Abstract
This chapter presents an activity-based theoretical framework pursuing two objectives: (i) understand the social practices of work and training and (ii) design innovative vocational training methods. It is part of a research trend that has come to be known as ‘French ergonomics’. In this trend, the analysis focuses on the articulation of work prescription and real work. Work prescription encompasses the set of explicit and implicit instructions in the job specifications, as well as the constraints linked both to organising production and to management, which contributes to specifying the work objectives and the social and material conditions for their accomplishment. Real work is, of course, what the actors actually do when they work. It is a type of human activity, which is conceptualised as a holistic theoretical object that can account for the individual and collective meaning and organisation of vocational practices and their transformations. The first part of this chapter presents the approach to work and vocational training developed in our research unit. It centres on the analysis of human activity and falls within the theoretical framework of course of action, which is based on the postulate of enaction and two hypotheses concerning (i) human experience and (ii) the self-construction of activity and actors through typification and individuation. Excerpts illustrate our theoretical premises, all taken from a research corpus on work and training in a variety of work settings. In the second part, we describe the technological aspect of our research and present the notion of spaces for encouraged actions as an instrument for training interventions in connection with the hypotheses and theoretical elements mentioned above. Last, we describe the wide range of application of work analysis in the field of training.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
References
Amalberti, J.-R., de Montmollin, M., & Theureau, J. (Eds.). (1991). Modèles et méthodes en analyse du travail. Bruxelles: Mardaga.
Bril, B. (2015). Learning to use tools: A functional approach to action. In L. Filliettaz & S. Billett (Eds.), Francophone perspectives of learning through work: Conceptions, traditions and practices. Dordrecht: Springer.
Daniellou, F. (2005). The French-speaking ergonomists’ approach to work activity: Cross influences of field intervention and conceptual models. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 6(5), 409–427.
de Keyser, V. (1991). Work analysis in French language ergonomics: Origins and current research trends. Ergonomics, 34(6), 653–669.
de Keyser, V. (1992). Why field studies. In M. Helander & M. Nagamachi (Eds.), Design for manufacturability: A systems approach to concurrent engineering and ergonomics (pp. 305–316). London: Taylor & Francis.
de Montmollin, M. (1991). Analysis and models of operators’ activities in complex natural life environments. In J. Rasmussen, H. B. Andersen, & N. O. Bernsen (Eds.), Human-computer interaction (pp. 95–112). London: Erlbaum.
Donin, N., & Theureau, J. (2007). Theoretical and methodological issues related to long term creative cognition: The case of musical composition. Cognition, Technology & Work, 9(4), 233–251.
Durand, M. (2008). Un programme de recherche technologique en formation des adultes. Education & Didactique, 2(2), 69–93.
Durand, M. (2011). Self-constructed activity, work analysis, and occupational training: An approach to learning objects for adults. In P. Jarvis & M. Watts (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook on learning (pp. 37–45). London: Routledge.
Durand, M. (2013a). Human activity, social practice and lifelong education: An introduction. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 32(1), 1–13.
Durand, M. (2013b). Construction of dispositions and development of human activity: A theoretical framework illustrated by the case of a novice manager. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 32(1), 39–55.
Durand, M. (2014). Quelques avancées pratiques et conceptuelles liées à la conception et l’usage de la plateforme Néopass@action en formation des enseignants. Recherche et Formation, 75, 23–35.
Durand, M., Goudeaux, A., Horcik, Z., Salini, D., Danielian, J., & Frobert, L. (2013). Expérience, mimèsis et apprentissage. In L. Albarello, J.-M. Barbier, E. Bourgeois, & M. Durand (Eds.), Expérience, activité, apprentissage (pp. 39–64). Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
Falzon, P. (Ed.). (2013). Ergonomie constructive. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
Filliettaz, L., Billett, S., Bourgeois, E., Durand, M., & Poizat, G. (2015). Conceptualising and connecting Francophone perspectives on learning through and for work. In L. Filliettaz & S. Billett (Eds.), Francophone perspectives of learning through work: Conceptions, traditions and practices. Dordrecht: Springer.
Gallagher, S. (2005). How the body shapes the mind. New York: Oxford University Press.
Guérin, F., Laville, A., Daniellou, F., Duraffourg, J., & Kerguelen, A. (2007). Understanding and transforming work. The practice of ergonomics. Lyon: Anact Network Edition.
Horcik, Z., & Durand, M. (2011). L’ergonomie de la formation par simulation. @ctivité(s), 2, 173–188.
Horcik, Z., Poizat, G., Savoldelli, G., & Durand, M. (2014). The mimetic experience of nurse anesthetists training on a simulator. Simulation in Healthcare, 9(2), 94–101.
Jorge, J., & Scheller, L. (2014). Radiographers’ communicative activity: A case study. Journal of Clinical Radiography and Radiotherapy, 8(2), 10–18.
Leplat, J., & Hoc, J.-M. (1983). Tâche et activité dans l’analyse psychologique des situations. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive, 3(1), 49–63.
Leroux, P. (2010). Questions de faire. La génétique musicale in vivo vue du côté du créateur. Genesis, 31, 55–63.
Maturana, H. R. (1988). Reality. The search for objectivity or the quest for a compelling argument. Irish Journal of Psychology, 9(1), 25–82.
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1980). Autopoiesis and cognition. The realization of the living. Dordrecht: Reidel.
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1987). The tree of knowledge: The biological root of human understanding. London: Shambala.
Mingers, J. (1995). Self-producing systems. Implications and applications of autopoiesis. New York: Plenum.
Ombredane, A., & Faverge, J.-M. (1955). L’analyse du travail. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
Recopé, M. (2001). L’apprentissage. Paris: Editions EPS.
Reed, E. (1993). The intention to use a specific affordance: A conceptual framework for psychology and context. In R. H. Wosniack & K. W. Fisher (Eds.), Development in context: Acting and thinking in specific environments (pp. 45–76). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Reed, E., & Bril, B. (1996). The primacy of action in development. A commentary of N. Bernstein. In M. Latash & M. Turvey (Eds.), Dexterity and its development (pp. 431–451). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Ria, L. (2009). De l’analyse de l’activité des enseignants débutants en milieu difficile à la conception de dispositifs de formation. In M. Durand & L. Filliettaz (Eds.), Travail et formation des adultes (pp. 217–243). Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
Ria, L. (Ed.). (2010). Plateforme de formation en ligne Néopass@ction de l’Institut Français de l’Education de l’ENS de Lyon. http://neo.ens-lyon.fr
Ria, L. (2012). Collaboration entre praticiens et chercheurs sur la plateforme Néopass@ction: l’activité débutante comme objet d’étude et de transformation. Travail et Apprentissages, 9, 106–119.
Ria, L., & Leblanc, S. (2011). Conception de la plateforme de formation Néopass@ction à partir d’un observatoire de l’activité des enseignants débutants. @ctivité(s), 2, 150–172.
Rosch, E. (1978). Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch & B. B. Llyod (Eds.), Cognition and categorization (pp. 27–48). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Sartre, J.-P. (1960). La critique de la raison dialectique. Paris: Gallimard.
Schütz, A. (1962). The problem of social reality. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff.
Simondon, G. (2005). L’individuation à la lumière des notions de forme et d’information. Grenoble: Millon.
Simondon, G. (2008). Imagination et invention. Paris: La Transparence.
Stewart, J., Gapenne, O., & Di Paolo, E. (Eds.). (2007). Enaction: Towards a new paradigm for cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stiegler, B. (1998). La technique et le temps. 1- La faute d’Epiméthée. Paris: Galilée.
Theureau, J. (2004). Le cours d’action. Méthode élémentaire. Toulouse: Octarès.
Theureau, J. (2006). Le cours d’action. Méthode développée. Toulouse: Octarès.
Theureau, J. (2009). Le cours d’action. Méthode réfléchie. Toulouse: Octarès.
Theureau, J. (2010). Les entretiens d’autoconfrontation et de remise en situation par les traces matérielles et le programme de recherche « cours d’action ». Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances, 4(2), 287–322.
Theureau, J., & Jeffroy, F. (1994). Ergonomie des situations informatisées. Toulouse: Octarès.
Varela, F. J. (1989). Autonomie et connaissance. Paris: Seuil.
Varela, F. J. (1996). Quel savoir pour l’éthique. Paris: Seuil.
Varela, F. J., & Shear, J. (1999). First-person methodologies: What, why, how? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6(2–3), 1–14.
Varela, F. J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Zeleny, M. (1981). Autopoiesis, a theory of living organizations. New York: North Holland.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Durand, M., Poizat, G. (2015). An Activity-Centred Approach to Work Analysis and the Design of Vocational Training Situations. In: Filliettaz, L., Billett, S. (eds) Francophone Perspectives of Learning Through Work. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18669-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18669-6_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18668-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18669-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)