Situated Learning Processes Research Articles

Trying-out a walking help: Participation through situated learning in the adjustment and assessment of welfare technology

ABSTRACTThis article contributes to the discussion of how people with limited communication means become active participants in the assessment of welfare technologies. The article combines ethnomethodology with insights from Science and Technology Studies and emphasises the situated and multimodal practices that constitute the trial as a joint activity in which the impaired person becomes a competent participant and independent walker. The analysis is based on video recordings from a case study in which a person with brain injury is trying out a new type of walking help. The trial is understood as a situated learning process in which the participants prepare, enact and assess the performance of the technology-supported walking. The article distinguishes two iterative phases in which the impaired person is constituted as an independent walker: the adjustment and assessment of a body–device relation and, further, the performance and assessment of the activity the user can perform.

Reivindicaciones del derecho a una educación propia: la figura del educador comunitario

<p>Este trabajo aborda algunos hallazgos de un estudio etnográfico realizado en el modelo educativo alternativo de las Secundarias Comunitarias Indígenas en el contexto comunitario del estado de Oaxaca, México. Se centra en la relevancia de la figura docente para mediar la práctica y los procesos de apropiación de una propuesta que aboga por la reivindicación del derecho de las comunidades originarias a la construcción de sus propios sistemas educativos. El modelo cuestiona las formas clásicas de la educación escolarizada, además de los procesos históricos de asimilación, aculturación y exclusión de los pueblos indígenas a través de las políticas educativas del Estado-nación.</p><p>A través de proyectos de investigación, el modelo busca partir de los conocimientos comunitarios y de la participación de los actores locales para reivindicar las epistemes indígenas y generar procesos educativos situados y pertinentes, en los que se fomenta el diálogo con los saberes de las ciencias y con otros espacios culturales. Los educadores comunitarios se convierten en intermediarios y promotores de una educación diferencial que implica replantear su propia identidad étnica, profesional y sus saberes pedagógicos, y los lleva a posicionarse como actores etnopolíticos en defensa del derecho a una educación propia de los pueblos originarios.</p>

Organizational adaptation to interdependence shifts: The role of integrator structures

Research summary: We investigate how organizational adaptation to interdependence shifts is influenced by “integrators.” These are formally mandated managerial roles meant to promote coordination across specialized but interdependent organizational subunits, yet they do so without relying on formal authority. While much has been learned about how integrators promote steady-state coordination within a known pattern of interdependence, less is known about their impact on organizational adaptation when the pattern of interdependence itself is unknown. We discuss mechanisms by which integrators may nonetheless aid organizational adaptation and learning processes in such situations, and test our hypotheses in the context of a regulatory change that affected the in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics sector in the United Kingdom using a differences-in-differences design. Managerial summary: Organizational structure can influence how an organization adapts to change. We investigate how a regulatory change in the provision of fertility treatments in the United Kingdom forced clinics to change their workflows, and whether the presence of integrator roles enabled clinics to adapt to these changes. It is well known that integrator roles in general are valuable in coordinating across specialized organizational units, but this research points to the surprising implication that their value may persist even when the workflow being coordinated changes suddenly, in ways that nobody necessarily comprehends. Our research highlights the fact that even in an intensively science-based work context, the “technology of organizing” can have a significant role in shaping organizational performance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Situated learning, post-migrant youth and ludic spaces in diverse urban environments in Italy

The aim of this article is to offer introductory theoretical arguments in order to research the role that urban ludic spaces play in post-migrants' everyday processes of situated learning. I discuss how situated learning processes are embedded in everyday webs of relationships, with special reference to spatial construction of intersectionality within power laden spaces affecting the way in which communities of practice develop in urban areas. I draw on results from a previous research carried out in diverse neighbourhoods of central and north-east Italian cities as an example of the way in which public playgrounds could be laden by power and could in this way affect the opportunities to share everyday practices and to build up a community of practices in non-formal and informal learning environments.

Situated learning, post-migrant youth and ludic spaces in diverse urban environments in Italy

The aim of this article is to offer introductory theoretical arguments in order to research the role that urban ludic spaces play in post-migrants' everyday processes of situated learning. I discuss how situated learning processes are embedded in everyday webs of relationships, with special reference to spatial construction of intersectionality within power laden spaces affecting the way in which communities of practice develop in urban areas. I draw on results from a previous research carried out in diverse neighbourhoods of central and north-east Italian cities as an example of the way in which public playgrounds could be laden by power and could in this way affect the opportunities to share everyday practices and to build up a community of practices in non-formal and informal learning environments.

Reconceptualizing beginning teacher induction as organizational socialization: A situated learning model

AbstractThe process of beginning teacher induction has gained widespread attention in the literature as a means to help newly appointed teachers negotiate the early years of their careers, which are characterized by high attrition rates, due in part to stress, burnout, heavy workloads, and lack of support. While there is empirical evidence to suggest that comprehensive teacher induction can curtail teacher attrition by up to 20%, there exists a lack of understanding with regard to how to develop and implement effective programs. Although new teachers face some distinctive challenges, all new career starters, irrespective of their field, have a period of adjustment to go through. This article presents a conceptual framework for understanding beginning teacher induction as a situated learning process through an organizational socialization framework more commonly used in business. By conceptualizing beginning teacher induction through a common framework, culminating in a shared understanding of induction, i...

Think Piece: Re-thinking Education for Sustainable Development as Transgressive Processes of Educational Engagement with Human Conduct, Emerging Matters of Concern and the Common Good

The modernist expansion of Education is examined to explore how the concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has emerged, is being worked with, and is being assessed in imperatives intended to foster social-ecological change on a global scale. The opening review sketches how education developed as a mediating process in modernity, tracking some recent shifts that are shaping ESD in more and more diverse contexts of education practice. It scopes an ESD terrain where knowledge and ethics-led learning in relation to valued purposes might enable citizens to become engaged in change that secures a sustainable future for generations to come. Within these processes, competence specification is examined as a useful but under-theorised social imaginary for framing learning for future sustainability, primarily in teacher education and curriculum contexts. Here, ESD presents as an open process of situated social learning where emergent competences steer social innovation towards a more sustainable future (SD). The paper attempts to navigate some of the current tensions in relation to knowledge and participation in these processes of learning-to-change. It probes ESD as praxiological processes of dialectical reflexivity that can become situated in contexts of risk and develop as transgressive1 expansions within many conventional learning sequences in curriculum settings. The paper notes that current discourses on ESD and its assessment have often come to stand outside, and in contrast with, conventions of teaching and learning. These discourses also often conflate education and sustainable development in ways that ascribe change to ESD without adequately theorising the expansive and reflexive learning of citizens and how these processes might produce the desired change towards sustainable development (SD) in diverse contexts of learning in and about a changing world.

Aprendizagem situada, participação e legitimidade nas práticas de trabalho

O presente estudo tem por objetivo identificar e analisar o processo de aprendizagem situada a partir da participação e legitimidade nas práticas dos grupos de trabalho da Dublin Irish Pub. O arcabouço teórico envolve a aprendizagem situada, aprofundada junto com o estudo da participação periférica legitimada e diferentes níveis de participação nas práticas de trabalho dos grupos de trabalho. Com base no método qualitativo básico, a coleta de dados ocorreu por observação direta, diário de campo, entrevistas em profundidade. O período de observação de seis meses totalizou 32 idas a campo e oito entrevistas realizadas na empresa estudada. Assim, por meio da análise interpretativista, as informações da pesquisa permitem elucidar de que maneira a participação e legitimidade nas práticas de trabalho podem auxiliar na aprendizagem. Entre os resultados encontrados no estudo, destacam-se as formas de aprendizagem situada que surgiram em três grupos: garçons, barmen e cozinha. Descrevendo de forma analítica o engajamento e participação dos aprendizes nas práticas de trabalho e nas comunidades de prática, argumenta-se, com base neste trabalho, que esse processo de atuação nas comunidades de prática passa pela fase inicial de participação periférica legitimada, já que, a partir do engajamento e da atuação com os mais experientes, desenvolve-se a aprendizagem. Além disso, os ganhos de legitimidade e pertencimento são elementos relevantes no processo de aprendizagem, e pode-se identificar que o processo de aprendizagem situada não ocorre somente em comunidades de prática e que o pertencimento e a participação periférica legitimada são características a serem fomentadas nas organizações. A partir da negociação e renegociação de significados, pelo estabelecimento de relacionamentos sociais e comunidades de prática, cria-se um sistema por meio do qual os modos de ver, interpretar, compreender e praticar se constituem e são compartilhados.

Gestão Estratégica de design e aprendizagem situada em comunidades tradicionais locais

The traditional local communities depend on the development of local craft products for their own subsistence. This article aims to explain the process of situated learning as a cognitive strategy in traditional local communities, for the upgrading of products, territories and identities through design management. The research literature is classified as exploratory and addressing the concepts of situated learning, traditional local community, identity and territory, and appreciation of the local product design and strategic management of the design. As a result we obtain an analysis of situated learning and their traditional ways, resultadondo in a relationship of complementarity to the communities

Becoming DragonBankers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore organizational induction as socially situated learning processes. It presents an empirical study of inductees going through an induction program in a medium sized bank and discusses their induction as a dual process of becoming a practitioner and constructing practice.Design/methodology/approachThe research performed is qualitative: ethnographic methods including participant observation and interviews are used, and analysed through an interpretative methodology.FindingsThe paper suggests that the divide between the teaching curricula in the induction course and the learning curricula in real life banking contribute to the inductees' ability and desire to engage in the construction of customer service officer practice; the divide itself legitimizes differences in particularities of the practice, and enhances the inductees' ability to enact, accomplish, and construct practice actively.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper suggests induction should be viewed as opportunities for organizational learning as much as the training of newcomers to adhere to organizational standards.Originality/valueThe paper presents a novel empirical case exploring socially situated learning. Looking at the confluence of authoring and performative acts allows us to expose the agentic dimension of practices; thus emphasising the construction involved in any practising.

Design Error Classification, Causation, and Prevention in Construction Engineering

Construction and engineering practitioners have found it increasingly difficult to learn from their mistakes, particularly with regard to the prevention, identification and/or containment of design errors. Yet, design errors have been the root cause of numerous catastrophic accidents that have resulted in the death and injury of workers and members of the public. This paper examines and classifies the nature of error and design error causation in construction and engineering projects. A review of the normative literature revealed that design errors are caused by an array of factors that can work interdependently. A generic framework is developed that classifies design error according to people, the organization, and project is presented. The paper suggests that people, over and above organizational and project management strategies, have the greatest propensity to reduce errors through the process of situated learning and knowing. This is because the working environment provided by an organization and the processes used to deliver construction and engineering projects influence the nature and ability of people to undertake tasks. Consequently, there is no single but rather a multitude of strategies that need to be adopted in congruence to reduce design errors so that safety and project performance are ameliorated.

Contextualising learning in Advanced Certificate in Education (Environmental Education) courses: synthesising contexts and experiences

We report on experiences in the Advanced Certificate in Education (Environmental Education) courses of two South African universities, namely, Rhodes University and the University of South Africa. We focus specifically on the whole school approaches which were influenced by a project between these two universities and Manchester Metropolitan University. We illustrate how contextual profiling influenced the perspective or entry point from which the whole school message was approached in the ACE (EE) courses. Through illustrative examples from these two courses, we report on two different approaches to contextual profiling, starting by problematising an approach that relies solely on a priori contextual profiling. We then illustrate how this approach can be complemented by contextual profiling within courses and within context through situated learning processes.

Non-Governmental Organising for Gender Equality in China – Joining a Global Emancipatory Epistemic Community

This paper uses domestic violence activism as a case study through which to examine how non-governmental feminist activists organising in China have generated new knowledge through their engagement with international gender equality activism and global human rights norms. We examine how an epistemic community focused on domestic violence has developed in China. This community subscribes to international definitions of violence against women as a human rights issue. We show how activists' adoption of human rights norms takes place in several stages and within situated learning processes. We argue that by engaging in such processes activists have joined a global emancipatory epistemic community – one which they are currently extending to Chinese society.

Learning within project practice: Cognitive styles exposed

This paper contributes to understanding the dynamics of practically supporting situated learning within a project management practice. The case study findings presented and explored in this paper suggest that the ‘cognitive styles’ of project participants (amongst other sociological elements) significantly impact situated learning activity within a project team. As is argued in this paper, through undertaking a process of public exposition and communal reflection on participants’ ‘cognitive styles’, ‘cognitive styles’ become a socially oriented learning issue for project teams to better understand and manage. In doing so, project participants’ aid their situated learning processes and help develop their skills in ‘learning how to learn’.

Project learning relationships and situated learning: defensive deflection and protective veneers

This paper contributes to better understanding the dynamics of practically supporting the knowledge creation processes within a project management setting. Based on a longitudinal participative action research study of the dynamics of situated learning in a project case study involving organisational change, this paper describes and theorises about how the 'learning relationships' between project team participants significantly impact situated learning activity within a project team setting. As observed in the case study and then argued in this paper, through project team participants systematically and publicly exploring and communally reflecting on this sociological element (amongst others identified in this study), they aid their situated learning processes and incidentally, help develop their competency in 'learning how to learn'.

Constructivist learning theory and human capital theory: shifting political and educational frameworks for teachers’ ICT professional development

AbstractThis case study discusses the influence of politics on educational technology policies and practices by tracing the effects of a change of governing political parties with differing ideologies and advisory constituencies. It begins by describing a democratic socialist government initiative based on social capital theory and emphasising connections among individuals. The information and communications technology (ICT) initiative is a peer mentorship model of teacher professional development using constructivist learning theory that emphasises activity‐based situated learning processes. The article then describes a shift in the political context with the election of a political party with a market orientation guided by principles of fiscal responsibility and free enterprise. The subsequent reformulation of educational policy draws from human capital theory and emphasises accountability and the measurement of students’ achievement of technological skills against standard learning outcomes. The significance of the political dimension on the development of educational policies for ICT is discussed, with the conclusion that the exclusion of particular constituent groups can result in narrowly defined educational needs.

EXPERTS OF THE ORDINARY: BEREAVEMENT COUNSELLING IN BRITAIN

Counselling is of increasing importance in British society. Yet, very few detailed ethnographic descriptions exist of how it works in practice. This article focuses on training courses with the national bereavement care organization, Cruse. The discussion revolves around Cruse’s conception of grief as a natural and ordinary process, yet individually variable and unique, and its client‐centred approach, which attributes ‘expert’ status to clients. Consideration of the ‘ordinary’ and ‘expert’ in Cruse ideology suggests fundamental questions: how does Cruse justify its counselling activity? How does it train and motivate people to carry out counselling? I argue that this is achieved by grounding the sense of grief in the trainees themselves through a process of situated learning that allows the trainees to assume expertise of the ordinary. Addressing the work of counselling theoretically, I argue that, while Foucauldian analysis of the psy‐sciences is to some extent applicable to counselling, detailed participant observation reveals complexities in the interplay of subjectivity and subjection that the Foucauldian approach is unable to grasp.

Experiência e competência no ensino: pistas de reflexões sobre a natureza do saber-ensinar na perspectiva da ergonomia do trabalho docente

O texto propõe-se a desenvolver uma reflexão sobre um campo de investigação emergente e necessário para a compreensão do significado da experiência no saber-ensinar: o trabalho docente segundo a perspectiva da ergonomia, inspirada na cognição situada. Contextualizando os novos contornos da política educacional brasileira no cenário das reformas educacionais, o estudo privilegia o debate sobre a formação docente e suas atuais tendências. A reflexão traz elementos conceituais e teórico-metodológicos destinados à investigação da natureza do saber-ensinar, focalizando o estudo da competência no ensino no contexto dos saberes na base da prática docente.

A Strategy of Environment Learning through Creative Community Design

Why have our public environment become hard and banal blandscape? How important is an aesthetically pleasing public environment to personal well-being? It emphasizes linkages between vitalization of people's life and life's fulfillment of environment, which I call creative community design.This article describes the meaning of environment learning through creative community design with an analysis of the building and management process of Nekojyarashi Park. It is located in Setagaya ward. The site's size is 2700 After resident's movement for 5 years, they participated in planning process of the park.As a communal task of a series of workshop, the community-build project has many benefits, that are often the oppsite to conventional building methods.It can provide a place with special landscape taste and an interesing and worthwhile experience for those participating, and also an opportunity to produce a good and open human network in the neighbourhood.Creative community design with a participatory design and management is a totally situated environment learning process. In such circumstance's work, it produces not only an aesthetically nourishing environment, but also inspiring the human spirit and relation.