Chapter 1
Introduction
Introduction
The aim of this research monograph is to offer interested readers deep insights into how workers negotiate their occupational practices, either within one occupation or between occupations. In writing this book, four related concepts are investigated. These are informal learning, practitioner inquiry, occupational education and epistemological perspective. To study this phenomenon, this introduction chapter is structured into six sections. After the introductory paragraph, the next section provides an overview of informal learning. The third and fourth sections offer explanations of practitioner inquiry and occupational education, respectively. The fifth section includes a rationale of the epistemological approach of this book. The final section includes salient details of the chapters.
Informal learning
Learning may be viewed as an activity that happens throughout one's lifetime. Depending on how this activity is defined, some may see this activity in various forms. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 1996) defines lifelong learning as an activity that everyone can engage in throughout one's lifespan. It is an individual and social process. The OECD definition also specifies types of learning under the lifelong learning umbrella. These include formal and non-formal or informal. The former types take place in schools, vocational, tertiary and adult education institutions, and the latter at home, work and in communities. Both learning types start from an epistemological stance, i.e. knowledge is necessary.
The Commission of the European Communities (2007) offered a more work-oriented approach to learning so that people can adapt and improve their education and training throughout their lives. The Commission also acknowledged the changing landscape of work and its uncertainties regarding employment, which it terms âflexicurityâ.
In this monograph, the duality of formal and informal learning types is viewed as a continuum or two ends of a spectrum. By approaching learning in this manner, this book aims to delineate this activity/process as degrees of formal and informal education regarding the occupational practices of the participants in Chapter 4.
Practitioner inquiry
The second aspect of the research monograph title refers to practitioner inquiry (PI). There is a uniqueness to the situations that practitioners face; they are not merely applying standard theories to stock situations but must first frame the problem to be solved. As Schön puts it, the practitioner âmust construct an understanding of the situation as he finds it. And because he finds the situation problematic, he must reframe itâ. And âhe does not act as though he had no relevant prior experiences ⊠but he attends to the peculiarities of the situation at handâ (1991, p. 129). In this respect, one could argue that practitioners spend a good deal of time doing things for the first time.
Furthermore, problems cannot be abstracted from the situations and contexts in which they are experienced, and any proposed solutions need to fit with the prevailing cultural and social structures. Practitioners inhabit a world where wicked problems are the norm and progress is made through collaborative efforts that ultimately involve one or more groups of stakeholders, letting go of a cherished belief. Brown, Harris, and Russell (2010) captures the challenge nicely when she posits that practitioners make decisions against a background of five distinct knowledge domains, namely, individual, community, specialist, organisational and holistic and that most individuals favour one form of knowledge over the others.
It could be said that all practice is a form of in the moment inquiry, a process that Schön refers to as reflection-in-action. Through a process of respectful dialogue, and reflective questioning, practitioners interrogate their context from multiple perspectives, recognising that we are all held prisoners by our experience and the âbig assumptions' that shape our meaning-making system (Brookfield, 2012). By treating their practice as a process of inquiry, the practitioner can consciously become more curious, thoughtful, and, one might say, scholarly. As a consequence of this, they can become more aware of the vertical shifts in meaning-making that shape the process of adult development (Kegan, 1982).
Occupational education
The third aspect of the research monograph title refers to occupational education (OE) (Loo, 2019). OE is a term to encompass the elements of this book, which are on the informal learning of the 11 contributors as viewed as practitioners and experts in their current fields. The last point implies the different journeys of each of the contributors to their current area of practice. The other element refers to the contributors' inquiry as practitioners and, for some, as mentors, teachers or facilitators. This element offers insights into the contributors' learning and practising tensions. Included in these elements are the related epistemological dimension of being and becoming expert practitioners in their chosen fields.
OE is a way of bringing all these elements together. Perhaps, a working definition of OE at this juncture might be helpful. OE may include learning, teaching and working from the initial acquisition of the relevant know-how to continually develop professionally after qualification, where appropriate. Some professions may have a more traditional route to professional membership, whereas the newer ones, especially in the knowledge economy, may not have a recognised professional pathway. This triumvirate perspective of OE is part of the lifelong learning concept where education and working are integral and ongoing in one's lifetime. From the academic levels, OE encompasses the three levels of adult education from pre-university, university and professional training. This concept of OE will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
Epistemological perspective
The final aspect of the title of this research monograph relates to epistemology, where clarification of this term would enhance the readers' understanding of this book.
Epistemology refers to the study of human knowledge concerning the nature and validity, especially the difference between knowledge and belief (Wellington, 2015). Perhaps, going even further back, Burrell and Morgan (1979) enumerated this concept of epistemology by questioning the very essence of this concept regarding the nature, forms, acquisition and manner of communication of the knowledge between people. They also discussed the tangibility and intangibility of knowledge along with its objective (i.e. positivism) and subjective (i.e. anti-positivist) nature. It is not the intention of this chapter to consider the merits and demerits of positivism or anti-positivism as it is outside the scope of the research monograph. However, Burrell and Wellington beg the fundamental question of human interactions: as respondents to the environment we find ourselves in or as initiators of our actions. Burrell and Morgan (1979) as quoted in Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000, p. 6) offer the following statement:
Thus, we can identify perspectives in social science which entail a view of human beings responding in a mechanistic or even deterministic fashion to the situations encountered in their external world. This view tends to be one in which human beings and their experiences are regarding as products of the environment; one in which humans are conditioned by external circumstances. This extreme perspective can be contrasted with one which attributes to human beings a much more creative role with a perspective where âfree willâ occupies the centre of the stage; where man [sic] is regarded as the creator of his environment, the controller as opposed to the controlled, the master rather than the marionette. In these two extreme views of the relationship between human beings and their environment, we are identifying a great philosophical debate between the advocates of determinism on the one hand and voluntarism on the other. Whilst these are social theories which adhere to each of these extremes, the assumptions of many social scientists are pitched somewhere in the range between.
The above quotation offers insights and approaches for this research monograph as we, as authors, position themselves within the spectrum of determinism and voluntarism. We believe that as researchers and participants in social science research, there are the inevitable human interactions between our actions as may be attributed to our unique genetic inheritance and the sociocultural and economic environments we find ourselves in. This in-between approach of determinism and voluntarism has resonances with the studies in psychology by Csikszentmihalyi (1988), Gardner (1999) and Sternberg, Kaufman and Pretz (2004). In short, these research studies revolve around the interrelationships between an individual's genetic inheritance and the environment.
To an extent, doing social science research, especially in occupational education, we, as researchers, are attempting to understand and theorise the findings from the interactions of this spectrum of activity. In Chapter 4, the 11 case studies showcase the tension between âdeterministic fashionâ and âfree willâ. Also, from an epistemological stance, the case studies indicate how the contributors negotiate their lives between the occupations or within one occupational practice. In this monograph, knowledge is viewed eclectically to encompass knowledge, experiences, attitudes, attributes and skill sets. The literature review in Chapter 2 will delineate this broad definition further. The negotiation of a worker between and within her/his occupational practices requires a complex amalgam of know-how and not a narrowly defined form of knowledge.
Structuring of the monograph
Chapter 1 offers an overview of this research monograph by first explaining the relevant terms of the book title. It provides the salient details of the book chapters before indicating the pertinent publications and unique marketing points.
The aim of Chapter 2 is to provide insights into how workers negotiate their work practices, either within one occupation or between professions. The relevant literature sources are reviewed regarding the objectives of the research monograph. These sources may be classified under two strands. The first strand refers to learning where formal and informal types can occur. The other strand relates to work or occupational education, where like in the previous strand, an epistemological approach is taken. Thus, knowledge is used as a starting basis to theorise learning and working. Concerning occupational practices, a literature review regarding two forms is carried out. The first refers to a normative practice where this activity is found in everyday work practices. The other is creative/innovative work practice where creative know-how is applied in the course of work. These dimensions of learning and work are used to conceptualise how practitioners learn and practice within their occupational practices.
Chapter 3 offers the readers a conceptualisation of how the practitioners engage with their professional inquiry. Here, a formalised element of learning using a programme of flexible study is investigated to facilitate the 11 case studies to understand, value, reflect and develop own occupational journeys. These journeys may relate to one profession or more than one occupation.
Chapter 4 provides readers with reflective insights from 11 practitioners. The âcase studies' have diverse epistemological, disciplinary, occupational and narrative descriptions. The eclectic occupations may be divided into conventional and new forms. With the former, these include acting, detective work and management education using jazz improvisation. The new occupations cover boardroom coaching, executive coaching, knowledge strategy and brokering in transportation systems, leadership and management coaching, nutritional therapy, occupational psychology and professional opinion leadership. The gender split is fairly even with six females and five males. Two of the participants offer insights into their âsingleâ occupational practices and the rest from different professions to their current ones.
In Chapter 5, the âempirical dataâ of the 11 case studies are discussed alongside the earlier theory chapters. The main aim of this delineation is to provide a conceptual framework of occupational journeying where formal and informal learning and normative and innovative professional practices are the two dimensions.
Chapter 6 provides a summation of the discussions in this book with the usual caveats and points to further areas of research.
Lastly, the areas that are covered in this distinctive research monograph are as follows:
A comprehensive focus on the journey-making and related know-how of professional/occupational practitioners from conventional and emerging disciplines.
Multidisciplinary insights into occupational pedagogy of practices, practitioners and learners.
Eleven âempiricalâ contributions from practitioners on their working practices.
Conceptual framework is offered following a comprehensive literature review of the modes of learning (including informal, formal, lifelong and transformational types), and work practices of normative and creative/innovative forms.
Eclectic range of professions from conventional occupations of acting, detective work, international road transportation to emerging professions of boardroom consultancy, nutritional therapy and opinion leadership.
