Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace learning in the context of the rail industry, specifically for the type of learning required to become a train driver. It examines the impact of changes to the traditional learning model, and explores the potential of mentoring in the learning/training model.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to group coaching in the workplace that can enhance shared learning in groups and teams through dialogue as opposed to group members' individual positioning through discussion and debate. Design/methodology/approach: An action research project conducted throughout one year in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore learning for and through retirement from the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: First, "retirement" is considered in the light of the existing literature, demonstrating a complex concept. The paper describes the research project from which a theme of retirement as a learning process…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate employees' and managers' accounts of interactive learning and what might encourage or inhibit emergent learning. Design/methodology/approach: The approach taken was a constructivist/social constructivist ontology, interpretive epistemology and qualitative methodology, using grounded theory…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to document the ways pharmaceutical representatives learn for work and report attributes of (in)formality and other characteristics of ways of learning perceived as effective and frequently used. Design/methodology/approach: A total of agents 20 from 11 pharmaceutical manufacturers across Canada participated…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study of a newcomer to the practice of policing to explore conceptualisations of learning through practice. It aims to position learning as the intersections of trajectories of being and becoming within a community of practice. The paper seeks to argue that learners need to be understood with…

Purpose: This paper seeks to explore the effect of leadership style of a team leader on team-member learning in organizations, to conceptually extend an initial model of leadership and to empirically examine the new model of ambidextrous leadership in a team context. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research utilizing the case study method…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that it is important to focus on the apprentices' collaborative learning processes when addressing issues of learning transfer. Design/methodology/approach: The claims about the importance of addressing processes of collaborative activities and learning in relation to learning transfer are based on…

Purpose: This study of the impact of relationships on the development of practice competence in new graduates entering the workforce aims to contribute to the understanding of relational learning activities and enrich the knowledge about the overall process of learning practice skill. Design/methodology/approach: This research used a qualitative…

Purpose: This study aims to examine the organizational socialization of women soldiers in the Italian Army. Design/methodology/approach: Following an interactionist interpretation of socialization, a model was tested to determine the influence of organizational socialization tactics, proactive behaviours, supervisor support on organizational…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to first elaborate on the notion of a learning environment based on an empirical study of care work. Second, to explore how aspects of a learning environment may differ between and within units in the same organization, and how to understand and explain such differences. Design/methodology/approach: The study…

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to show what the leaders themselves regard as the working ingredients in their mutual work situation that help to facilitate personal development. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 leaders at low and middle management levels in different lines…

Purpose: Trade unions, like many other membership-based social movement organisations, are confronted by the challenge of growth and revitalisation. Declining membership numbers, an increasingly restrictive legislative framework, and dramatic changes in modes of employment have combined to challenge many unions to rethink the way they work. In…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to situate the concept of gendered learning in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the results of two closely related, qualitative studies of apprenticeship learning in two major industrial companies in Denmark. Findings: The paper finds that the creation of a situated-gendered…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the nature of learning discovered by recent graduates participating in a symphony orchestra-initiated development program that is designed to nurture them through the transition to becoming professional orchestral musicians. Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors…