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Article
Publication date: 18 July 2019

Hooman Doosti, Kourosh Fathi Vajargah, Abasalt Khorasani and Saied Safaee Movahed

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze the dominant discourses of the workplace curriculum in Iranian organizations.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze the dominant discourses of the workplace curriculum in Iranian organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The research data were collected through in-depth interviews with 30 professionals working in the field of workplace curriculum in three groups of consultants, managers and experts who were selected purposefully and with a theoretical sampling strategy. To analyze the data, thematic analysis method was used. The themes are extracted and categorized into three phases, namely, descriptive coding, interpretive coding and determination of overarching theme. To validate the data, collaborative research technique, member checking and researcher review and, to make sure of findings’ reliability, reliability index between two coders were used.

Findings

Based on the findings, the kind of planner’s look at the workplace curriculum commonplaces will shape the nature of the curriculum and in terms of this look define and redefine the workplace curriculum discourses. Therefore, based on perceptions and attitudes in these areas, 11 different discourses are recognizable from the workplace curriculum. These include suppression discourse, justification discourse, ceremonial/ formality discourse, administrative discourse, engineering discourse, economical discourse, psychological discourse, partnership discourse, research discourse, developmental discourse and, finally, multi-cultural discourse.

Practical implications

The common goal of all learning professionals in the workplace is to play the role of a strategic partner, or at least be a good partner for the organization. One of the main challenges of learning and development professionals in the workplace is increase in integration and alignment between learning programs and developmental opportunities with business organization strategies. Achieving this important goal is possible when we have a proper understanding of the current situation and condition. Various situations and conditions are identified and described in the form of 11 discourses. If the authors do not look at the context and proper understanding of the main concepts – The main concepts of each discourse are put into a quill – in which any discourse that was created, the authors will not be able to make the appropriate strategies. A good doctor will hear and understand well before the first thing.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the few studies that offer a variety of discourses for the workplace curriculum.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2000

Stephen Billett

Reports and discusses the findings of an investigation that examined the efficacy of guided learning in the workplace. The investigation comprised the trialing of guided learning…

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Abstract

Reports and discusses the findings of an investigation that examined the efficacy of guided learning in the workplace. The investigation comprised the trialing of guided learning strategies and an analysis of the learning occurring in five workplaces over a period of six months. The guided learning strategies selected for investigation were questioning dialogues, the use of diagrams and analogies within an approach to workplace learning emphasising modelling and coaching. Throughout the investigation, critical incident interviews were conducted to identify the contributions to learning that had occurred during these periods, including those provided by the guided learning. As anticipated, it was found that participation in everyday work activities (the learning curriculum) was most valued and reported as making effective contributions to learning in the workplace. However, there was also correlation between reports of the frequency of guided learning interactions and their efficacy in resolving novel workplace tasks, and therefore learning. It is postulated that some of these learning outcomes could not have been secured by everyday participation in the workplace alone. Further, factors associated with the readiness of enterprise and those within it were identified as influencing the likely effectiveness of guided learning at work.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 12 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Ann Pegg and Martha Caddell

Understanding the relationship between learning and work is a key concern for educational researchers and policy makers at the local, national and international level. The way…

Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the relationship between learning and work is a key concern for educational researchers and policy makers at the local, national and international level. The way that learning and the economic environment are framed impacts upon policy and funding decisions and has significant implications for the HE sector. The purpose of this paper is to explore how internships have become a key site in which policy and funding mechanisms seek to address concerns about graduate employability and graduate skills in relation to Scottish national economic plans and perceived business needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from five years data generated from the Third Sector Internships Scotland programme, the authors adopt an approach to the analysis of policy and internship experiences based on a spatial perspective. The authors explore two spatial arenas in play; the conceptual space where discussion and policy making occur and the physical places of education and the workplace where learning takes place. The authors trace shifts in the policy and funding of higher education internship and work placement schemes and consider how these shifts respond to internship experiences of the workplace.

Findings

The authors argue that changes within the conceptual and physical spaces intersect and that identifying contrasts and overlaps helps them to focus on particular questions about how internships develop learning for students.

Originality/value

Taking the national approach within Scotland as a bounded case offers a unique opportunity to explore the ways in which internships have played an increasingly significant place as a pedagogic device operating at the borderlands between educational organisations and the physical spaces of employment.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 August 2017

Jan Gustafsson and Per-Olof Thång

This chapter deals with aspects of the overall criticism in regard to higher education and its growing discrepancy between theory and practice, and the meaning of problem-based…

Abstract

This chapter deals with aspects of the overall criticism in regard to higher education and its growing discrepancy between theory and practice, and the meaning of problem-based and authentic learning. The chapter is based on two specific cases that illustrate how higher education is organized in Sweden, and how education could be organized to correspond to the demands of authentic learning and a new form of knowledge production. Work-based learning started as an alternative to the ordinary three-year nursing program at a university college in the western part of Sweden. One main finding was that the students experienced the relation between the different types of teaching in the program as weak, and the different learning contexts in the program as being separate from each other. Higher Vocational Education (HVE) is a market-oriented vocational higher education program with close cooperation between an educational provider and working life. Work-based learning is a cornerstone of HVE, and authentic learning in a real-life setting constitutes a single course governed by its own syllabus. One main finding, was that students experienced a lack of progression in the work tasks and the subject content of the school-based education was not advanced enough. Workplace learning can serve as a structuring resource in education, but it can also be problematic because knowledge is inherent in routines and technologies.

Details

Work-Integrated Learning in the 21st Century
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-859-8

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 September 2002

Ross Bensley

813

Abstract

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 14 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Lisa Rowe, Daniel Moss, Neil Moore and David Perrin

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues and challenges facing employers as they manage degree apprentices in the workplace. It examines the relationship between…

12784

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues and challenges facing employers as they manage degree apprentices in the workplace. It examines the relationship between managers and apprentices undertaking a work-based degree. This research is of particular relevance at this time because of the UK Government’s initiative to expand the number of apprenticeships in the workplace to three million new starts by 2020, inevitably bringing a range of pressures to bear on employers (BIS, 2015). The purpose is to share early experiences of employer management of degree apprenticeships, and provide a range of recommendations to develop and improve employer and higher education institution (HEI) practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper combines desk research with qualitative data drawn from interviews with a range of cross-sector organisations to investigate the employer’s experience of developing the new degree apprenticeships. Data are explored inductively using thematic analysis in order to surface dominant patterns and considers the implications of findings upon current and emerging HEI and employer practice and research.

Findings

There were a number of key themes which emerged from the data collected. These included the need for effective, employer-led recruitment processes, careful management of expectations, sound HEI retention strategies, employer involvement and board-level motivators to ensure organisational benefits are derived from effectively situated workplace learning and a focus upon effective, empowering mentoring and support strategies.

Research limitations/implications

As degree apprenticeship standards and programmes are currently at the early stages of implementation, and opportunities, funding and resourcing are rapidly changing in the context of government policy, so too will employer appetite and strategies for supporting degree apprentices, along with apprentice behaviour. This means that additional findings, beyond those highlighted within this paper, may emerge in the near future.

Practical implications

There are a number of practical implications supporting managerial development and support of degree apprentices in the workplace from this research. These are reflected in the findings, and include the development of flexible and collaborative processes, resources, mentor training and networks.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first published accounts of the employers’ perspective of managing a degree apprenticeship within the new policy context in the UK. As a result, the work offers a unique insight into the emerging challenges and issues encountered by managers working with degree apprentices in the twenty-first century business environment.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2023

Wei Ching Lee and Bernard Cheng Yian Tan

The purpose of this study is to scrutinise individual learning strategies in their workplace when they were experiencing digital innovation. Moreover, the respective enablers and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to scrutinise individual learning strategies in their workplace when they were experiencing digital innovation. Moreover, the respective enablers and challenges of each category of strategies were explored to conceptualise supporting features needed in the digital learning environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a qualitative inquiry to understand employees’ workplace learning strategies and the respective enablers, and challenges in each category of strategies. Twenty employees across different industries were interviewed, and a two-cycle inductive coding analysis was adopted to identify the categories of learning strategies.

Findings

Four categories of workplace learning strategies were identified: self-driven, social-leveraged, enterprise-oriented and information and technology-enhanced (IT-enhanced) strategies. Enablers and challenges of each category were also presented in this study.

Practical implications

The findings provide insights for individuals to establish a repertoire of learning strategies. The inadequate use of IT-enhanced strategies is additionally addressed.

Originality/value

This study examined workplace learning strategies in the context of digital innovation. Based on the empirical findings and existing literature, this study proposes a framework with the supporting features for a digital learning environment.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Buddhini Amarathunga

This study intends to conceptually and technically examine the literature on work integrated learning (WIL) through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. The…

Abstract

Purpose

This study intends to conceptually and technically examine the literature on work integrated learning (WIL) through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. The present study addresses eight distinct research questions: (1) descriptive features of the extracted literature on WIL, (2) publications trends and thematic evolution in the field of WIL, (3) the most relevant and high-impact sources on WIL, (4) the most global cited articles on WIL, (5) the most relevant and high-impact authors on WIL, (6) the most relevant countries on WIL, (7) outcomes of Bradford’s Law of Scattering and Lotka’s Law of Scientific Productivity and (8) trending research avenues for future studies in the field of WIL.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study employed systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis mapping techniques to analyze 1,295 articles extracted from the Scopus database. The analysis utilized Biblioshiny software and VOSviewer software as the primary tools.

Findings

The findings reveal that WIL constitutes a steadily expanding subject discipline, showcasing a notable 23.28% annual growth in scientific production spanning from 2002 to 2023 (July). Australia, South Africa and Canada emerged as the most productive countries within the field of WIL, as evidenced by their cumulative scientific production. The thematic map of keyword analysis suggests several burgeoning avenues for future researchers in the WIL domain, including education, reflective practices, curriculum, employability skills, international students, learning and self-efficacy.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the WIL discourse by providing a comprehensive literature review. The present study’s findings hold significance for graduates, universities, employers, the higher education industry, policymakers, regulators and the broader community.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Jenny Asher

The purpose of this article is to examine the increasing number of opportunities for pre‐16 young people at schools in England to become involved in work related and work based…

1345

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to examine the increasing number of opportunities for pre‐16 young people at schools in England to become involved in work related and work based programmes and to look at the key drivers of change and their impact.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is descriptive, covering current trends and also uses a case study example.

Findings

The conclusions of the article are that there is an upward increase in work‐based learning which is likely to continue significantly in the immediate and medium term. The article also highlights the increasing importance of employer engagement and understanding of the new initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

This article has been written from the perspective of Education Business Partnerships, who act in a brokerage capacity for schools, colleges and businesses. It is not based on statistical analysis directly from schools.

Practical implications

The increased flexibility offered to schools, and the possibility of varied contexts for learning, means that there will be a greater scope for schools to meet students’ learning needs.

Originality/value

This article will be of especial interest to any colleagues and employers involved in post‐16 provision of work based learning in terms of progression issues.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 47 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2004

David Thornton Moore

The term “curriculum” has been used almost exclusively in educational circles to refer to plans for the conduct of learning lessons in school classrooms. This paper argues that…

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Abstract

The term “curriculum” has been used almost exclusively in educational circles to refer to plans for the conduct of learning lessons in school classrooms. This paper argues that the concept can be productively expanded to describe learning processes in workplaces, including those in which learning is not the intentional outcome of an interaction. The article first reviews conventional conceptions of curriculum, and then draws on theories of cognition and learning base in phenomenology, symbolic interactionism and situated learning to identify some of the features of a naturally‐occurring curriculum in the workplace: the socio‐technical and pragmatic elements of the knowledge used in the work environment, the classification and framing of knowledge‐use, and the extent to which participants are expected to use the various forms of knowledge. That is, curriculum is essentially a socially‐constructed ordering of the knowledge‐use in a social context. These concepts are applied to two settings in which high school interns were supposed to be learning something: a history museum and a veterinary clinic.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 16 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 10000