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Team Learning

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Research Approaches on Workplace Learning

Part of the book series: Professional and Practice-based Learning ((PPBL,volume 31))

Abstract

Teams have the potential to offer greater adaptability, productivity and creativity than any one individual can offer and provide more complex, innovative and comprehensive solutions. This necessitates sharing and developing of knowledge at a team-level, fueling the thinking about and research on team learning.

This chapter expands the topic of team learning by synthesizing insights from research on collaborative learning in the learning sciences and on teamwork in the organization sciences. In doing so, it builds on the Integrative Model of Team Learning to present recent developments in empirical work on team learning. Significant phenomena are elaborated: with regard to team learning processes, the role of conflicts and team reflexivity is explained. Next, the role of leadership in teams with regard to team learning is demonstrated. In relation to the emergent states, this chapter focuses on two phenomena that are heavily studied in team research in general, but also show to be significant in describing team learning: psychological safety and team knowledge.

Lastly, four research challenges for the field of team learning are identified. The first discusses the consequences of conceptualizing team learning as complex and dynamic for measurement and analysis. The second relates to the fact that current research mainly presents a descriptive or explanatory account of team learning and does not indicate what it implies for interventionist theories. The third concerns the awareness that (the effectiveness of) team learning processes differ depending on the type of task that the team is dealing with. The fourth and last issue zooms in on questions how to prepare the individual team member for team learning.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Piet Van den Bossche

  2. School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands

    Piet Van den Bossche

  3. Department of People, Organizations and Negotiation, IÉSEG School of Management, Lille, France

    Catherine Gabelica

  4. Research Centre for Learning and Innovation, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Mieke Koeslag-Kreunen

Authors
  1. Piet Van den Bossche
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  2. Catherine Gabelica
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  3. Mieke Koeslag-Kreunen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Piet Van den Bossche .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Educational Science, Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany

    Christian Harteis

  2. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    David Gijbels

  3. Training and Education Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Eva Kyndt

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Van den Bossche, P., Gabelica, C., Koeslag-Kreunen, M. (2022). Team Learning. In: Harteis, C., Gijbels, D., Kyndt, E. (eds) Research Approaches on Workplace Learning. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89582-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89582-2_9

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