Workplace learning in the New Zealand apple industry network

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe how, from 2004‐2006, a New Zealand research team experimented with the “change laboratory” learning process to create a new method of government policy development and implementation, referred to as “practice‐making”. The apple industry in Hawke's Bay was chosen because of the level of tension among government agencies and small/medium‐sized firms in the industry, particularly around the scarcity of seasonal labour, amid growing concerns about the possible collapse of the industry.Design/methodology/approachThe team stimulated a cycle of expansive learning among the network of activity systems in the industry. Laboratory participants were growers, labour contractors, pack house operators, quality controllers, horticultural consultants and government officials. The expansive learning cycle is a core concept in developmental work research (DWR) and cultural‐historical activity theory (CHAT).FindingsParticipants created a shared “object” for apple production and its government policy and regulation built around quality, making a substantive shift from adaptive learning to transformational learning, and creating a major redesign of the industry. Many of the new practices are now being implemented in the industry and government.Practical implicationsThe CHAT/DWR approach seems particularly well suited for complex problem solving in any network where there are intractable systems contradictions and a strong desire among participants to make real change.Originality/valueIt is understood that this is the first time a change laboratory process has been used for government “practice‐making” with industry, in contrast with traditional policy development and implementation that frequently does not address systemic problems.

Development Curriculum for Knowledge-Based Organizations

“…The core concept of the DWR is the cycle of expansive learning (Engeström, 1987), the model of which with its many variations has been applied to a wide range of work life activities in Finland and internationally (e.g. Hasan & Crawford, 2003;Hill et al, 2007;Holt, 2008;Warmington, 2009). It has been suggested that networked collaboration adds multiple levels of activity to the cycles of learning and development (Toiviainen, 2007).…”

What knowledge is required to grow food? A framework for understanding horticulture's skills ‘crisis’

“…Migrant workers are central to the fresh produce industry in north America (Bonanno and Cavalcanti, 2014;Friedberg, 2010;Hernandez, 2012;Holmes, 2013;Preibisch, 2007), and Europe (Findlay and McCollum, 2012;Rye and Scott, 2018). UK horticulture's survival and growth is seen as threatened by controls on international mobility (Lang et al, 2017), as growers rely on migrant workers for seasonal roles (Curtain et al, 2018;Hill et al, 2007;Scott, 2015). Following the UK vote to leave the EU, a hostile environment to non-UK nationals reportedly deterred seasonal migration, leaving crops unharvested (Maye et al, 2018).…”

Creating a climate of change in the City of Johannesburg: Co-learning to adapt to climate change

“…This provides methodological guidance for the creation of new practices through major redesign of the activity system. 7,27,28 In CHAT, the basic unit of analysis that provides the minimal meaningful context for understanding human action is the object-oriented activity system, which is heterogeneous and multi-voiced. 29,30 An activity system is composed of different elements that interact and are driven by an object to produce something with societal value.…”