Investigating learning through work
Investigating learning through work, managed by Dr Clive Chappell, is one of nine projects comprising the national Consortium Research Program, Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future.
Two implications from the research to date:
- RTOs may need to reconsider the way they do Professional Development
- VET is not a linear, single, homogenous set of operating RTOs but is complex and multifaceted on many fronts and therefore diagnosing linear, singular solutions is not viable for the whole sector.
What is it that makes a work environment a learning environment? For several years now Clive Chappell has been involved in researching exactly this question – discovering what it is about a workplace that facilitates employee learning.
Drawing on research findings from within and outside Australia, Chappell has identified common characteristics that enhance or impede learning within workplaces. Working on the Consortium project Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future Clive and his team synthesised these characteristics into four distinct categories:
Impediments or enablers of learning at work
1 Managerial environment
managerial support for learning, managerial rewards and recognition, useful managerial feedback, degree to which organisational knowledge is made available
2 Job structure or design
clarity of work objectives, degree of exposure to change, extent and quality of feedback provided
3 Work process environment
understanding operational context, understanding of business objectives, experience in working in different areas of the business
4 Social environment
exposure to professional contacts outside the organisation, value the organisation places on work of the individual
A survey of nine RTOs and 50 employees across Australia was used to test the significance of these factors. The results particularly show the strong influence of managerial environment and job design in the creation and maintenance of a learning environment. (The work process environment and social interaction environment are largely dependent on the first two characteristics )
Rather than using traditional methods of professional development to keep our workforce current, perhaps it is time our own workplaces became ‘learning conducive’.
Clive Chappell
Management for learning
For effective learning, leadership should be strong but not autocratic – remaining open to discussion. It clearly articulates purpose and direction but resists the desire to formalise. Interactions are live and informal, encouraging effective knowledge exchange. (It is worth noting that the use of more technologies can have an isolating effect in this regard, so a degree of sophistication in the adoption of these technologies is necessary.)
Designing jobs for learning
For favourable learning conditions, jobs should be designed to be:
- responsive to client feedback
- non-routine, and complicated
- requiring workers to negotiate with others in a fast-changing environment
The implication for teachers is to keep the focus on quality interactions with the constantly changing flow of students.
A new tool and approach for learning and development
These findings about workplace learning challenge traditional approaches to professional development. Providing training to ‘fill the gap’ is only one response. Others include challenging job design, and management approaches and skills.
Learning and Development Managers need to look holistically at the workplace as a learning environment, seeing the whole business process and suggesting whole of business responses to diagnosed needs and problems.
Producing a tool to assist Learning and Development Managers to diagnose problem areas is the next phase in this project. For this purpose, the original survey tool is being redesigned and re-trialled in the RTO environment. Learning and Development Managers will then be able to conduct their own local research, find the ‘hot spots’ and analyse where best to focus effort. As well as analysing what is working, and what isn’t, they can strategically see beyond the ‘training solution’ to possibilities that are not traditional professional development answers.
The aim of the tool is to create jobs that facilitate the best learning environment. Its focus is not individuals, but job design.
See also
Investigating learning through work for more detail on this project
