Support informal workplace learning by recognising and rendering visible the informal networks through which workers actually learn¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (4 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article argues that informal learning is often not acknowledged as learning within organisations, being regarded as 'part of the job', and that "there is value in rendering learning visible so that it can be consciously deployed in enhancing work and the quality of work life". Organisations seeking to utilise informal learning more effectively should map and recognise the peers, informal networks and communities through which learning actually flows, rather than relying solely on designated supervisors or trainers.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Requires understanding of formally unmediated learning, since the authors assume that only through such understanding can secure understandings of mediated learning develop.

Constraints¶

• The article does not aim to address normative questions of the value or efficacy of such workplace learning; it contributes to understanding unprompted learning rather than prescribing interventions.

Target Learners¶

• Adult workers in organisational workgroups

Target Learning Goals¶

• Informal learning from peers and networks at work, including mastering organisational processes, negotiating the political, and dealing with the atypical

Claims¶

• A common learning pattern: workers first consult documentary sources, then nearby peers, then distant peers or more senior roles, then supervisors [+M]
• The range of communities of practice and opportunities for informal learning available to an employee increases with seniority in a large organisation [+M]
• Workers in the studied workgroups tended to manage their learning needs to minimise their supervisors' involvement, with supervisors not the contacts of first resort for learning [+M]
• Informal learning in the studied workgroups clustered into three areas: mastery of organisational processes, negotiating the political, and dealing with the atypical [+M]
• Workgroups in the study could generally not be regarded as communities of practice, though subsets operated as communities of practice for specific issues [~M]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• David Boud and Heather Middleton. (2003). Learning from Others at Work: Communities of Practice and Informal Learning. Journal of Workplace Learning, 15, 5, 194-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665620310483895