SOCIAL LEARNING

Introduction
• DEFINITION
• Social learning theory is the view that people learn by observing
others. Associated with Albert Bandura's work in the 1960s, social
learning theory explains how people learn new behaviors, values, and
attitudes. For example, a teenager might learn slang by observing
peers. Social learning requires attention to the person(s) observed,
remembering the observed behavior, the ability to replicate the
behavior, and a motivation to act the same way. For example, a child
might see a sibling receive a lollipop for behaving politely and imitate
the sibling in the hope of getting a treat, too. Not all learning is acted
on (as when someone learns to pick a lock but never does, for
example).
EXAMPLES
• A youngster may figure out how to smoke, battle, smack,
swear and comparative other unseemly practices by
watching poor good examples. Albert Bandura claims
that the eyewitness could learn both positive and
negative practices through observational learning. His
hypothesis additionally proposes that the person's
discernment, condition and conduct all assume a job in
getting down to business the mindset of the person.
Singular practices have additionally been believed to be
seen over a culture. This procedure, inside observational
learning, is alluded as dissemination chain. The essential
thought is that an individual learns a conduct by
watching a model person. At that point, that individual
fills in as a model to different people who gain
proficiency with the conduct, etc.
CASE STUDY
• Social Learning: A retail perspective
• I recently met with Nina Delgaty, academy manager at Asda. It was interesting to learn about her background moving from the
marketing department through to talent development. This is something I believe is an asset to the team, for example, there are
quite a few synergies with marketing and learning.
• With marketing, you need to attract, engage and convert, this relates to learning through (i) attracting the learner to your
workshop/ or online forum, (ii) engaging the learner with personalised content, when they need it (iii) converting the learner
through knowledge acquisition and changing behaviours.
• Asda is part of Walmart, which according to The National Retail Federation, is the largest retailer in the world.
• Much of the drive towards social learning is linked with the advances in technology, not just from a software perspective, where
now we can place more relevant content in the hands of our people quicker than ever using machine learning - but also by
leveraging mobile devices to deliver content ‘chunks’ via smart phones or tablets.
• "Technology is evolving at a relentless pace. It is playing a big part in our everyday lives and here at Asda we think it can help all of
us learn more. We’ve started using a platform to encourage social learning amongst teams, enabling colleagues to share, comment
and connect with others, and to learn new skills and keep up with market trends.
• The way we learn is changing. We expect it on demand and personal to us just like the way we consume information. Smart
devices are placing knowledge in the palm of our hands and we’re used to accessing information in bite size chunks.
• We have a choice: either we embrace the opportunities technology gives us and find new ways to connect with our colleagues, or
we get left behind and we fail to enable the skills our colleagues need to deliver for their customers. Time to join the digital
revolution." - Nina Delgaty, Academy Manager, Asda
• Furthermore, Asda see their use of social learning as an enabler for sharing, commenting and connecting with others to keep up to
date with trends.
• With this in mind, and the fast paced retail environment we live in today, corporates are looking to leverage social learning tools
more so than ever to stay ahead of the curve. Failing to do so may mean that they fall behind the pack.