The dialectics of authoring expansive learning: tracing the long tail of a Change Laboratory

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 paper aims to examine organizational authoring understood as a longitudinal, material and dialectical process of transformation efforts. The following questions are asked: To which extent can a Change Laboratory intervention help practitioners author their own learning? Are the authored outcomes of a Change Laboratory intervention futile if a workplace subsequently undergoes large-scale organizational transformations? Does the expansive learning authored in a Change Laboratory intervention survive large-scale organizational transformations, and if so, why does it survive and how? Design/methodology/approach -The paper develops a conceptual argument based on culturalhistorical activity theory. The conceptual argument is grounded in the examination of a case of eight years of change efforts in a university library, including a Change Laboratory (CL) intervention. Follow-up interview data are used to discuss and illuminate our argument in relation to the three research questions. Findings -The idea of knotworking constructed in the CL process became a "germ cell" that generates novel solutions in the library activity. A large-scale transformation from the local organization model developed in the CL process to the organization model of the entire university library was not experienced as a loss. The dialectical tension between the local and global models became a source of movement driven by the emerging expansive object. Practitioners are modeling their own collective future competences, expanding them both in socio-spatial scope and interactive depth. Originality/value -The article offers an expanded view of authorship, calling attention to material changes and practical change actions. The dialectical tensions identified serve as heuristic guidelines for future studies and interventions.

Exploring initial collaboration in an intervention: Creating a meeting place between educational research and educational practice

“…The e-mails show dialogue continuity, which was essential for the intervention to proceed and for the object-oriented activity to be achieved (Sannino et al, 2016) in the third phase. Dialogue can be understood as essential for creating and expanding, with further actions, a meeting place between the researcher and the practitioners.…”

“…However, a search in Oria, with access to many databases with peer-reviewed journals, shows that few studies have focused on how such a meeting place could be developed at the beginning of a collaboration. Collaboration can emerge through dialogue (Sannino, Engeström, & Lahikainen, 2016), and dialogical processes appear to connect ongoing communication and future-oriented actions (Sannino, 2008;Sannino et al, 2016).…”

A Knowledge Appropriation Model to Connect Scaffolded Learning and Knowledge Maturation in Workplace Learning Settings

“…Originating from Activity Theory, there is naturally a focus on contradictions introduced by new work practices (e.g. Ripamonti and Galuppo 2016), or on more explicit change management programs, like the change laboratory method (Sannino et al 2016). Normalisation Process Theory has a similar focus on implementing and institutionalizing new work practices (May and Finch 2009).…”

Os Conflitos sob a Mediação do Laboratório de Mudança: Uma Aprendizagem Expansiva

“…Outro ponto que orienta os princípios da teoria está ligado à busca de uma perspectiva genética, ou seja, não interessa à teoria compreender apenas como estão dados os fenômenos sociais, mas compreendê-los em suas origens e movimentos históricos Haapasaari et al, 2016, Sannino, Engeström, & Lahikainen, 2016. Por isso, por mais que as situações vivenciadas por um grupo de aprendizes possam ser tomadas por reflexão em outros contextos, ao se adotar o background da TAHC é importante demarcar a singularidade das experiências de aprendizagem organizacional, cada qual com suas respectivas geografias e tempos históricos.…”

“…A perspectiva genética Sannino, Engeström, & Lahikainen, 2016) de entender os fenômenos sociais em sua origem não foi uma tarefa atraente e fácil de ser conduzida. O imediatismo na busca por soluções por parte dos participantes do LM encontrou obstáculo diante da demanda pela análise genética e detalhada do passado, tal como é previsto nas primeiras sessões.…”