Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town

This dissertation explores questions relating to informal learning by workers in a municipal workplace. It aims to understand what knowledge workers have about their work, how they have learnt what they know, the context within which learning happens and how power relations impact on the learning process. The study seeks to foreground the knowledge of workers in a context where such knowledge is generally ignored or devalued. The study draws on the literature on workplace learning that recognizes learning as a socially situated process. It makes use of the conceptual framework of situated learning, but draws on various critiques of this conceptual framework as a way of deepening the analysis. The research adopted a case study methodology as I was interested in exploring detail and depth in a specific context. Data collection involved mainly observations of workers at work and informal interviews in the field, and these were supplemented by semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that much informal learning about work takes place amongst workers in a work team, largely through modelling, but that this learning is shaped by power relations between workers. The findings show also that workers' learning, and their perceptions of their learning, have been impacted on by moves towards the formalization of learning. In the context of the pervasive emphasis on formal training and qualifications, studies which focus on workers' informal learning are an important counter-balance in the workplace learning research field.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14755

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14755