¶ … Learning at Work
Questions I have from this reading. Why were the trade teachers so adamant they did not learn from each other? Did staff change in the three years it took to complete the study, and did that have an affect on the study? Could this change the way employers view personal exchanges in the workplace, and how can this study be distributed to more employers to make a difference? This is an interesting article about everyday learning in the workplace, and what it says about social relationships, work relationships, and how we all learn. It is also a very interesting look into educators, and how they view learning. Ultimately, it shows that people do learn many valuable lessons in the workplace, and that more workplace learning should be encouraged on the employer's part.
It is not surprising that even in an educational environment, people felt more free to express themselves and discuss topics when they were in a different space than the workplace. The study discusses break rooms and tea rooms, and how they are "hot spots" for discussion and everyday learning, and this makes sense. People are less inhibited in these areas, and they are engaging in a more social atmosphere, and so, they are more open to new information, and more open to sharing information, as well.
The study also discusses some of the resistance to the suggestion that people are learning in the workplace, such as the two trade teachers who did not recognize their carpooling discussions as learning models at all, even though they were instructors themselves. The study points out the incongruities of learning, and illustrates there is no "perfect" learning situation. In fact, some situations that might not seem conducive to learning may actually be some of the best places to learn, and more employers could get better results from their employees if they recognized this and gave more attention and reward to everyday learning on the job.
