The notion of informal learning through work is one that has received considerable attention in the last decades. The scope of this research seems to have become very wide, and researchers have been interested in it from several different perspectives, spread across academic disciplines such as psychology, education, management, and beyond. These perspectives have become increasingly more specific and have helped to further our understanding in various ways. However, they have also become increasingly more distantly related to the practice of informal learning at work. Next to the increased scholarly interest in the study of informal learning, its antecedents, and outcomes, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transformation of many workplaces, putting a question mark behind many research findings of this field that were generated in pre-COVID-19 times.
As presented above, the backdrop of this Research Topic can be summarized by the observation that recent research has taken an increasingly in-depth look on informal learning and related concepts, while workplace practice has undergone significant changes. Thus, in this Research Topic, we seek to provide state-of-the-art research on task-based and interactional informal learning and revisit and integrate different existing perspectives, potentially from different disciplinary backgrounds and methodologies, on informal learning at work.
The focus is on examining informal learning in the context of learning in the workplace and professional development. However, the goal is unspecific when it comes to the different populations that this concept may be applied to. This includes furthering our understanding how informal learning may look like in a post-COVID-19 workplace, and how it can be facilitated.
Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
> Integration or comparison of informal learning with other approaches (e.g., the role of informal learning during digital learning or in simulation environments, integration with theories of self-directed learning or self-regulated learning)
> Informal learning as a response to workplace and organizational changes (e.g., how informal learning enables employees to adapt to changes of tasks and structures)
> Cognitive aspects and processes surrounding informal learning (e.g., reflection in action, the relationship between informal learning and tacit knowledge)
> Innovative methodologies and conceptualizations that allow new perspectives on the topic of informal learning (e.g., how to study informal learning differently, informal learning analytics)
> Proactivity at work and its connection to informal learning and professional development (e.g., how employees increase the fit between job and task requirements and their professional competences)
> Antecedents and consequences of informal learning (e.g., supporting and hindering factors in a given context, outcomes at various levels, the role of informal learning in professional learning trajectories, different outcomes across different populations)
We invite you to submit empirical studies, systematic literature studies, and conceptual papers.
The notion of informal learning through work is one that has received considerable attention in the last decades. The scope of this research seems to have become very wide, and researchers have been interested in it from several different perspectives, spread across academic disciplines such as psychology, education, management, and beyond. These perspectives have become increasingly more specific and have helped to further our understanding in various ways. However, they have also become increasingly more distantly related to the practice of informal learning at work. Next to the increased scholarly interest in the study of informal learning, its antecedents, and outcomes, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transformation of many workplaces, putting a question mark behind many research findings of this field that were generated in pre-COVID-19 times.
As presented above, the backdrop of this Research Topic can be summarized by the observation that recent research has taken an increasingly in-depth look on informal learning and related concepts, while workplace practice has undergone significant changes. Thus, in this Research Topic, we seek to provide state-of-the-art research on task-based and interactional informal learning and revisit and integrate different existing perspectives, potentially from different disciplinary backgrounds and methodologies, on informal learning at work.
The focus is on examining informal learning in the context of learning in the workplace and professional development. However, the goal is unspecific when it comes to the different populations that this concept may be applied to. This includes furthering our understanding how informal learning may look like in a post-COVID-19 workplace, and how it can be facilitated.
Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
> Integration or comparison of informal learning with other approaches (e.g., the role of informal learning during digital learning or in simulation environments, integration with theories of self-directed learning or self-regulated learning)
> Informal learning as a response to workplace and organizational changes (e.g., how informal learning enables employees to adapt to changes of tasks and structures)
> Cognitive aspects and processes surrounding informal learning (e.g., reflection in action, the relationship between informal learning and tacit knowledge)
> Innovative methodologies and conceptualizations that allow new perspectives on the topic of informal learning (e.g., how to study informal learning differently, informal learning analytics)
> Proactivity at work and its connection to informal learning and professional development (e.g., how employees increase the fit between job and task requirements and their professional competences)
> Antecedents and consequences of informal learning (e.g., supporting and hindering factors in a given context, outcomes at various levels, the role of informal learning in professional learning trajectories, different outcomes across different populations)
We invite you to submit empirical studies, systematic literature studies, and conceptual papers.