Learning in the Workplace Through Communities of Practice

Learning is a social process that occurs inevitably in everyday life. It is not something that occurs in a specific place or moment, but in every process and interaction, and is deeply contextual (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Learning is ongoing and constantly evolving. It is created through the transformation of experiences, as people interact with others and their environments. In the workplace, learning takes place through everyday interactions among peers, coworkers, management, clients, and stakeholders, and it is shaped by the culture, norms, rules, values, and social context of the workplace, as well as of the teams and groups we are part of. Workplace learning is very situated (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). This type of learning highlights the importance of context and social interaction as determining factors of learning (Merriam & Bierema, 2014).

Lave and Wenger (1991) first recognized situated learning in the communities of practice (CoPs), through which these interactions can occur in an organized way.

CoPs can come together informally, without being recognized as a model for learning, and may go by many names: collaboratives, improvement initiatives, learning groups, among others. Wenger, et al. (2002), defined CoPs as groups of people who share common interests, passion about a topic, a problem, or a concern, and who increase their knowledge and expertise by interacting with other members of the group on an ongoing basis. In CoPs, the members co-construct knowledge through practice and participation. Members interact, come together, and share knowledge and experiences among themselves to build a learning environment. Within the group dynamics, you may see more than just knowledge and experience sharing; you may also see coaching, mentorship, and apprenticeship.

Engagement and participation are key to the success of a CoP. The unifying task or purpose should be relevant, meaningful, important, and realistic to all the members. Clancey (1995) said that understanding performing common tasks and creating activities in the workplace as a social process emphasizes the importance of improving learning, addressing any issues that may arise in group membership, participation, and identity. It is important to understand how learning in the workplace takes place through everyday interactions in the CoP, and the role of culture and social norms that may facilitate or hinder learning. As scholars and practitioners, we know and have seen firsthand that adults learn best through experiences and interactions by which knowledge acquires meaning. Theory, on its own, while important, is not something that inspires or motivates everyone to learn, especially in groups where learning by doing is the most effective way of learning. Some may say that learning the theory of things among certain groups of learners in the workplace, without a demonstration or a live experience, would be a waste of time. Seasonal workers, workers with low levels of education and literacy, people with learning disabilities, or members of minority groups not fluent in the language or with a lack of cultural awareness of the majority of the members of the groups they interact with and are expected to learn with and from, or of others towards the minority groups, are among those groups were learning through meaningful interactions and experience is the most effective way to learn.

I recently participated with a research team in completing interviews for a project that proposes the use of CoPs to promote learning in the workplace among workers in the sanitation industry. The overall goal of the implementation of effective learning strategies as CoPs is to increase the safety and health of the workers, teaching them to make safer choices in the performance of their work, but also teaching management how to make safer choices for the protection of their workforce and clients. My task was to identify Spanish-speaking persons who had a certain level of responsibility in the selection or recommendation of cleaning products, and in the training of the workforce in the appropriate management and use of chemicals, cleaning products, among others. The interviews aimed to identify the most important criteria for the selection of products (cost, safety, efficacy, and durability). The other part of the interview aimed to identify if training was being offered, types of training for the workforce that were most effective, duration, modality, motivational incentives to learn, among others.

As I completed the first few interviews, I soon realized that understanding how learning occurred in the workplace, as well as the choices made, required being knowledgeable about and understanding the conditions and needs of each region, country, type of employee, place, and type of business, among other factors. Understanding the culture, community rules, norms, and practices of each group was key to identifying the best way to transmit and facilitate the acquisition of knowledge in the workplace. Johnson, et al. (2014), said that knowledge of the cultural repertoires of communities of practice enables learning and increases the competencies of the workforce, as learning can be defined by the level of knowledge, acceptance, and adoption of cultural norms, traditions, and values.

Among front-line sanitation workers, the learning strategies identified as most effective were very similar, overall. "They learn through repetition," many interviewed persons said when referring to the cleaning workers. "We teach by explaining, demonstrating, and providing a very brief summary of the most important information they need to know every day before they start their shifts," another said. "When we teach something new, they learn by observing first and then practicing. The more they practice and clarify questions, the more they become comfortable participating in the learning experiences and feel more confident in what is expected from them during the shift," someone added. "Recognition of a job well done is not the same as a money incentive, but making them feel seen and appreciated by supervisors and among their peers and work groups, motivates them to continue learning," another added.

While mid-management could benefit from web-based learning and online CoP initiatives that had been created through the research project, those who perform the jobs for which these CoPs and learning activities were created did not directly benefit. The interviews validated the need for training-of-trainer activities as part of the CoPs to ensure the existing learning products benefit all levels of workers, indirectly through management, and to create new strategies that are more accessible to front-line workers. In regions like Latin America, according to the interviews, management would play a very important role in the success of the CoPs. The level of education and digital literacy of the workforce in the sanitation industry, for example, in most cases, will require a special level of commitment, support, and preparation of management to be able to integrate CoPs into the organizational learning structure, and, as Wenger-Trayner, et al. (2023), said, ensure that the CoPs can reach their full potential.

Learning is part of changing practices in a changing world (Lave & Gomes, 2019). As the world continues to evolve, the ways we live, work, teach, and learn are constantly changing. Educators and learners face new challenges every day to keep up with ongoing changes. The adoption and integration of new strategies for continuous upskilling and new workforce education have become an increasing need. The importance of a skilled workforce for organizational success and change has been widely discussed in literature; nevertheless, not every organization has a strategic workforce education system in place, the current system is outdated, or they lack the resources to effectively and efficiently address the educational needs of the workforce. Bon William & Sarma (2021) said that workforce education systems in the United States have critical gaps around upskilling and better connecting knowledge brought by workers and the reality of work.

Despite challenges in workplace education systems, learning continues to happen every day, organically, in the social context of CoPs (Lave and Wenger, 1991). CoPs have been recognized in the literature as a model of social learning that can provide the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for individuals to become a force of transformation in constantly changing environments, such as the workplace (Wenger-Trayner, 2019). Practitioners have an opportunity to educate leadership and the workforce, provide guidance, and facilitate the adoption of new models and learning strategies, like the CoPs, to foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation. The challenge is: Are we dedicating enough time and resources to learn and fully understand the workforce's socio-cultural norms and practices? Are we assessing the individual capacity to learn, the collective willingness to learn in groups, and the preferred methods and strategies for learning, both individually and collectively as a community of practice? Are we designing and developing educational products for the majority, or are we taking the time to modify, adapt, and personalize to ensure cultural competency, integration, and inclusion? Knowledge acquisition and transmission through Communities of Practice (CoPs) in the workplace is not a one-size-fits-all process. It requires special attention to who the learners are, what their learning needs and expectations are, and most importantly, how they can best learn.

References

‌Clancey, W.J. (1995). A tutorial on situated learning. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Education (Taiwan) Self, J. (Ed.) Charlottesville, VA: AACE. 49-70, 1995

Johnson, L. R., Stribling, C., Almburg, A., & Vitale, G. (2014). "Turning the Sugar." Adult Education Quarterly, 65(1), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713614549230

Knud Illeris. (2018). Contemporary theories of learning: learning theorists … in their own words. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Lave, J., & Gomes, A. (2019). Introduction: The long life of learning in practice. In Learning and everyday life: Access, participation, and changing practice. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-9

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press.

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult Learning. John Wiley & Sons.