Environmental Inhibitors to Informal Learning in the Workplace: A Case Study of Public School Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine environmental inhibitors to informal learning in the workplace. Twenty-two experienced teachers were interviewed and numerous site visits were made to each school where these teachers worked to develop a greater understanding of the ways in which aspects of their work environment inhibited them from engaging in informal learning. Four environmental inhibitors emerged from an analysis of the data: lack of time for learning, lack of proximity to learning resources, lack of meaningful rewards for learning, and limited decision-making power in school management. Implications of these findings for theory, research, and the facilitation of informal learning in the workplace are discussed.

Situational Inhibitors to Informal Learning in the Workplace: A Case Study of Accountants

“…Situational inhibitor refers to situational factors within a working environment that can reduce professionals' ability to gain access to, and pursue informal learning opportunities (Cross, 1981;Lohman, 2000). Therefore, situational inhibitors in this paper refer to situational factors within a public accounting firm environment that can inhibit accountants from informal learning activities.…”

Intergenerational professional relationships in elementary school teams: a social network approach

“…Also in terms of teacher learning, the social side of learning is emphasised based on the idea that cognition is situated in nature (e.g. Kwakman, 2003;Lohman, 2000Lohman, , 2006Meredith, Van den Noortgate, Struyve, Gielen, & Kyndt, 2017;Van Waes, Van den Bossche, Moolenaar, De Maeyer & Van Petegem, 2015). A shift from a focus on the individual towards a more social approach contributed to the popularity of social network research methods to investigate relationships of teachers (Baker-Doyle, 2015).…”

Teacher Learning Within the School Context: An Ecological Perspective

“…In a similar study, most of the teachers reported the lack of proximity to learning resources (Lohman, 2000). In this study, although teachers in some elite schools have an annual budget to add new resources to their school library, most mainstream schools do not have that luxury.…”

“…For example, Lohman (2000) has listed four such inhibitors and these are: lack of time for learning; lack of proximity to learning resources; lack of meaningful rewards for learning; and limited decision-making power.…”

“…Informal learning is characterised as being "implicit, unintended, opportunistic and unstructured" (Eraut, 2004, p. 254), including on-the-job activities such as peer learning, individual inquiry, and experiential learning (Scribner, 1999, p. 248). These activities are initiated by people in the workplace in an attempt to develop their professional knowledge and skills (Lohman, 2000). Lohman and Woolf (2001, p. 144) have found that teachers engage in the following types of informal learning activities:  knowledge exchanging, in which teachers share and reflect on others" practice and experiences;  experimenting, in which teachers actively experiment with new ideas and techniques; and  environmental scanning, in which teachers independently scan and gather information from sources outside the school.…”