LEARNING STRATEGIES

Critical Reflection Based on Strategies the Learner Has Used To Facilitate Learning in the Workplace

Critical Reflection Based on Strategies the Learner Has Used To Facilitate Learning in the Workplace

Introduction

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, globalization is having a profound effect on government economic and social policies around the world. Education is seen as a primary driver for economic development in the knowledge society. In developed countries continued prosperity is predicated on knowledge-based enterprises that in turn are dependent upon educational policies. In the current knowledge-based economic climate, it is fair to say, the success of an organization is inextricably linked to the individual, his educational achievement and his ability to go on learning. Thus, the most salient contextual issues framing this paper are globalization, knowledge society and the convergence of the new information technologies and globalization in the so-called “techno-economic paradigm”.

Several concepts that have relevant implications for workplace educators and that parallel the three types of learning described by Mezirow. Briefly, these can be identified as:

1) Reflection on experience,

2) The linkage between personal meaning and the socially created and contextual meanings that are found in organizational culture, and

3) The transformation of personal frames of meaning and reference.

Marsick (1988) has indicated that, as we move toward the twenty-first century, the workplace is increasingly being recognized as a setting in which significant learning can occur. The problem today, however, with many workplace training programs is that they are only partially successful in solving learning problems because training is often separated from context; even when steps are taken to help transfer training skills to the job, workers are left on their own to assess how these training skills connect to real world situations and workplace problems.

The most used model for training in business is the behaviourist (Marsick, 1988). This sequenced process ofleaming is based on the ability of learners to attain clearly defined learning objectives specified by observable outcomes. Although this approach is necessary and even valuable in some instances, such as in technical training, Brookfield (1989) argues that this viewpoint is ill-suited to contexts in which learners are trying to develop self-insight or interpret and find meaning in their past experiences. The behaviourist perspective may be the safest method of training in organizations, but in many cases it may hinder rather than enhance learning. Behaviourist training that emphasizes acquiring and demonstrating previously defined skills, knowledge, and behaviours focuses on what trainers do to employees. In contrast, learning involves employees as active participants in expanding their own skills.

Training programs need to provide employees with a conceptual foundation for analyzing problems, making decisions, and learning independently. Workers today need to be able to analyze situations, determine the nature of the problem, and define their own solutions to these problems, often on the job. The central goal of this article is to examine the critical reflectivity perspective and analyze its potential contributions to facilitating learning in the workplace. The critical reflectivity theory addressed in this article attempts to capture what is unique ...