what has replaced it. In addition, the book discusses to what extend there are reasons to revitalize it. Today, themes such as ‘innovation’, ‘co-creation’ and ‘knowledge sharing’ seem to have become preferred and referred to as theoretical fields as well as fields of practice. In several chapters of this book it is argued that the critical power of learning could be regained by starting a new discussion of how these new fields of practice can be substantiated by topics such as learning arrangements, learning mechanisms, and learning strategies. Hence, the aim of this book is to both advance and recapture our knowledge of learning in today’s increasingly complex world of work and organizing. The contributions in this work do so by revisiting classic research on workplace and organizational learning and discussing how insights from this body of literature evokes new meaning. It sets the stage for new agendas and rethinks current practices that are entangled in activities such as innovation, co-creation, knowledge sharing or other currently widespread fields of practice.

This edited volume aims to evaluate the promises of workplace learning by addressing the following related questions: What are current developments in theory that informs workplace learning research? How can learning in the workplace be measured? What is the impact of various organizational settings (e.g., team-based work and call centres) on workplace learning? Which are the promising new avenues for research? And which research-based recommendations can be made to boost learning opportunities in various work contexts? The topic is conceptualized as an interaction between the individual and the work context, as a combination of individual and collective processes, as a link between cognition and action, and as a political process. With a wide array of contributions from academics such as Stephen Billet, Tara Fenwick and Victoria Marsick, this volume will be an important research and reference tool with all those academics and practitioners who are interested in the field of human resource development. Targeted at researchers, (post) graduate students, and reflective practitioners and managers interested in the area, "Workplace Learning" provides must-read material for anyone wanting to advance the theory, research, and/or practice of learning in the workplace.

The volume comprises a variety of research approaches that seek to explore and understand employees’ learning and development through and for work. Working life reveals challenges through technological, economic and societal development that can only rudimentarily be addressed by formal education and training. Workplace learning becomes more and more important for employees and enterprises to successfully cope with these challenges. Workplace learning is a steadily growing field of educational research but it lacks so far a scholastic canon – there is rather a diversity of research approaches. This volume reflects this diversity by bringing together researchers from different countries and different theoretical backgrounds, presenting their current research on topics that all are relevant for understanding presages, processes and outcomes of workplace learning. Hence, this volume is of relevance for researchers as well as practitioners in the field and policy makers.

This book analyzes the nature and requirements of workplace e-learning based on relevant theories such as adult learning, community of practice, organizational learning, and the systems thinking. By integrating considerations on organization, pedagogy and technology, a performance-oriented e-learning framework is then presented, where performance measurement is used to: 1) clarify and link organizational goals and individual learning needs, 2) direct learning towards work performance; and 3) support social communication and knowledge sharing and management in the workplace. E-learning and related emerging technologies have been increasingly used by organizations to enhance the skills and performance of knowledge workers. However, most of the efforts tend to focus on the technology, ignoring the organizational context and relevant pedagogies of workplace learning. Many e-learning projects in the workplace settings fail to connect learning with work performance and align organizational goals and individual needs in a systemic way. Moreover, there is insufficient effort on externalizing and transferring tacit knowledge embedded in practices and expertise, based on which to maintain and expand knowledge assets for sustainable development. The book presents a systemic theoretical framework, design principles, and implementation methods, together with a case study to demonstrate the use and effectiveness of the performance-oriented approach to workplace e-learning, in which organizational, social and individual perspectives are integrated in a systemic way. The performance-oriented approach to workplace e-learning enables self-regulated and socially constructed learning activities to be clearly motivated and driven towards the goal of performance improvement, and makes learning at the organizational, social and individual levels integrated in a systemic way. The effects of individual and social learning support and organizational learning environment on employees’ motivation to use performance-oriented e-learning are also investigated.

As a workplace learning professional, what do you need to be able to do to keep up with a fast-changing industry and move ahead? You'll find all the answers in a single source - Learning at Work, the third edition of Training for Organizations, first published in 1996.

Traditionally, organizations and researchers have focused on learning that occurs through formal training and development programs. However, the realities of today’s workplace suggest that it is difficult, if not impossible, for organizations to rely mainly on formal programs for developing human capital. This volume offers a broad-based treatment of autonomous learning to advance our understanding of learner-driven approaches and how organizations can support them. Contributors in industrial/organizational psychology, management, education, and entrepreneurship bring theoretical perspectives to help us understand autonomous learning and its consequences for individuals and organizations. Chapters consider informal learning, self-directed learning, learning from job challenges, mentoring, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), organizational communities of practice, self-regulation, the role of feedback and errors, and how to capture value from autonomous learning. This book will appeal to scholars, researchers, and practitioners in psychology, management, training and development, and educational psychology.

`The introduction chaper by Mark Easterby-Smith and Luis Araujo introduces the reader to the unresolved issues with which the field is still grappling today.... All in all, this is an interesting and useful book for both researcher and manager alike. First, and perhaps most importantly, the book incorporates multiple perspectives on learning - the psychological, sociological and the philosophical... Second, the book is neither purely theory driven, nor purely empirically driven. Theoretical contributions are complemented by empirical studies which help to illustrate the application of the theoretical contructs. I suspect that this would be of immense value to the practicing manager. Finally, the book provides a critical commentary on the state of the field in a nice compact way which should enhance its value to scholars in this area... a book which is both useful and interesting′ - Organisational Studies `[M]ost importantly, the book incorporates multiple perspectives on learning - the psychological, sociological and the philosohical... provides a critical commentary on the state of the field in a nice, compact way which should enhance its value to scholars′ - Organization Studies `A valuable resource for academics and practitioners in management and corporate strategy, as well as those involved in mangement training and development′ - European Foundation for Management Development `This is a particularly interesting and useful work because it combines some chapters which deal primarily in concepts or indeed theories, and others which describe the experiences of trying to carry out the practices involved in creating both/either organisational learning and/or the learning organisation′ -Industrial and Commercial Training ′The editors′ overall assessment is that there has been insufficient dialogue between the two camps of action research and theorizing.... As a contribution to mapping this divided house, the text is an apt illustration of these problems. The editor′s overview is of interest...′ - Stephen Gibb, University of Strathclyde, MCB University Press The debates surrounding concepts of `organizational learning′ and the `learning organization′ receive a welcome synthezis in this book. International experts explore the links between the two fields of enquiry, which hitherto, despite their intersecting concerns, have represented separate constituencies, literatures and perspectives. The book provides a much-needed integrated framework of concepts and theories which draws on current insights from management cognition, theories of knowledge and learning, management practice and work psychology.

This book is an expansion and major updating of the highly successful Theories of Learning for the Workplace, first published in 2011. It offers fascinating overviews into some of the most important theories of learning and how they are practically applied to organisational or workplace learning. Each chapter is co-authored by an academic researcher and an expert in business or industry, providing practical case studies combined with a thorough analysis of theories and models of learning. Key figures in education, psychology, and cognitive science present a comprehensive range of conceptual perspectives on learning theory, offering a wealth of new insights to support innovative research directions and innovation in learning, training, and teaching for the upcoming post-Covid-19 decades. Containing overviews of theories from Argyris, Decuyper, Dochy & Segers, Engeström, Ericsson, Kolb, Lave & Wenger, Mezirow, Raes & Boon, Schön, Senge, and Van den Bossche, this book discusses: Learning of employees in the digital era Workplace learning High impact learning Informal learning Adult learning Learning & development didactics (L&D) Reflective practice Transformational learning Experiential learning Deliberate practice Communities of practice Team learning Organisational learning Expansive learning Combining theory and practice, this book will be essential reading for all trainee and practising educational psychologists, organisational psychologists, researchers, and students in the field of lifelong learning, educational policy makers, students, researchers, and teachers in vocational and higher education. It will also be of interest to those involved in training trainers and teacher training.