Instructor beliefs and their mediation of instructor strategies

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The overall aim of this research is to investigate how aspects of organizational culture enable or constrain the facilitation of learning in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative design was used involving 100 semi-structured interviews conducted with air traffic controllers operating in three centers in Australia. The data were analyzed using a phenomenological approach in an attempt to uncover the lived experience of those interviewed. Findings -The study illustrates how elements of organizational culture evidenced in collectively held values and beliefs mediated the approaches used by on-the-job-training instructors. Three collectively held values and beliefs were identified: belief in ability; the value of performance in demonstrating ability; and the need to exude confidence. The degree to which instructors espoused these beliefs influences the type of instructional strategy they used. Three predominant strategies of engagement with the trainee were identified: acting on, working with, and working against the trainee. Practical implications -The evidence here suggests that programs aimed at facilitating skills development for on-the-job-training instructors need to focus on the existing knowledge and beliefs of those personnel and to provide opportunities for challenge and confrontation of those belief systems. Originality/value -The paper contributes to a growing understanding of the socio-cultural influences present in workplace learning and the role of stereotyping and power in enabling or constraining the learning in the workplace.

Learning on the fly: exploring the informal learning process of aviation instructors

“…The recognition that learning is “lifewide, taking place at work and elsewhere” (Skule, 2004, p. 8) has gained considerable attention in the workplace learning literature. Workplace learning is “practice‐bound and embedded in the everyday experiences of acting, negotiating, and applying the problem‐solving skills which are part and parcel of the participatory process of working” (Owen, 2009, p. 477). Learning in the workplace occurs in a variety of ways, both through formal training interventions and informally; however, research suggests that informal learning is one of the most predominant forms of learning that occurs among adults in the workplace (Ellinger, 2005; Ellinger and Cseh, 2007; Marsick et al , 2009; Marsick and Watkins, 1990; Marsick, 2009).…”

“…While professionals in public education, engineering, business, nursing and medicine have been the focus of a number of studies, calls have been made for conducting more research that continues to examine how certain characteristics of workers and their work environment influence engagement in informal workplace learning (Goldman et al , 2009; Lohman, 2006). Furthermore, other scholars acknowledge that little attention has been given to the facilitator or instructor, “despite the increasing recognition given to the important roles teachers or facilitators play in enabling or constraining learning” (Owen, 2009, p. 478). Collin (2008) also acknowledges that the interaction between learners and instructors needs attention.…”

The practice of supervision for professional learning: the example of future forensic specialists

“…Learning from others can be referred to differently according to its purpose, distribution of responsibility, and the type of relationship (Lauvås and Handal 2001). Workplace learning can consist of learning in which the inexperienced (e.g., forensic trainee) learns with and from others (Doak and Assimakopoulos 2007) or of learning in which the newcomer is assigned a supervisor (Köpsén and Nyström 2012a;Owen 2009;Teperi and Leppänen 2010). This article focuses on learning from others in terms of supervision.…”

“…Learning from others indicates that supervising could focus on a close relationship between a master and a trainee in a centered relationship or be distributed to others in the form of decentered supervision (Nielsen and Kvale 2000). Second, individuals designated as responsible for transmitting professional knowledge adopt various strategies to support learning as a result of their different ideas about the nature and enactment of supervision (Manathunga 2007;Owen 2009;Tyler and Mckenzie 2011;Wright, Murray, and Geale 2007). Third, studies of supervision show different supervisor approaches to learning, including unreflective (Tyler and Mckenzie 2011), instructive (Koskela and Palukka 2011) or reflective in terms of pedagogical strategies (Owen 2009).…”

“…Second, individuals designated as responsible for transmitting professional knowledge adopt various strategies to support learning as a result of their different ideas about the nature and enactment of supervision (Manathunga 2007;Owen 2009;Tyler and Mckenzie 2011;Wright, Murray, and Geale 2007). Third, studies of supervision show different supervisor approaches to learning, including unreflective (Tyler and Mckenzie 2011), instructive (Koskela and Palukka 2011) or reflective in terms of pedagogical strategies (Owen 2009). Similarly, Lauvås and Handal (2001) have identified two main strategies of supervision for the development of professional knowledge: the traditional master-apprentice relationship (Nielsen and Kvale 2000), in which the supervisor is pictured as a skilled professional and the apprentice's objective is to copy and master the skills through reproductive acting, or in which the supervisor is characterized as a reflective practitioner (Dewey 1998;Schön 1983) who focuses on the apprentice's understanding.…”