Victoria J. Marsick - Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace

Routledge Revivals

Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace

Today, rapid change is a constant challenge in the workplace, and thousands of individuals need to be involved in continuous learning. Traditional training approaches, however, do not emphasise informal and incidental learning. Furthermore, since informal learning us seldom designed, learning outside of a structured experience may lead to mistaken or dysfunctional learning. Strategies for improving informal learning are urgently needed.

This book, first published in 1990, responds to this need by taking a challenging look at many assumptions about workplace learning outside of the classroom and by proposing methods to improve it. They develop a theory of informal and incidental workplace learning based on current developments in training and human resource development which they illustrate with readable and illuminating case studies which tell vivid stories of adult education and human resource development practice.

Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace is essential reading for researchers and practitioners of human resource development, and also for students of education and adult learning.

Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace

Victoria J. Marsick and Karen Watkins

First published in 1990

by Routledge

This edition first published in 2015 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1990 V. J. Marsick and K. E. Watkins

The rights of Victoria J. Marsick and Karen Watkins to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 90008359

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-88470-0 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-71592-6 (ebk)

Informal and incidental learning in the workplace

Victoria J. Marsick

and

Karen E.Watkins

First published 1990

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1990 V.J. Marsick and K.E. Watkins

Typeset by

NWL Editorial Services, Langport, Somerset TA10 9DG

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

Biddles Ltd, Guildford and Kings Lynn

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Informal and incidental learning in the workplace / Victoria J.

Marsick and K.E. Watkins.

p. cm. (International perspectives on adult and continuing education)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-415-03141-9

1. Employees training of. 2. Adult education. 3. Learning. I. Watkins, Karen E., 1946 . II. Title. III. series:

International perspectives on adult and continuing education (Routledge (Firm))

HF5549.5.T7M29 1990

658.3124 dc20

90-8359

CIP

Contents

Figures

Tables

Karen and Victoria wish to acknowledge the following people, without whom this book would not be possible. First and foremost, we would like to thank our families Tanya and Tyson Watkins, Karens children, who have been as patient as young people can be when working parents work; Peter Neaman, Victorias spouse, and Adam Neaman, his son; Karens parents, William and Elizabeth Carncross; and Victorias parents, Edwin and Marie Marsick.

Second, we would like to thank our colleagues in our Departments, Oscar Mink and Jack Mezirow, respectively of the University of Texas, Austin, and Teachers College, Columbia University, for their support and inspiration. We are also grateful to Peter Jarvis for his advice and guidance in this effort.

Finally, thanks go to our doctoral students, who have listened to our ideas, proof-read our work, and inspired us to keep going because of their own interest in the topic.

Victorias special appreciation goes to the following students from Teachers College who have helped her in various ways: Pat Cusack, who proof-read an early version of this book; Kathleen Dechant, whose own work on the informal learning of managers parallels Victorias interests; the Grapevine Gang, a group of doctoral advisees who are collaboratively researching informal learning in different work settings Diana Baule, Jennifer Foster, Maria Fressola, Chris Kelly, Barbara Larson, Michele Shapiro, Karen Stevens, and Marie Volpe; and the Adult Education Guided Independent Study cohort IX, some of whom have contributed to the stories told in and all of whom have been especially supportive while she has been writing this book.

Karens special appreciation goes to the following students from the University of Texas who have helped her in various ways: Renee Rogers, who co-wrote Blackburn and Tom Broersma who proof-read parts of this book; and last, but not least, Olivia Becerra and Nancy Treffler-Hammonds who helped type parts of this manuscript.

This book is written for those who are interested in informal and incidental learning in the workplace, which we contrast with more highly structured workshops, seminars and courses that are often referred to as training and development.

We are particularly interested in reaching people who work in human resource development because we believe that informal and incidental learning, which are difficult to organize and control, represent a neglected, but crucial, area of their practice. However, we also believe that learning is everyones responsibility in the workplace even though human resource developers should know more about helping to facilitate learning wherever it occurs, be it formal, informal, or incidental. One could use the point-of-sales analogy further to describe why this is important. When a product is sold, information is needed at the time the transaction takes place. The customer is at no time more motivated to learn than at the point-of-sale. The same is true for learning. People are obviously ready to learn when they are at the point-of-sale, so to speak, yet training and development is often treated as a commodity for which employees are scheduled at the convenience of the organization. By focusing on informal and incidental learning, we believe that employees will develop skills to facilitate more effectively both their own learning and that of others, at the point-of-sale, when they are experiencing a situation that demands learning.