Until recently the phenomena of workplace learning as individual and social processes has been approached as separate entities. Thus, too little attention has been paid to those intermediate processes which connect individual and social processes of practice and learning. In this study, the intermediate processes of individual and social practices of workplace learning are investigated.

The aim of this study is to describe an innovative learning space which will be created through the linkage between individual and social learning taking place in various working contexts. The study will address the following questions: 1) which are the processes of individual and social learning which enhance innovative learning in the workplace? 2) Which are the mediating processes promoting productive and innovative learning processes at work? 3) How an innovative learning space will be created through the linkage between individual and social processes in the workplace? The study will be accomplished within an ethnographic framework. The empirical data will be based on observations and interviews conducted in various organisations and among occupations such as design engineers, doctors in surgery and carpenters. Various analytical tools will be utilised, including ethnographic, narrative, and ethnomethodological analysis. In addition, supplementary methodological tools, to answer the research questions, will be developed.

The results will contribute to the need to deepen our understanding of the interdependence of individual and social learning processes. Consequently, in this study, on the bases of empirical findings focus will be put on intermediate processes of learning and on theory-building from inside the inter-disciplinary field of workplace learning.

The aim of this poster is to present the beginning reseach project in which a mediatory nature of individual and social learning processes are examined. The study continues the work done previously in the PhD work of the researcher (see Collin, 2005). The empirical objective of this study is to explore how an innovative learning space will be created through the linkage between individual and social learning processes in the workplace. Ethnographic framework will be utilized as a main research strategy. The research design, aims, methodology, preliminary results and future challenges, theoretical and methodological, are presented.

Until recently the phenomena of workplace learning as individual and social processes has been approached as separate entities. However, it has been argued that learning should be seen as a holistic and ubiquitous process which takes place through normal work practices (see e.g. Beckett & Hager 2002; Billett 2006; Hodkinson et al. 2004). Furthermore, individual and social agency and structure can be regarded as bound up with each other, and hence without real significance as distinct issues. Suggestions have been made regarding how professional development and learning can be modelled, considering social and individual aspects as occurring simultaneously and as intertwined (see Billett 2004; Järvinen & Poikela 2001). However, less attention has been paid to those intermediate processes which connect individual and social processes of practice and learning. In this study, the intermediate processes of individual and social practices of workplace learning are investigated.

The aim and main research questions

The aim of this study is to describe an innovative learning space which will be created through the linkage between individual and social learning taking place in various working contexts. The study will address the following questions: 1) which are the processes of individual and social learning which enhance innovative learning in the workplace? 2) Which are the mediating processes promoting productive and innovative learning processes at work? 3) How an innovative learning space will be created through the linkage between individual and social processes in the workplace? The research problems will be addressed from the following perspectives: from the perspective of the community and specifically group or team practices and learning, from the perspectives of individual workers and their experiences and life-long work histories which determine the mediating processes of learning  and from the perspectives of the mediating processes, such as on-the-job learning, collective participation, and identification of individual worker as a member of community of practice.

Data collection and analysis

The study will be accomplished within an ethnographic framework. The empirical data will be based on observations and interviews conducted in various organisations and among occupations such as design engineers, doctors in surgery and carpenters. As the intermediate aspects of learning has so far been failed to be harnessed, more detailed methods for capturing context sensitive process-oriented data will be developed and experimented. For instance collecting learning diaries or learning stories will be experimented in order to have an insight into employees’ own experience and meanings given to learning. Also stimulated recall interviews will be used to supplement the observations. Various analytical tools will be utilised, including ethnographic, narrative, and ethnomethodological analysis. In addition, supplementary methodological tools, to answer the research questions, will be developed. By combining the various data analysis methods more holistic picture of both individual and social side of learning may be captured. Thus, the aim is to build a holistic methodological model for analysing the mediating processes of learning in the workplace.

Preliminary results and theoretical importance

The poster will present preliminary results of the research project. The results will contribute to the need to deepen our understanding of the interdependence of individual and social learning processes. So far, in the studies conducted in the area of workplace learning, the fundamental focus has been remained either on individual or social processes of learning neglecting their mediating nature (see Fenwick 2006). In addition, theoretical foundations are mostly thin including only a few generalizations accumulating from in different disciplines. Consequently, in this study, on the bases of empirical findings focus will be put on intermediate processes of learning and on theory-building from inside the inter-disciplinary field of workplace learning.

References

Beckett, D. & Hager, P. 2002. Life, Work and Learning. Practice in postmodernity. New York: Routledge.

Billett, S. 2006. Relational interdependence between social and individual agency in work and working life. Mind, Culture and Activity 12 (4). In press.

Billett, S. 2004. Learning through work: workplace participatory practices. Teoksessa H. Rainbird, A Fuller & A. Munro (Toim.) Workplace Learning in Context. London: Routledge, 109–125.

Collin, K. 2005. Experience and Shared Practice – Design Engineers’ Learning at Work. Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research 261. University of Jyväskylä.

Fenwick, T. 2006. Tidying the territory: questioning terms and purposes in work-learning research. Journal of Workplace Learning 18 (5), 265 – 278.

Hodkinson, P., Hodkinson, H., Evans, K., Kersh, N., Fuller, A., Unwin, L. & Senker, P. 2004. The significance of individual biography in workplace learning. Studies in the Education of Adults 36 (1), 6–25.

Järvinen, A. & Poikela, E. 2001. Modelling reflective and contextual learning at work. Journal of

Workplace Learning 13 (7/8), 282–289.