Informal learning in a workplace context

Informal learning in a workplace context

            Context-based learning is the use of real-life situation examples in the teaching environment to educate through actual and practical experiences rather than just using the theoretical parts of learning while workplace learning is the site of different intersecting interests, different contested ideas and multiple forms of writing and rapidly evolving practice. Informal learning is the kind of learning that happens through experience and is self-directed, has no prior set objectives and it’s not limited to any predefined body of knowledge. In a workplace context, informal learning occurs through everyday employees’ conversations, social interaction, and teamwork and even through mentoring. Everyday activities in the workplace bring actual experiences to the people in the surrounding and give them an opportunity to learn in a way that we can say is informal.  In an instance whereby an employee interacts with another and watches them work out their experiences and learn core managerial skills that involve work activities through their work partners that are termed as a major part of informal learning.

The rationale for selecting informal workplace learning

In a workplace setting, to achieve good outcomes from the work activities there must be a friendly relation between the organization learning conditions and the individual needs, and therefore informal learning can be the most suitable form of learning in this context because it helps an organization in the following ways;

• Provides a great passage for the collaboration between employees.
• In an informal setting, people are more willing to share their knowledge than in a formal setting.
• It is a more relaxing and a less threating form of learning since it doesn’t meet expectations of later tests or any formal questioning.
• It is natural learning, and it motivates people to engage because it suits their needs.
• Time and cost barriers do not exist in an informal setting, and that makes it cheaper to deal with it.
• It does not require any foundation of experiences or acquired knowledge and skills.
• It facilitates the building of a blueprint for a learning organization.

Features of informal workplace learning

Daily routines coordinate informal learning in a workplace context. Learning at work happens through everyday work activities like the day to day socialization among employees brings them in a setting where they interact and find themselves sharing and acquiring new skills.

An internal and external push initiates it- informal learning it takes mutual sharing willingness between two interacting parties for it to take place effectively. The social interaction must be that one part needs to listen to what is being shared and the other part must be willing to share. Therefore we can say it is a two-way process that needs both parts to be equally invested in the idea.

Informal learning is not highly conscious- this form of learning is not put down under any conditions or given any outcome expectations after its process but it’s rather ruled free and provides a relaxed environment and it purely a natural demanding process. People don’t have to worry about failing exams set after the learning process or having to achieve any prior set objectives it just happens for the benefits of the participants.

It is influenced by chance- even though in a workplace someone who is guiding a specific group can organize an informal meeting and let the employees in that group share their expertise skills freely, mostly informal learning is a non-planned scenario and is created by the situations participants find themselves in.

Theoretical concepts of informal learning

Informal learning – an administrative concept

When we view informal learning under the administrative theory concept it can be discussed to mean the following thing;

• Learning that takes place outside a certain learning environment and which comes up from the activities and interests of groups and individuals and most of the time is not recognized as a learning process.
• As a non-course-based learning process (which may include things like; talks, discussion or presentations, information, guidance, and advice) provided in response to expressed interests and needs by people from a range of sectors and organizations.
• Planned learning such as short course activities that are organized as a response to certain interests and needs but are delivered in flexible and informal ways and informal community settings.

And According to Margaret Dale and John Bell (1999) on this theoretical concept define informal learning in the workplace context somewhat more narrowly for their purposes as:

• Learning which takes place in the work setting and it relates to an individual’s performance of their job and also on their employability which is not formally organized at any level into a programme or curriculum by the employer. It might be initiated by the different parties involved, and may not at all times get encouraged.

Therefore the central and defining characteristics of informal learning in this perspective is context – or more accurately administrative context setting and sponsorship. A further issue to be looked under this concept is that many of those commentating on informal learning do not seem to make enough distinction between what is learning and what is education. The latter can be characterized as context out to foster environments for learning that involve certain commitment in different values such as a sign of respect for truth and persons.

Informal learning as implicit, reactive and deliberative learning

When we look at informal learning as an implicit form of learning, we explain the notion of its participants being able to select which experiences among the acquired ones that are to be used or the ones to enter in their memories and the unconscious effect that informal learning has on the people involved.

Informal learning as a reactive process concept it is explained how it occurs incidentally without it being priory planned and people being naturally prepared to learn from what they experience in the interaction and take with no much stressing.

As a deliberative form informal learning is explained in the sense where it could happen through a planned forum and let people to be involved aware that it was going to take place. For instance in a case where a leader in an organization Can assemble the workers and ask them to share their expertise skills for example how one of them was able to use a certain skill to cut down their filing hours and beat up a tight schedule.

Informal learning as situated learning

            This theory discusses informal learning as a process that places under specific situations that are triggered by internal needs and external willing to be involved in the learning. Learning involves the whole person individual; it checks not only a relation to certain activities, and a relationship that it holds to social communities – it implies becoming a entire participant, a member, a kind of person. In this view, learning only partly – and often incidentally – implies becoming able to be involved in new activities, to perform new tasks and functions, to master new understandings.

How diversity and culture works with informal learning

Power distance

In an organization setting, the relationship between managers and their subordinates shows the extent of the power distance that exists in that work environment. If an organization is in a small power distance country, it workers are more likely to have an equal relationship with their superiors. On the contrary in high power distance countries, an organization is more likely to have a unequal relationship. In the workplace, informal learning is tightened personally, when an individual is proactive in a decision-making situation about his or her work. Therefore, individuals can be positively or negatively affected in their informal-learning activities based on the situated power distance environment because it defines the relationships between the organization supervisors and their subordinates.

Collectivism versus individualism

In individualist cultures, individuals are anticipated to behave for their interests but in collectivist cultures, a group benefit is more of the outcome expectation, and the private benefit is not viewed as an outstanding achievement. On the other hand, individual from collectivist cultures they look on the organization and the people they are working with collectively as a family in which the responsibilities of being loyal and devoted should have no question on its existence. Relationships between individuals influence the ways and the extent to which individual to individual interactions occur in organizations. The interaction that occurs in Peer-to-peer situation they also reveal different aspects of cultures that control informal interactions. Therefore we can conclude that collectivistic cultures have more strength in collaborating group activities compared with individualistic culture.

Femininity versus masculinity

This discusses how aggressive or calm a culture can be. In the workplace context, a feminine culture emphasizes on the inner activities of the organization, the peace the activities can keep, and too looks at the decision-making process involved in the organization whereas, a masculine culture focuses on the organization’s performance, its competitiveness level, and its achievement. In feminine cultures, workers expect equal benefits, prefer more leisure to more money, and prefer a humanized job believing it needs cooperation with other people, whereas those from masculine cultures they view equal benefits for granted, they desire more money than more leisure, and consider humanization of work coming from rich work context.

People from masculine cultures are likely to have a stronger willingness to deal challenges they encounter at work, which comes as a relation to their inner self-concept, affecting their work performance and achievement. Self-concepts that influence confidence and efficacy for work are main factors influencing informal learning that takes place in a workplace. Therefore, attitudes toward learning may differ across cultures. Also, individuals from masculine cultures are more likely to respond with cheerful, honored, and proud emotions towards their work and to the competitive work environment while those possessing feminine cultural traits are likely going to be open, relaxed, peaceful, and as well have comfortable emotions.

Uncertainty avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance talks of how stressed people are in uncertain and unclear situations and In the workplace, employees who have strong uncertainty avoiding cultures they feel relieved when they are provided with formal rules, regulations, more detailed rules, and explicit rules because they have a foundation to follow on whereas people from low uncertainty avoidance cultures feel restricted and uncomfortable in such setting (Jeffs, T., & Smith, M. (1999).Therefore, it is concluded that people from uncertainty avoiding countries prefer less change in their routine, more rules, busier work, and a more formalized setting but those from a low uncertainty avoidance cultures they show greater acceptance of change and are too ready to accept to deal with of ambiguous situations.

In light of these different traits, we can say that individual informal learning is carried out intentionally, such as self-directed learning, may be influenced by these cultural attributes since people from this strong uncertainty avoidance cultures easily feel anxious with an informal and self-controlled learning environment setting but they are likely to feel comfortable when formalized and predicted learning settings are provided. Informal learning which an individual attains any knowledge by interacting with anybody at any time in their surrounding environment could be limited to certain cultures because of a lack of stable relationships between teacher and student and also the extent of the need for self-learning control goes up to.

References

Foley, G. (1999). Learning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal      Education. Global Perspectives on Adult Education and Training. St. Martin’s Press, Inc.,        175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Jeffs, T., & Smith, M. (1999). Informal education: Conversation, democracy and learning.            Ticknall: Education Now.

Scribner, S., & Cole, M. (1973). Cognitive consequences of formal and informal education.          Science, 182(4112), 553-559.

Smith, M. K. (2002). Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy.   Infed, the Encyclopedia of informal education.