Workplace Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Workplace Learning - Essay Example The conscious development of the formal and informal learning fronts in work place sites has culminated from the management decisiveness on the aspects of competitiveness and as well product and market strategies. "The development has come from the frameworks within which decisions are taken regarding the factors of how work is organized within an organisational and also how people are managed." (Coombs, P.H. 1985) Various scholars as well as other researchers have concurred that the integration of various economic and commercial factors has had a significant bearing on the establishment of the broad parameters in which opportunities and obstacles to the effectual existence of work place learning obtain. Research outcomes have led to positions that expansive rather that restrictive environment are perceived to be pro-learning at work as well as the convergence of personal and organisational development. Researches into various workplace domain dynamics have culminated in the establishment of a theoretical framework that seeks to explain and contextualise the dynamics around which the manner in which new entrants into a career acquire knowledge and skills that empower them tackle the challenges posed by their career compositions. The dimension of workplace newcomers has been relished with valuable contributions from Lave and Wenger who developed the interlinked tenets of legitimate peripheral participation as well as communities of practice to explain how workplace newcomers (the valid peripheral partakers) develop to full participant status in a defined community of practice. Watkins, K. E. (2001) concur that the newcomers are perceived to embrace learning as a collective relational process which entails the cooperation of the novices with the more experienced personnel. "In our perspective , the acquisition of knowledge is not merely situated in practice like it were some independently definable prices that just occurred to be situated somewhere; the acquisition of knowledge in an integral part of generative social practice in the lived-in world". (Lave and Wenger 1991) Lave and Wenger view the situated learning theory as an essential thrust for those areas tied to social practice as well as that in has contributions to attempts at surmounting what has been called by theorists (Engerstrom 1991) as "The encapsulation of school of learning". Much interest that has been culminated from the forerunning frameworks and ideas on apprenticeship and education has been directed to the non-formal or structured environs. The interest has lead many scholars to invest into researches of workplace learning. Expansive Learning has is enunciated in Engestrom's model of expansive learning. The thrust of the theoretical framework is aimed at fostering significant changes at organisational levels of entities." the object of expansive learning is knowledge impartation process in which the learners are involved." According to the scholars, expansive learning activities generate culturally new trends of activity. Further, expansive learning at work particularly generates new forms of work activity" (Fuller and Unwin 2008, p 129) Basing on the frame work of the expansive learning

Department of Political Economy _MA Public Policy _The Third Sector Essay

Department of Political Economy _MA Public Policy _The Third Sector and Public Policy - Essay Example Introduction Social, economical, and political spheres are critical in the wellbeing of society. These three spheres are inextricably linked, that is, the functioning of one sphere greatly relies on that of the other. Generally, public policies are shaped by economical, political, and social actions. The third sectors are critical in public policy as they integrate a wide range of institutions (governmental and non- governmental) into attaining set public policy objectives. Social capital is greatly considered as one of the key ingredients of the Third Sector and public policy (Coleman, 1988, p. 95). It is against this background that it is important to discuss what the term â€Å"social capital† means and its importance to public services. The term â€Å"social capital† has increasingly become the lexicon of everyday language; the term is gaining increasing popularity in public policy even though it is relatively new concept in the field of public policy. The term â₠¬Å"social capital† is defined in a number of ways. Even though there are different definitions to the term, there are certain aspects that create a point of convergence among all the users of the term. The users of this term agree that any definition of â€Å"social capital† should include some if not all of the following aspects: connection between individuals; clear distinction between economical and social capital; presence of contradictory and different social processes; involvement of reciprocity and trust principles; non- monetary forms of power and influence; and focus on positive aspects of social life (Portes, 1998, p. 8-9). So, how is â€Å"social capital† defined? According to the World Bank (1999), social capital encompasses norms, institutions, and relationships that shape the quantity and quality of interactions within the society. It implies that social capital is not simply the sum of institutions, norms and interactions that underpin the society, but rather they act as glue that holds the society together. Also, social capital is defined as the connections among individuals, norms of trustworthiness and reciprocity and social networks that arise from connections among individuals (Putnam 2000, p. 19). From this definition, it can be deduced that social capital requires that civic virtue be embedded in the reciprocal social relations. This is because a society needs connected and virtuous individuals for it to be considered rich in social capital. (Bourdieu 1983, p. 249) defines social capital as the aggregate of the potential or actual resources, which are connected to possession of a long-lasting network of institutionalized relationships of mutual recognition and acquaintance. From the above definitions, it is evidently clear that the term â€Å"social capital† cannot be defined entirely in a single definition that can cover all the aspects. The definition of this term seems to stem from a basic concern of explorin g processes of ensuring that there is equal access to resources, differentiation of power, and diminishing the essence of creation of elites and class formation. In most cases, the term â€Å"social capital† is defined against the term â€Å"economic capital†. Actually, there is a belief among many proponents of social capital that the concept seeks to correct the â€Å"wrongs† created by economic capital in the society (Alcock, 2010, p.