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Informal Workplace Learning

Turning the Workplace into a Learning Site

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Handbook of Vocational Education and Training

Abstract

In recent decades, people have faced various global economic, technological, and social changes. Consequently, there is a need for ongoing vocational and professional development in working life. Simultaneously, there has been a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of informal learning next to formal training arrangements. This chapter provides an overview of prominent context and individual factors related to informal workplace learning. Since the overall structure of the chapter follows the tentative 3-P model of workplace learning, some central learning activities and outcomes of informal workplace learning are shortly presented. Nevertheless, informal workplace learning processes are often unplanned and unconscious, and the outcomes may be unpredictable. This chapter may serve as a base for employees, managers, and human resource development professionals for understanding informal workplace learning and workplaces as sites for learning. This chapter may also provide researchers with future research directions by discussing previous findings and research instruments and identifying some limitations of current research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Heta Rintala, Petri Nokelainen & Laura Pylväs

Authors
  1. Heta Rintala
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  2. Petri Nokelainen
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  3. Laura Pylväs
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heta Rintala .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Nottingham School of Education, Nottingham, UK

    Simon McGrath

  2. Education and Competence Studies Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Martin Mulder

  3. Faculty of Education, University of the Western Cape Faculty of Education, Bellville, South Africa

    Joy Papier

  4. School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Rebecca Suart

Section Editor information

  1. Institute of Technology and Education, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Michael Gessler

  2. University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Larissa Freund

  3. University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Susanne Peters

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Rintala, H., Nokelainen, P., Pylväs, L. (2019). Informal Workplace Learning. In: McGrath, S., Mulder, M., Papier, J., Suart, R. (eds) Handbook of Vocational Education and Training. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49789-1_97-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49789-1_97-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49789-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49789-1

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