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EDS 131 – Foundations of Adult Education

3rd Trimester, AY 2022-2023

Module 4 – The Adult Learner in the Workplace

Study Guide

OVERVIEW
Module 4 situates adult education within the workplace.

OBJECTIVES
After reading the resources and completing the activities for Module 4, you should be able
to:
• Assess the applications of the theories of workplace learning;
• Examine the interrelations between workplace learning and the adult education
theories discussed in Module 3 (i.e., situated cognition, cognitive apprenticeship,
critical pedagogy, and transfer of learning); and
• Apply the theory of successful intelligence in your own work and/or activities.

MODULE RESOURCES

1. Fenwick, T. (2010). Workplace ‘learning’ and adult education: Messy objects, blurry
maps and making difference. European Journal for Research on the Education and
Learning of Adults, Vol.1, No.1-2, 2010, pp. 79-95. Available at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49609100_Workplace_%27learning%27_
and_adult_education_Messy_objects_blurry_maps_and_making_difference

2. Billett, S. (2001). Participation and continuity at work: A critique of current workplace

learning discourses. In Context, Power and perspective: Confronting the Challenges to
Improving Attainment in Learning at Work, Joint Network/SKOPE/TLRP International
workshop 8-10th November 2001, Sunley Management Centre, University College of
Northampton. Available in the informal education archives:
http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/billett_workplace_learning.htm
3. Vignettes: Excerpts from Robert Sternberg’s (1997) Successful intelligence: How
practical and creative intelligence determine success in life. Available at
http://edithpiaf.livejournal.com/37555.html
4. Sternberg, R. (2005). Successful intelligence. Interamerican Journal of Psychology -
2005, Vol. 39, Num. 2 pp. 189-202. Available at
http://www.psicorip.org/Resumos/PerP/RIP/RIP036a0/RIP03921.pdf

Adopted from Ireland, L.M. (2015, September)

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A. CASE EXAMPLES

Activity 4-1 Workplace Scenarios

1. How do you understand “workplace learning”? Thinking about your own workplace,
what do you think are the necessary conditions for learning to occur?
2. Read the Case Examples attached to this Study Guide (ANNEX 1, pp. 5-7).
3. Observe the differences in which skills are developed in each case. Take note of the
pedagogies and other adult learning theories that underpin the practices in each of the
scenarios/workplaces described in the case examples.
4. For each case, examine the “thinking-acting-learning process” that individuals
undergo through the workplace activities.

B. READINGS

Activity 4-2 Perspectives and Applications of Workplace Learning

1. Read Resource #1 – Workplace ‘learning’ and adult education: Messy objects, blurry
maps and making difference (Fenwick, 2010). How is “workplace learning” introduced
in this resource?
2. Discuss the different perspectives/categories of learning presented in the article
based on the following:
a. What is being learned in the workplace?
b. What is the learning for?
c. Why is learning necessary?
d. How are these perspectives useful in the different work settings? Which of
these perspectives address your own learning needs and the needs of your
organization/institution?
3. Is workplace learning a product, a process, or a practice? Justify your answer.
4. Read Resource #2 – Participation and continuity at work: A critique of current
workplace learning discourses (Billett, 2001). Go back to the case examples (Annex
1).
a. How is learning in the workplace different from structured learning at school?
How are they similar? Is workplace learning less structured than in formal
education?
b. How is workplace learning shaped by pedagogic qualities and participatory
practices in each of the case examples?
c. Based on what you learned in Module 3, how were andragogy, situated
cognition and cognitive apprenticeship applied in the case examples?
d. How do you think transfer of learning is affected by the different pedagogies and
practices in each case example?

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i. Case Example 1: The Travel Business

ii. Case Example 2: Organizational Development
iii. Case Example 3: Apprenticeship at the Hairdressing Salons
e. In the case examples, strategies such as coaching, supervision, peer coaching,
mentoring, training, self-study, exposure, and field visits were mentioned. How
are these related to the adult learning theories that you have learned in Module
3?
5. Workplace learning involves not only individual change. In higher adult education
studies, workplace learning is situated within the broader context of society and used
as a means to foster social change, as well as individual change.
a. From what you understood about critical pedagogy in Module 3, how will you
apply the tenets of critical pedagogy in your own workplace to promote social
change? What change would this be?
b. What other theories or pedagogies may be applicable in the development of
learning strategies that will support workplace learning and social change?

Activity 4-3 Successful Intelligence in Adult and Workplace Learning

1. Read the two vignettes in Resource #3 – Vignettes: Excerpts from Robert Sternberg’s
(1997) Successful intelligence: How practical and creative intelligence determine
success in life.
a. How did the two boys outsmart the other two boys in the vignettes? What did
they do differently from the two boys who got outsmarted?
b. From these vignettes, Robert Sternberg explained that the styles of intelligence
that most schools value and regard as “smart” will be less useful in students’
adult lives than creative and practical intelligence (1997). What are your
thoughts on this?
2. Read Resource #4 – Successful intelligence (Sternberg, 2005). According to Robert
Sternberg (2005), successful intelligence is –
i. the ability to –
ii. by capitalizing on –
iii. in order to –
iv. through a combination of –
3. How does the theory of successful intelligence differ from other theories of
intelligence that you know of?
4. On page 190 of the article, how does Sternberg explain the concept of success in the
different professions?
a. When do you adapt, shape or select a new environment to fit your patterns of
strengths and weaknesses?

Adopted from Ireland, L.M. (2015, September)

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b. Is the person who chooses to leave a job due to his/her inability to adapt or to
shape his/her work environment regarded as less successfully intelligent than
the person who has the ability to adapt and/or shape his/her environment? Why
or why not?
5. Do you think that analytical, creative and practical intelligence can be measured?
Why or why not?

KEY CONCEPTS and THEMES

• Workplace learning
• Perspectives/categories of workplace learning according to Fenwick (2010)
• Successful intelligence
• Analytical intelligence
• Creative intelligence
• Practical intelligence

REVIEW QUESTIONS:
At the end of this module, you should be able to answer the following questions:
1. What are the perspectives of workplace learning and how are they relevant in the
different work settings?
2. How are the workplace learning perspectives and practices situated within, related
to, or supported by the adult learning theories and perspectives?
3. How can you apply practical intelligence (i.e., use of adaptation, shaping and
selection of new environment) to the problems that you confront in your job?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS for your blogs (you may choose to answer one or all):
1. After reading about workplace learning and the case examples, what would you have
done differently in your job? What do you see yourself doing differently in the future?
2. How has Sternberg’s theory of successful intelligence changed your assumptions
about intelligence and success at work, if any?

Adopted from Ireland, L.M. (2015, September)

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ANNEX 1

Case Examples: Workplace

Learning

Case Example 1: The Travel Business

Scenario A
Sally is a recent graduate of a program that specializes in tourism education. She is trained
as a travel agent and landed a job in a very large agency called Book a Trip. This agency has
offices worldwide. Many of their systems and processes are unique to their own program that
rigorous training is required of the new hires.

Work begins by undergoing three types of skills development. The first set of skills is on personal
development, with focus on customer service orientation. Sally learned about how customers
are dealt with, how processes are implemented, and how problems are approached and resolved
the “Book a Trip” way through workshops and simulations.

The second set of skills is on the use of the agency’s unique booking system. She was
teamed up with a colleague who has been there for six (6) months and who was familiar with the
system. Peer coaching was employed to develop knowledge and skills on the use of the
system.

She is now on her way to develop the third set of skills - marketing and product knowledge. She is
expected to develop an area of specialization, such as hotel and hospitality and other related
businesses. She chose cruise travel. She is now completing a training program on cruise travel
and is looking forward to getting her certification as a professional cruise travel agent, which will
expand her clientele and bring in more income.

Scenario B
Georgie has an undergraduate degree in Business Management. She was recently hired as
an assistant manager in a small travel agency called Sky High. On her first day on the job, she
was given an orientation on the agencies’ goals, policies, practices and expectations, and was
immediately given tasks to work on. Among her tasks is to develop a better booking system.

She is now observing the processes and exchanges in the travel agency. She is interviewing
the travel agents on how they interact with customers, how they process the bookings, and
other day-to-day concerns of the agency. She is doing research on how to manage a travel
agency, as well as checking out their competitors’ websites. She is trying out the agency’s
procedures herself in order to identify gaps in the system. She is calling other travel agencies to
discover how they relate with the customers and how they deal with travel inquiries. She is
expected to forward her recommendations two months after she started work.

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Case Example 2: Organizational Development

Ferdinand, Patrick, Joshua and Christopher have been working in the different departments
of a municipal hall as mid-level personnel for almost 10 years. This municipality wants to
upgrade the skills of its personnel. Two teams of technical advisers were hired to provide
training and assistance.

For Department A, where Ferdinand and Patrick are working, a needs assessment was
conducted – a survey on the different sets of knowledge and skills that the department
personnel deemed important and would wish to develop. After aligning the needs of the
personnel with the department’s own needs based on the requirements expressed by the
head of the department and the executive committee, five personnel, including Ferdinand and
Patrick, were sent to the city to attend education and training. Ferdinand is getting his diploma
in Project Planning and Management, while Patrick is getting his diploma in Public
Administration.

For Department B, where Joshua and Christopher are working, a capacity assessment was
done. The technical adviser reviewed the job description of each job and determined the gaps
in the roles and functions described in each of the terms of reference, as well as the overlaps of
each position with others. These were assessed against the knowledge, skills, competencies,
and attitudes required of each job. The personnel were then asked to complete a self-
assessment of their own knowledge and skills. Their skills and competencies were then
assessed based on their regular job output as stated in their terms of reference, from which
gaps and deficiencies were identified and strategies were determined.

It was decided that Joshua will benefit from supervisory coaching and peer-to-peer coaching
(i.e., personnel with the same level of capabilities who exchange ideas and assess each
other’s work). Joshua is working with a few colleagues to resolve problems and issues
together, with the knowledge and direction provided by the adviser and supervisors.

Christopher, on the other hand, now accompanies the field officers to the different provinces
during the field visits. He is learning new ways of doing things and is beginning to understand
what works and what does not work and in what contexts through his exposure to different work
cultures and environments.

The Department B personnel will be assessed every 2-3 months to check how the new
knowledge and skills are being practiced. They will also identify the possible systemic
barriers that will prevent them from putting their new knowledge and skills to use.

Will Ferdinand and Patrick be able to use their new knowledge and sets of skills that they will
have acquired through their education when they come back to their respective departments?
Will Joshua and Christopher be able to sustain the progress that they have made through the
learning strategies that they are employing? What are the potential risks of applying new
knowledge to an existing system? What may prevent the application of new knowledge to the
workplace?

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Case Example 3: Apprenticeship at the Hairdressing Salons

Please refer to the case examples described in Resource #2 –

Billett, S. (2001) Participation and continuity at work: A critique of current workplace

learning discourses. In Context, Power and perspective: Confronting the Challenges to
Improving Attainment in Learning at Work, Joint Network/SKOPE/TLRP International
workshop 8-10th November 2001, Sunley Management Centre, University College of
Northampton. Available in the informal education archives:
http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/billett_workplace_learning.

Note: The case examples are under the subheading, “Constituting workplace experiences.”

Adopted from Ireland, L.M. (2015, September)