When job aids attack: On the social history of dubious job aids

Abstract

In this article we introduce the job aid as a cultural artifact in specific historical social contexts. Framing job aids as such within a broader context of social history enables human resource development (HRD) researchers and practitioners to reflect critically on training and development with a perspective on social justice vis‐à‐vis social responsibility. With the use of a targeted literature review, we present two historical cases of questionable job aids, specifically, in the so‐called patent medicines of the early 20th century and the job aids used for training the Hitler Youth. Lessons learned from social history include recognizing the fundamental role that culture has in shaping not only what actions adult learners carry out, but also how the job aids can memorialize their performance. Further, it is posited that introducing the dimension of social history to training offers a more thorough and robust inquiry to critical HRD.

Breeding hate: A case study of training for ethnic cleansing in war‐torn Yugoslavia

“…Few studies in HRD have historicized instances where “ordinary training processes were part of extraordinary and, sometimes, perverse contexts” (Kopp et al, 2010, p. 214), or examined the perils of HRD techniques being used for “malevolent purposes” (Nabb & Armstrong, 2005, p. v). Training was proven to be malicious when “the similarities between Nazi training methods and those currently used in HRD” were illuminated (Nabb & Armstrong, 2005, p. vii).…”

“…Yet, even when historical research is offered in our field it remains difficult to get published because journal editors suppose such research falls outside the scope of the journal or fails to stoke lively interest among its readers (McLean, 2016). Moreover, there is a dearth of literature in HRD on the social history of training (Kopp et al, 2010). Social history ought to concern HRD as certain histories memorialized by, or in, training designs serve as “cautionary tales to us and detail the unintended, and sometimes intended, consequences of performance improvement” (Kopp et al, 2010, p. 219).…”

“…Moreover, there is a dearth of literature in HRD on the social history of training (Kopp et al, 2010). Social history ought to concern HRD as certain histories memorialized by, or in, training designs serve as “cautionary tales to us and detail the unintended, and sometimes intended, consequences of performance improvement” (Kopp et al, 2010, p. 219).…”

“…Few deconstructive papers have used HRD to reveal the social history of how regimes responsible for crimes against humanity trained their human resources to murder (Kopp, 2007; Kopp et al, 2010; Nabb & Armstrong, 2005; Procknow, 2014). When the historical record is viewed through an HRD lens historical educational events can be perceived differently (Procknow, 2014).…”

“…Yet, when an HRD lens was used the educative strategies were found to be conducive to learning: structured, organized, astutely planned, and consistently implemented throughout Democratic Kampuchea (DK; Procknow, 2014). Other deconstructive pieces consider how the Hitler Youth learned from job aids, and ruminate whether we in HRD should be concerned with training that “facilitate[s] the ends of what might be considered dubious [or lethal] performance” (Kopp et al, 2010, p. 210), how vocational training organized to enhance the skills of Jewish slave labor in Eastern Europe had “aided and abetted human events in both triumph and in ignominy”, especially when training increased their chances for survival (Kopp, 2007, p. 589), and how SS Special Units, Concentration Camp‐Personnel, and Extermination Camp‐Personnel trained for atrocities during the Holocaust (Nabb & Armstrong, 2005).…”