Abstract
The social and, often, collective character of practice challenges the strong tendency of learning literature to focus exclusively on individuals. The relatively neglected topic of collective learning is the major concern of this chapter. We deploy findings from recent Australian research with three diverse vocational groups to theorize collective learning from a ‘practice turn’ perspective. We discuss how groups learn contextually and dynamically using their patterns of interactions formed with others. This patterned, relational and emergent character of learning challenges conventional theories of how groups learn by, for example, analyzing group properties or outcomes, as in theories of team performance, linear progressions of competence as in communities of practice or through resolving contradictions in activity systems using activity theory. We conclude that collective learning is a holistic relational complex that is irreducible to the sum of its parts whilst drawing on specifiable and non-specifiable aspects that are only obtained through engagement in practice.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Argote, L., Gruenfeld, L., & Naquin, C. (2001). Group learning in organizations. In M. E. Turner (Ed.), Groups at work: Theory and research (pp. 369–411). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Barrick, M. R., Stewart, G. L., Neubert, M. J., & Mount, M. K. (1998). Relating member ability and personality to work-team processes and team effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(3), 377–391.
Beckett, D., & Hager, P. (2002). Life, work and learning: Practice in postmodernity. London: Routledge.
Billett, S. (2008). Learning through work: Exploring instances of relational interdependencies. International Journal of Educational Research, 47(4), 232–240.
Boreham, N. (2004). A theory of collective competence: Challenging the neo-liberal individualisation of performance at work. British Journal of Educational Studies, 52(1), 5–17.
Bradbury, H., & Lichtenstein, B. M. B. (2000). Relationality in organizational research: Exploring the space between. Organization Science, 11(5), 551–564.
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42.
Chia, R. (1999). A ‘rhizomic’ model of organisational change and transformation: Perspectives from a metaphysics of change. British Journal of Management, 10(3), 209–227.
Cohen, S. G., & Bailey, D. E. (1997). What makes teams work: Group effectiveness research from the shop floor to the executive suite. Journal of Management, 23(3), 239–290.
Cunliffe, A. L. (2008). Orientations to social constructionism: Relationally responsive social constructionism and its implications for knowledge and learning. Management Learning, 39(2), 123–139.
de Laat, M., & Simons, R.-J. (2002). Collective learning: Theoretical perspectives and ways to support networked learning. European Journal for Vocational Training, 27(3), 13–24.
Dechant, K., Marsick, V. J., & Kasl, E. (1993). Towards a model of team learning. Studies in Continuing Education, 15(1), 1–14.
Dewey, J., & Bentley, A. (1949). Knowing and the known. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Emirbayer, M. (2002). Manifesto for a relational sociology. The American Journal of Sociology, 103(2), 281–317.
Fenwick, T. (2008). Understanding relations of individual-collective learning in work: A review of research. Management Learning, 39(3), 227–243.
Garavan, T. N., & McCarthy, A. (2008). Collective learning processes and human resource development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(4), 451–471.
Gergen, K. J. (2009). Relational being: Beyond self and community. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hager, P., & Halliday, J. (2006). Recovering informal learning: Wisdom, judgement and community. Dordrecht: Springer. (Issued in paperback 2009)
Hager, P., & Johnsson, M. C. (2009a). Learning to become a professional orchestral musician: Going beyond skill and technique. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 61(2), 103–118.
Hager, P., & Johnsson, M. C. (2009b). Working outside the comfort of competence in a corrections centre: Toward collective competence. Human Resource Development International, 12(5), 493–509.
Heron, J., & Reason, P. (2006). The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research ‘with’ rather than ‘on’ people. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research (pp. 144–154). London: Sage.
Johnsson, M. C., & Boud, D. (2010). Towards an emergent view of learning work. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 29(3), 359–372.
Johnsson, M. C., & Hager, P. (2008). Navigating the wilderness of becoming professional. Journal of Workplace Learning, 20(7/8), 526–536.
Kasl, E., Marsick, V. J., & Dechant, K. (1997). Teams as learners: A research-based model of team learning. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 33(2), 227–246.
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2001). The discipline of teams: A handbook for delivering small group performance. New York: Wiley.
Kemmis, S. (2005). Knowing practice: Searching for saliences. Pedagogy, Culture, and Society, 13(3), 391–426.
Kilgore, D. (1999). Understanding learning in social movements: A theory of collective learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 18(3), 191–202.
Kilpatrick, S., Bell, R., & Falk, I. (1999). The role of group learning in building social capital. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 51(1), 129–144.
Kim, D. (1993). The link between individual and organizational learning. Sloan Management Review, 35(1), 37–50.
Knight, L. (2002). Network learning: Exploring learning by interorganizational networks. Human Relations, 55(4), 427–454.
Kyriakidou, O., & Özbilgin, M. F. (Eds.). (2006). Relational perspectives in organizational studies: A research companion. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MacIntyre, A. (1999). Dependent rational animals: Why human beings need the virtues. Chicago: Open Court.
Maitlis, S. (2005). The social processes of organizational sensemaking. Academy of Management Journal, 48(1), 21–49.
Mead, G. H. (1932/1959). In A. E. Murphy (Ed.), The philosophy of the present. La Salle: Open Court.
Mittendorff, K., Geijsel, F., Hoeve, A., de Laat, M., & Nieuwenhuis, L. (2006). Communities of practice as stimulating forces for collective learning. Journal of Workplace Learning, 18(5), 298–312.
Moingeon, B., & Edmondson, A. C. (Eds.). (1996). Organizational learning and competitive advantage. London: Sage.
Nonaka, L., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Orlikowski, W. J. (2002). Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing. Organization Science, 13(3), 249–273.
Orlikowski, W. J., & Yates, J. (2002). It’s about time: Temporal structuring in organizations. Organization Science, 13(6), 684–700.
Rainbird, H., Fuller, A., & Munro, A. (Eds.). (2004). Workplace learning in context. London: Routledge.
Schatzki, T. (2009). Timespace and the organization of social life. In E. Shove, F. Trentmann, & R. Wilk (Eds.), Time, consumption and everyday life: Practice, materiality and culture (pp. 35–48). Oxford: Berg.
Sessa, V. I., & London, M. (Eds.). (2008). Work group learning: Understanding, improving & assessing how groups learn in organizations. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shotter, J. (2006). Understanding process from within: An argument for “withness”-thinking. Organization Science, 27(4), 585–604.
Shotter, J., & Tsoukas, H. (2007, June 7–9). Theory as therapy: Towards reflective theorizing in organizational studies. Paper presented at the Third Organization Studies Summer Workshop: ‘Organizational studies as applied science: The generation and use of academic knowledge about organizations, Crete, Greece, 25 pp.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2009). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
Simpson, B. (2009). Pragmatism, Mead and the practice turn. Organization Studies, 30(12), 1329–1347.
Tompkins, T. C. (1995). Role of diffusion in collective learning. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 3(1), 69–85.
Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies, 2(4), 419–427.
Tuomi-Gröhn, T., & Engeström, Y. (Eds.). (2003). Between school and work: New perspectives on transfer and boundary-crossing. Amsterdam: Pergamon and European Association for Learning and Instruction.
van Vijfeijken, H., Kleingeld, A., van Thijl, H., Algera, J. A., & Thierry, H. (2002). Task complexity and task, goal and reward interdependence in group performance management: A prescriptive model. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 11(3), 363–383.
Weber, M. (1964). In T. Parsons (Ed.), Max Weber: The theory of social and economic organization. New York: Free Press.
Wexler, D. B., & Winick, B. J. (Eds.). (1991). Essays in therapeutic jurisprudence. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.
Acknowledgement
The empirical work discussed in this chapter was funded by a research grant from the Australian Research Council.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hager, P., Johnsson, M.C. (2012). Collective Learning Practice. In: Hager, P., Lee, A., Reich, A. (eds) Practice, Learning and Change. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4774-6_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4774-6_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4773-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4774-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)