PRACTICE ARTICLE Informal learning in the workplace - ed - importance of informal education

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• (1) examples of informal education
• (2) disadvantages of informal education
• (3) advantages of formal learning
• (4) importance of informal education

Australian Journal of Adult Learning
Volume 51, Number 2, July 2011
PRACTICE ARTICLE
Informal learning in the workplace:
A review of the literature
Megan Le Clus
Edith Cowan University
In the last few decades, the workplace has been increasingly
recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills
and knowledge, which in turn enables workers to participate
more effectively in ever-changing work environments. Within the
workplace, there is the potential for continuous learning to occur
not only through formal learning initiatives that are associated
with training, but also through informal learning opportunities that
are embedded within everyday work activities. This paper surveys
the growing body of literature on informal learning, makes some
critical observations about the importance of informal learning, and
explains the various ways that informal learning can occur in the
workplace.
356 Megan Le Clus
Introduction
In the last few decades, the workplace has been increasingly
recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills
and knowledge, which in turn enables workers to participate more
effectively in ever-changing work environments. Many scholars agree
that the workplace provides a rich environment for learning (see for
example, Hager 2001, Beckett & Hager 2002, Boud & Middleton
2003). Billett (1996) proposed that changes in the contemporary
workplace represent the importance of workplaces as significant sites
for learning. Therefore, learning has become important on many
organisational agendas. However, there is no clear or consistent
definition of workplace learning and, although often confined to
learning that takes place in the workplace, definitions can be broad
and include other types of work-related learning which support work
roles.
Consequently, in the literature learning in the workplace has become
a somewhat confusing concept that is represented by a variety of
meanings. Hager (1998) described workplace learning as ambiguous
and Spencer claimed that `much of the rhetoric proclaiming the
virtues of workplace restructuring seldom matches workplace reality'
(2002: 298). A year earlier, Engestr?m noted that current theories
of organisational learning were `typically weak in spelling out the
specific processes or actions that make the learning process' (2001:
150). For this reason, workplace learning has become a contested
notion by some educationalists, despite the processes involved
having received little research attention (Boreham & Morgan
2004). The emerging body of literature related to learning in the
workplace suggests that this is widely researched and in continuous
development.
The way co-workers and their organisations perceive learning can be
very different. This is perhaps, as Hager (2001) suggested, because
the term `learning' is used in so many diverse ways and it can refer to
Informal learning in the workplace 357
either process and product, or both. In general, these views include
formal types of learning that are organisational (see for example,
Senge 1990, Rylatt 2000), and more non-formal types of learning,
such as informal and incidental learning (e.g. Marsick & Watkins
1990 & 1999, Marsick & Volpe 1999, Hager & Halliday 2006).
Therefore, within the workplace, there is the potential for continuous
learning to occur not only through formal learning initiatives that
are associated with training, but also through informal learning
opportunities that are embedded within everyday work activities. This
paper surveys the growing body of literature on informal learning
in the workplace, beginning with an overview of learning in the
workplace.
Learning in the workplace
Today's co-workers are constantly faced with challenges that
affect both the way they perform their job and their participation
in everyday workplace activities. They are expected to continually
modify and update their work practices in order to sustain
competitive advantage, remain employable and perform well. For
this reason, the workplace is increasingly recognised as a legitimate
environment for learning new skills and knowledge that enable
co-workers to better participate in everyday, work-related activities.
If learning through life is essential to the labour market, then
workplaces and co-workers are crucial in supporting, valuing and
developing opportunities for learning.
In the workplace, learning can be described as situated in the
context of social practice (Lave & Wenger 1991), in which the
work setting provides an opportunity for co-workers to acquire
knowledge that connects theory to practice in a realistic and efficient
way (Billett 1996). Workplace learning includes experience-based
learning, incidental and informal learning (Marsick & Watkins
2001, Marsick & Volpe 1999, Foley 1999, Hager & Halliday 2006),


What are the benefits of informal learning? There are many benefits of informal learning activities: Low Stress With no formal testing, there is no high-pressure situation. Flows with Daily Work Informal learning activities fit easily into a work day. ... Intuitive People naturally learn in an informal setting, they have been doing it their whole lives. More items...

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