This study focused on the role of and the relationship between the traditional apprenticeship system and cooperative education in British Columbia (BC) as experiential strategies to facilitate the transition from school to work. A literature review traced the conceptual foundations, origins and evolution of apprenticeship training and cooperative education and their interaction in the training of apprentices. Thereafter, the provision of the school-to-work strategies in Canada on federal and provincial levels with special reference to British Columbia was described. The literature indicated that apprenticeship has remained the principal route for the training of skilled blue-collar workers. However, the relevance of apprenticeship has been questioned. Although the apprenticeship system has not essentially changed in BC, the system has become increasingly regulated. Industry, advocates of more flexible training delivery methods and the BC Provincial Government through Bill 34 have challenged apprenticeship training. Cooperative education originated as a result of individual thinking, a changing society and system of post-secondary education linked to industry's training needs. It has grown in number, application, fields of study and constituency and its mode of operation has been modified to meet institutional needs. There are strong indications that the cooperative model has been an effective educational model, particularly in training apprentices within the traditional apprenticeship system. Thus, a need arose to explore the level of satisfaction of employers with cooperative education as a valid methodology to train apprentices within the context of the new apprenticeship training model in British Columbia. An empirical investigation combining quantitative and qualitative approaches conducted in two phases was conducted. A survey with a random sample of employees and semi-structured interviews with a small sample of employees selected by purposeful sampling were undertaken to explore perceptions and experiences of employers who have been involved with both training methods during the last four years. The research design is described including the selection of participants, data gathering and analysis. The main findings emerging from the data are presented and integrated with the findings of the literature. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for practice and with recommendations for future research. / Educational Studies / (D.Ed. (Comparative Education)

This thesis is a user study within library and information science on participatory practices of a professional group in work activity. This has been investigated only to a minor extent in previous library and information science research. The qualitative empirical focus alternates between physicians‟ engagements in work practice and workplace learning within patient care. The overall research problem was to learn how people in workplaces interacted with information that was embedded, intricately intertwined, and tightly bound to the ongoing routines of their everyday work. This thesis aims at understanding information practices of professionals in occupational settings as exemplified by a team of physicians in a Nigerian teaching hospital. In this thesis, the focus was on the collective work activity, and the specific goals identified include how physicians interact and make meaning in the context of the social activities in the workplace, how professionals individually or collectively gather, understand, produce, share and use information, and how workplace learning influences information practices. Information practices are viewed as sociocultural practices that occur inside other practices. The thesis focuses on a nuanced, contextualized understanding of the interplay between the participating actors in activity, the activity per se, and the intermediary role of tools and artefacts. The epistemological point of departure is the sociocultural perspective that emphasizes the dynamic interdependence of the individual with the social and collective development focusing on mediation through tools and artefacts in cultural, institutional, and historical situations. I have chosen cultural-historical activity theory and the practice theories to analyse the dynamic processes in the context of patient care. Their underlying principles guided the empirical study, facilitating extrapolations and illustrations in the analysis. The cultural-historical activity theory was used to understand contextual issues that influence information practices in work activity: the object and subject of activity, division of labour, rules and norms, community, tools and artefacts, as well as the activity system itself and the hierarchical structure of the activity. Theories and concepts employed from a practice perspective on learning were considered useful for understanding the participatory modes in workplace and the influence of social learning communities on diverse information processes. In so doing, the study strives to provide a holistic understanding of information practices, workplace learning, and the relationships between them.The empirical data was gathered through a qualitative case study that lasted over a period of two years. Direct observation was the dominant data collection technique 5 used throughout the preliminary and main empirical studies to capture physicians‟ information practices and experiences. The observation focused on the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT) team‟s encounters with patients; the interactions they had amongst themselves, and events and situations surrounding patient care. During the main study, other data collection techniques were employed alongside the observation method. In-depth open-ended interviews were conducted with 17 physicians and 9 non-physicians who were selected to provide rich and varied descriptions of the phenomena under study. The interview time totalled at 1,535 minutes. Physical artefacts were another data collection technique employed: 30 patients‟ medical records were assessed during the empirical study. Finally, informal interactions in the research setting were an additional data collection technique used continuously throughout the two empirical periods. The results were analyzed through a combination of inductive and deductive methods of analysis. There are four parts to the empirical results in this thesis. In the first, contextual elements that showed how work environment can be an influencing factor in the information practices of a professional group are described from the perspective of cultural historical activity theory. In the second part, the nature of information access in the real-world information environment was portrayed. It was found that information sources and strategies contributed to the overarching goal of restoring patient health to normalcy. The information sources and strategies were also found useful for mediating the information environment both subjectively and intersubjectively. An equally important result concerns the authority issues related to information sources and strategies. In the third part, available tools and artefacts were presented as useful information aids that also played a mediating role. Tools were categorised into physical tools and language. Language was categorized according to the social situations or classes of speakers. The case notes were seen as useful artefact and occupied a central niche in the studied work activity. These tools and artefacts enabled affordances around which social practices were built on in the work activities. In the last part of the results, various information practices that mirror the participatory practices rather than those of isolated individuals are highlighted. Six dimensions made up and covered the most vital spectrum of the information processing: information gathering, meaning making, information sharing, information use, reading, and documentation. Furthermore, the study revealed that learning took place simultaneously with the work activity and that it influenced information practices at the same time. / <p>Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science at the University of Borås to be publicly defended on Friday 19 October 2012 at 13.00 in lecture room D 211, University of Borås, Allégatan 1, Borås.</p>

During the 2000s, the former UK Government introduced the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) in an attempt to increase the relevance of qualifications and the qualification level of the UK labour force (HMSO 2006). However views about the value of the QCF and qualifications generally are contested. Through longitudinal case study research, the thesis finds a vocational purpose for qualifications that supports a culture of continuous improvement. This results in models that contribute to thinking about vocational learning and the role of qualifications, and provide a conceptional bridge between paradigms of workplace learning and concepts of organisational excellence. The thesis explores common understanding of learning and skills to explain issues relating to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and the QCF. In particular the thesis identifies significant implementation problems for the QCF due to differing ontological and epistemological understanding of the meaning of skills and their measurement, and requirements for different delivery and assessment models. In addition, the study identifies that rapidly changing organisational arrangements and regulation hinder the establishment of a more diverse and inclusive QCF. The thesis concludes that the QCF best fits Hager’s (2002) concept of learning that encompasses learning of many different kinds. Also the QCF is valuable as a flexible framework that establishes a degree of order in complex, rapidly changing learning environments. However the qualifications require broadly specified assessment criteria, and links to external communities of practice and associated learning packages.

Les tendances de la participation à la formation des adultes au Canada n’ont pas évolué depuis des décennies, malgré les nouvelles influences économiques qui ont stimulé l’augmentation et la diversification permanente de la formation des employés et malgré les initiatives plus nombreuses en faveur de l’apprentissage des employés en milieu de travail. Il est donc nécessaire de ne plus se contenter d’étudier les prédicteurs de la formation déjà connus dans les profils des employés et des employeurs. Il est, en revanche, indispensable d’étudier les antécédents de la participation des employés à la formation, y compris les aspects et les étapes du processus qui la précède. Cette étude porte sur les antécédents de la participation des employés aux formations dans un important collège communautaire urbain en Ontario. Afin de préparer le recueil des données, un cadre théorique a été élaboré à partir du concept d’expression de la demande. Ce cadre implique l’existence d’un processus qui comporte plusieurs étapes, au cours desquelles plusieurs intervenants interagissent et dont la formation est susceptible d’être le résultat. Les résultats de l’enquête sur le profil d’apprentissage ont permis de conclure que le comportement des employés et de l’employeur est conforme aux modèles de prédicteurs existants et que les taux et les types de participation étaient similaires aux tendances nationales et internationales. L’analyse des entrevues d’un groupe d’employés atypiques, de leurs superviseurs, ainsi que de représentants du collège et du syndicat, a révélé d’importants thèmes clés : l’expression de la demande n’est pas structurée et elle est communiquée par plusieurs canaux, en excluant parfois les superviseurs. De plus, la place de l’auto évaluation est importante, ainsi que la phase de prise de décision. Ces thèmes ont souligné l’interaction de plusieurs intervenants dans le processus d’expression de la demande d’apprentissage et pendant la prise de décision. L’examen des attentes de chacun de ces intervenants au cours de ce processus nous a permis de découvrir un désir tacite chez les superviseurs et les employés, à savoir que la conversation soit à l’initiative de « l’autre ». Ces thèmes clés ont été ensuite abordés dans une discussion qui a révélé une discordance entre le profil de l’employeur et les profils des employés. Celle-ci se prête à la correction par l’employeur de son profil institutionnel pour l’harmoniser avec le profil dispositionnel des employés et optimiser ainsi vraisemblablement son offre de formation. Ils doivent, pour cela, appliquer un processus plus systématique et plus structuré, doté de meilleurs outils. La discussion a porté finalement sur les effets des motivations économiques sur la participation des employés et a permis de conclure que, bien que les employés ne semblent pas se méfier de l’offre de formation de l’employeur et que celle ci ne semble pas non plus les décourager, des questions de pouvoir sont bel et bien en jeu. Elles se sont principalement manifestées pendant le processus de prise de décision et, à cet égard, les superviseurs comme les employés reconnaissent qu’un processus plus structuré serait bénéfique, puisqu’il atténuerait les problèmes d’asymétrie et d’ambiguïté. Les constatations de cette étude sont pertinentes pour le secteur de la formation des adultes et de la formation en milieu de travail et, plus particulièrement, pour la méthodologie de recherche. Nous avons constaté l’avantage d’une méthodologie à deux volets, à l’écoute de l’employeur et des employés, afin de mieux comprendre la relation entre l’offre de formation et la participation à la formation. La définition des antécédents de la participation sous la forme d’un processus dans lequel plusieurs intervenants remplissent plusieurs rôles a permis de créer un modèle plus détaillé qui servira à la recherche future. Ce dernier a démontré qu’il est indispensable de reconnaître que la prise de décision constitue une étape à part entière, située entre l’expression de la demande et la participation à la formation. Ces constatations ont également révélé qu’il est véritablement indispensable que le secteur de la formation des adultes continue à traiter les questions reliées à la reconnaissance de la formation informelle. Ces conclusions et la discussion sur les constatations clés nous ont inspiré des recommandations à appliquer pour modifier les retombées du processus précédant la participation des employés à la formation. La majorité de ces recommandations ont trait à l’infrastructure de ce processus et ciblent donc principalement l’employeur. Certaines recommandations sont cependant destinées aux syndicats, aux superviseurs et aux employés qui peuvent aider l’employeur à remplir son rôle et favoriser la participation efficace de tous à ce processus. Les recommandations qui précédent impliquent que ce sont les antécédents de la formation qui gagneraient à être plus structurés et non la formation elle même. La structuration de l’infrastructure de l’apprentissage présente cependant des risques à elle seule. En liaison avec ce phénomène, une étude spécifique des effets de la nature, de la qualité et de l’asymétrie de la relation superviseur employé sur la participation des employés à la formation serait bénéfique. Mots clés : formation en entreprise, formation professionnelle continue, antécédents à la participation, employés de soutien / Trends in adult learning participation in Canada have remained unchanged for decades. This is despite emerging economic pressures to increase and widen continuous employee participation in learning and despite increased efforts towards employee learning in the workplace. This means that there is a need to go beyond examining the already well-established learning predictor profiles of employees and employers. There is in fact a need to examine the antecedents to participation, including aspects and steps of the process that precedes participation. This study set out to research the antecedents to participation in employer-sponsored learning among the support staff population in a large, urban community college in Ontario. In preparation for the data collection, a theoretical framework was developed based on the concept of expression of demand. This framework implies that there is a multi-step process involving interactions between several parties and wherein participation may be the outcome. Based on the results of the Learning Profile Survey, the employees and the employer were found to be behaving according to existing predictor models and the rates and types of participation were similar to national and international trends. The analysis of the interviews conducted among a group of atypical employees, their supervisors, as well as with representatives from the college and from the union, revealed important key themes: informality of the expression of demand through multiple channels, sometimes excluding the supervisors, the reliance on self-assessment, and the importance of the decision-making phase. These themes reinforced the fact that there are several parties interacting during the process of expressing demand for learning and during decision-making. By examining the expectations of each party during the process, we uncovered a tacit desire by the supervisors and by the employees to have “the other” initiate the conversation. The key themes were then discussed in relation to the research and knowledge gaps identified as the basis and context for this study. In this light, the misalignment between the employer and the employees’ profiles revealed some opportunities for the employer to address its institutional profile in order to better match the employees’ dispositional profile and thus be more likely to maximize the employer’s learning offer. The deconstruction of the antecedents to participation in learning activities provided insights along the same lines. Here there are opportunities for the employer, the supervisors and the union to better support the employees in the identification of their learning needs and the articulation of their learning demand by providing a more systematic, more formalized process with better tools. This would once again be a better match for the employees’ situational and dispositional profile. Finally, the discussion examined the impact of the economic drivers on the employees’ participation and concluded that even though the employees did not appear suspicious or deterred by the employer’s offer of learning, there are indeed issues of power in play. Those manifested themselves mainly during the decision-making process, and in this regard, both the supervisors and the employees agree that a more formalized process would be beneficial as a way to mitigate the issue of asymmetry and the issue of ambiguity. The findings of this study have implications for the field of adult education and workplace learning, particularly in regards to research methodology. We found that the use of mix methodology capturing the employer and the employees’ voice was beneficial in providing new insights about the alignment between the offer and the uptake. The recognition of the antecedents to participation as a process involving several, multi-faceted actors allowed for the creation of a more detailed model useful for further research. It identified the need to separate decision-making as a stand-alone step between the expression of demand and participation in learning. The findings also reinforced the need for the field of adult education to continue to address issues related to the recognition of informal learning. Based on the results and the discussion of key findings there are several recommendations that can be considered if we are to affect the outcome of the process preceding employee participation in learning. Most of the recommendations pertain to the infrastructure that supports the process and therefore are largely targeted at the employer. However, as the employers consider the implementation of a more solid infrastructure and the use of more intervention methods, there are recommendations for unions, supervisors and for employees that can assist the employer living up to its role and facilitate everyone’s effective participation in the process. The above recommendations imply that it is the antecedents to learning that could benefit from greater formality, not the learning itself. On the other hand, there are risks associated with formalizing even the infrastructure for learning. Future research should further explore the new type of workplace learning participants for whom participation is an expression of control and power over their work. In relation to this phenomenon, a specific study on the impact of the nature, quality and asymmetry of the supervisor-employee relationship on employee participation in learning would be beneficial. Keywords: workplace learning, antecedents to participation, support staff

This study explores what happens as the ideals of a learnership, envisioned in the South African legislation, become real practice in a workplace within the financial services industry. Learnerships are at the centre stage for illuminating the processes of acquiring a vocational qualification, which combines education with work readiness. The constructivist philosophy to this research and its qualitative paradigm resonates well with the postmodernist thinking that knowledge has different purposes strongly linked to performance, demanding education that is value adding. It is through this postmodern lens that the broad theoretical framework for study is located. It encompasses theories of learning and workplace learning, such as Wenger’s (1998) perspectives on communities of practice and Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning circle. Mezirow’s (1981) transformative learning theory adds the dimension of dialogue. The method of illuminative evaluation is used to examine one event in order to explore its contextual insights. Qualitative inquiry has a fundamental people orientation and, for this reason, observation adds depth to the information gathering possibilities of interviews and document analysis. This report is enriched by narratives of people’s perspectives on events. This illuminative evaluation brought out rich and varied insights into the acquisition of knowledge, skills and work identity (values and attitudes), with some surprising and unexpected insights on success and failures. The workplace’s control of the learning process, while impacting extremely positively on the quality of the theoretical learning (which is interesting as education is not its core purpose), compromised in some respects the success of the end product of the learnership, the work readiness and employment possibilities of learners.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa experience one of the highest failure rates in the world with 75% to 80% of SMEs failing in their first ten years. This data suggests that few small organisations in South Africa are sustainable entities and this in turn impacts on employment and the GDP of South Africa. In order to be sustainable, organisations should be learning ones (Garvin, 1993; Marquardt in Hattingh & Smit, 2004, p2). Senge’s (1990) ground-breaking model of a learning organisation identifies the disciplines companies should practice in order to contribute to their sustainability. This model, previously researched in large global companies, is used as the basis of researching a small company in a local, South African context. This study explores whether by being a learning organisation, a small company is able to sustain itself. Senge’s concept of a learning organisation includes five disciplines. These disciplines have adult and workplace learning theories embedded in them. The study attempted to identify whether the small company drew on these learning theories in day-to-day operations and practise, and if this contributed to its development as a learning organisation. In addition to learning theories, literature reviewed included factors that impact on small business sustainability in the South African context. The study reveals an interesting blend of a business management concept (“the learning organisation”) with adult education principles that give insight into developing a small company as a learning organisation. A qualitative, ethnographic case study approach was used for this study, using an interactive model to accommodate the dynamic nature of the workplace with its variety of events and activities. Data collection took place during two intensive research periods in 2008 and 2012, in a single Johannesburg-based company. A multi-method approach was used and included observations, document analysis, questionnaires, transect walks, auto-photography, focus groups and interviews. The study revealed that a small company can ensure its sustainability by being a learning organisation, even though the company did not hold the same understanding of a learning organisation that Senge (1990) did. By practising various adult and workplace learning theories, especially the theory of communities of practice, a small company can develop the disciplines of a learning organisation. Furthermore, organisations may practise the disciplines of a learning organisation organically, without specific intent, and this may assist in their sustainability.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Diogo Reatto.pdf: 2556630 bytes, checksum: dc9a44a090bcadf59f51aecc7ef8c9bf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-15 / This research is a basic interpretative and qualitative study underpinned by an interacionist and interpretative epistemological approach that aims to understand how technical - administrative employees learning experiences occur in the workplace of Araçatub a School of Dentistry/UNESP. The research question is: how do technical - administrative employees experience learning throughout their professional tasks in the workplace? . There are three big aims: (a) identify, describe and understand the informal processes used for individuals to learn their professional tasks; (b) describe and analyze the role of the social interactions that occur in the workplace, as well as the influe nce of the organizational context in informal learning; (c) analyze how the workplace context of the studied Faculty supports or raises difficulties to informal learning. The theoretical frame joins the literature about Informal Learning in the workplace with Social Learning Theory by Elkjaer, in order to understand how learning occurs in social environments. It was conducted 16 semi - structured interviews with technical - administrative employees from Academic and Administrative Technical Divisions of Araçat uba School of Dentistry/UNESP. The collected data was analyzed through qualitative data analyses strategy proposed by Flores (1994). I t was concluded that employees learn their tasks informally, by their experience and daily practice in the workplace, during the work process, making questions and exchang ing ideas with their bos ses and colleagues from the own Faculty or from other UNESP faculty , with whom they build a contributive network for informal learning. Facing new and challenging tasks in other jobs is a trigger to informal learning, such as knowing the way as the organization works and studying its internal and external set of laws . The technical - administrative employee proactive behavior encourage s these actions. The employees interactions with the social worlds and subworlds identified in the interviews evoked emotions like gratefu lness, commitment, pleasure and love in the job and by the job, which sometimes support and raise difficulties at times to informal learning. The context factors that influence informal learning in the studied organization are organizational climate, culture and layout, as well as job development expectation and the relationship between newcomers and experienced employees. / Esta pesquisa é um estudo qualitativo interpretativo básico apoiado numa postura epistemológica interpretacionista e interacionista que visa a compreender como ocorrem as experiências de aprendizagem vivenciadas pelos funcionários técnico-administrativos da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba/UNESP em seus locais de trabalho. A pergunta de pesquisa é: "como os funcionários técnico-administrativos de uma faculdade pública vivenciam a experiência da aprendizagem no exercício de suas tarefas profissionais desenvolvidas no local de trabalho? ", e se desdobra em três grandes objetivos: (a) identificar, descrever e compreender os processos informais que esses indivíduos utilizam para aprender suas tarefas profissionais; (b) descrever e analisar o papel das interações sociais que ocorrem no ambiente de trabalho, bem como a influência do contexto na aprendizagem informal; (c) analisar em que medida o ambiente de trabalho da faculdade objeto de estudo favorece e/ou dificulta a aprendizagem informal. O referencial teórico articula a literatura sobre Aprendizagem Informal nos locais de trabalho com a Teoria da Aprendizagem Social de Elkjaer, para compreender como a aprendizagem ocorre em ambientes sociais. Conduziram-se 16 entrevistas semi-estruturadas com servidores técnico-administrativos das Divisões Técnicas Acadêmica e Administrativa da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba/FOA-UNESP. As informações coletadas foram analisadas pela estratégia de análise de dados qualitativos proposta por Flores (1994). Concluiu-se que os servidores aprendem suas tarefas informalmente, por meio da experiência da prática cotidiana no local de trabalho, no processo de trabalho, perguntando e trocando ideias com o superior e com os colegas da própria ou de outra unidade da UNESP, com quem constroem uma rede de relacionamentos contributiva para ações de aprendizagens informais. Enfrentar tarefas novas e desafiadoras em outros cargos ou funções é um gatilho para a aprendizagem desses funcionários, bem como conhecer o funcionam ento da estrutura organizacional e estudar a legislação interna e externa pertinentes à sua função e à organização. Essas ações são incentivadas pelo comportamento proativo do funcionário, o qual carrega consigo e o aplica no local de trabalho. As interaçõ es com os mundos e submundos sociais identificados também despertam emoções como gratidão, comprometimento, prazer e amor no trabalho e pelo trabalho, as quais ora apoiam ora suprimem a aprendizagem. Os fatores de contexto ambiental que influenciam a AI são o clima, a cultura e a estrutura física organizacionais, bem como as expectativas de crescimento no trabalho e a relação entre novatos e experientes.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:25:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flavia Mardegan.pdf: 6734833 bytes, checksum: 44c550451932b8eb4d4d20a9673e242b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-09-19 / This research aim to a basic matter: how planed furniture commercial consultants learn individually and collectively work processes required to the practice of their professional tasks? General objective is to comprehend the manner that individuals (planned furniture commercial consultants) have learned and learn the practice of their professional tasks, inside organizations that manufacture, sell and give assistance in the home furniture sector. To achieve this objective it was established three specified objectives: (a) indentify, describe and comprehend individual processes that this group of people uses to learn their professional tasks; (b) describe and analyze social interactions role inside organizational environment, as well context influence in learning development; (c) describe and analyze personal route from this group of people in this organization type. Research base theories and concepts are: learning which occurs in work sites in collective level; and significant learning in individual level. It was used narrative analysis of life history as a research method under descriptive and interpretative focus. Data were collected through interviews performed with five consultants. Results reveal the relation between formal and informal learning, in collective level, as well the need of a significant learning in order to new knowledge be retained in individual level. Narratives analysis revealed seven main types of informal learning, as following: a) in diary activities; b) in social interactions; c) by means of leadership; d) self-directed; e) reflection; f) observation and g) through errors. It was also identified occurrence of conditions in a manner to acquired learning that was significant to study participants. It is considered that work presented a contribution in the academic sphere to promote a theoretical complementarity between two sectors of knowledge, business management and education. / Esta pesquisa está orientada por uma questão básica: como os consultores comerciais de móveis planejados aprendem individual e coletivamente - os processos de trabalho necessários ao exercício de suas tarefas profissionais? Seu objetivo geral é compreender de que maneira os indivíduos (consultores comerciais de móveis planejados), aprenderam e aprendem o exercício de suas tarefas profissionais, dentro de organizações que fabricam, vendem e prestam assessoria na área de móveis residenciais. Para atender este objetivo foram estabelecidos três objetivos específicos: (a) identificar, descrever e compreender os processos individuais que este grupo de pessoas utiliza para aprender suas tarefas profissionais; (b) descrever e analisar o papel das interações sociais dentro do ambiente organizacional, bem como a influência do contexto no desenvolvimento da aprendizagem; (c) descrever e analisar as trajetórias pessoais deste grupo de pessoas, nesse tipo de organização. As teorias e conceitos que embasam a pesquisa são: a aprendizagem que ocorre nos locais de trabalho no nível coletivo; e a aprendizagem significativa no nível individual. Como método de pesquisa, utilizou-se a análise de narrativas da história de vida profissional, sob um enfoque descritivo e interpretativo. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas, realizadas com cinco consultores. Os resultados revelam a relação entre a aprendizagem formal e informal, no nível coletivo, bem como a necessidade de um aprendizado significativo para que o novo conhecimento seja retido, no nível individual. A análise das narrativas revelou sete tipos principais de aprendizagem informal, a saber: a) nas atividades diárias; b) nas interações sociais; c) por meio da liderança; d) autodirigida; e) reflexão; f) observação e g) por meio dos erros. Identificou-se também a ocorrência de condições para que a aprendizagem adquirida fosse significativa para os participantes do estudo. Considera-se que o trabalho apresentou uma contribuição na esfera acadêmica, por promover uma complementaridade teórica entre dois campos de conhecimento, a administração de empresas e a educação.

Differences in race, ethnicity, gender, and age have shaped the most diverse workforce in recent years and have also influenced the workplace learning environment. Variability in age created several generations that presented an instructional challenge in the workplace for trainers who have not recognized and understood generational differences. The purpose of this study was to investigate how employees in 4 generations differed with respect to attitudes toward instructional approaches using technology in the workplace classroom. A theoretical framework incorporating Knowles' learning theory of andragogy guided this study, which used survey research methods within a quantitative design. The sample of 731 city employees from various departments completed the Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scales administered through an online survey tool. One-way ANOVA indicated that only on the Positive Attitudes Toward Technology scale, scores of the oldest generation, the Traditionalists, were significantly less positive than those of the 3 younger generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials) who did not differ significantly from each other. Research findings led to the conclusion that some differences existed in generational attitudes toward instructional approaches. Based on this conclusion, a 3-day leadership workshop was created, which includes recommendations for a customized approach to instructing the generations. Implications for social change include the potential for organizations to modify instruction to correspond with attitudinal differences of the generations and allow organizations in all industries to take proactive steps for workforce changes in learning.

A midsize nonprofit blood bank organization is experiencing a high percentage of supervisors and managers not transferring skills taught in leadership development training programs back to the workplace. The purpose of this mixed methods, sequential, explanatory study was to understand the relationship between supervisor support or opposition and trainees' perception on factors that influence transfer of training and to identify strategies to improve transfer of training in the organization. Baldwin and Ford's Model of the training transfer process laid the framework for this study. Quantitative data were collected from trainees (N = 60) who attended leadership development programs between January 2012 and June 2014 and were analyzed using descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and multiple regression. The correlation analysis indicated positive relationships between transfer of training and supervisor support. Qualitative data, collected during interviews (N = 8) that focused on trainees' perceptions on how to enhance transfer of training in the organization, corroborated the quantitative results. According to thematic analyses of the interview data, supervisor support, training design, opportunity to use skills on the job, and performance coaching and mentoring have the potential to improve training transfer. Policy recommendations were created to increase transfer of training back to the workplace. The findings of the study could help supervisors and managers increase training transfer, which could improve the organization's profits and create collaborative learning environments that benefit the participants and the communities where these participants live and work.