(Un)sustainable creativity? Different manager-employee perspectives in the finnish technology sector

The importance of creativity for working life and in organizations has increased in recent years. At the same time, the theme of sustainability has been intensely debated in research, society, and organizations. Together, creativity and sustainability have sometimes been described as a contradictory phenomenon: they are described in ways that place them in opposition to each other. To better understand creativity and sustainability and their differences from the perspective of people in different positions, we take advantage of a sociocultural approach in which we do not focus only on creative individuals but also on the impact of creativity on both organizational stakeholders and society a…

Self‐Directed Learning in Creative Activity : An Ethnographic Study in Technology‐Based Work

Under conditions of rapid changes in working life, there is an urgent need to examine the nature of creativity and learning in organizations. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of self‐directed learning (SDL) practices in creative activity in technology‐based work. We focus on both individual and collective practices but also on the importance of organizational culture. The data consist of 46 interviews and observational field notes collected from participating organizations. Thematic and ethnographic analyses were utilized as tools to reveal the nature of SDL in creative activity. We found three themes describing of the nature of SDL in creative activity: a combination of …

Self-direction

Self-direction refers to an individual’s responsibility and active role in relation to their own activities. It has largely been considered from the perspective of the individual, with self-direction being seen as a characteristic of the person, a linear process, or a feature influenced by the factors surrounding the individual. It is understood as a positive activity that promotes creativity and learning. However, the possibilities for self-direction have been less explored. The theme of self-direction and its possibilities comprise a topical and important perspective in the research on self-direction. peerReviewed

Organisaation oppimisen lähtökohtia, raameja ja haasteita : tapaustutkimus sairaalaorganisaatiosta

Oppiminen on luonnollinen osa nykyajan työelämää ja työn tekemistä erilaissa organisaatioissa. Sillä on myös iso merkitys organisaatioiden kestävää kilpailukykyä luovana elementtinä. Terveydenhuollon alalla organisaation oppiminen on erityisen tärkeää intensiivisten ja monimutkaisten muutosten vuoksi. Tässä luvussa tuodaan esille sairaalan henkilöstön kuvauksia organisaation oppimisprosesseista, jäsennellään niitä organisaation oppimiseen liittyvän aikaisemman teorian näkökulmasta sekä tarkastellaan kuvauksissa esiintyviä organisaation oppimista raamittavia ja haastavia tekijöitä. Esittelemme tapaustutkimuksen, jonka aineisto kerättiin sairaalan operatiivisten toimintayksiköiden henkilöstöl…

Johtamisen merkitys luovuudelle informaatioteknologian organisaatioissa

[Lukijalle] Ammatillinen toimijuus, luovuus ja johtaminen – onko näillä asioilla tekemistä toistensa kanssa? Kyllä on ja pitää olla. Elämme yhteiskunnallisesti ja taloudellisesti mielenkiintoista aikaa, joka on lukuisten uhkien, jännitteiden ja epävarmuuden sävyttämä. Nyt ratkotaan työelämän haasteita tehokkuusvaateineen ja neuvotellaan työelämän pelisäännöistä. Julkisessa keskustelussa on parjattu huonoa johtamista sekä työpaikkojen huonoa ilmapiiriä. Ratkaisuksi on usein tarjottu innovaatioita ja luovuuden lisäämistä, työhyvinvointia unohtamatta. Ratkaisuehdotuksissa on varmasti perää. Ongelmallista tuntuu kuitenkin olevan se, että yhtä yleispätevää ratkaisua etsitään ja pyritään tarjoama…

Fostering learning opportunities through employee participation amid organizational change

Health care organizations are facing rapid changes, frequently involving modification of existing procedures. The case study reported here examined change processes and learning in a health care organization. The organizational change in question occurred in the emergency clinic of a Finnish central hospital where a new action model for shift-specific nursing supervision was being introduced. The aim of this study was to investigate some of the employee participation and learning opportunities amid this organizational change. The data collection was ethnographically informed, and the data consisted of audio-recorded and observed meetings, observations of the new action model, and field inte…

Constraints and challenges on learning and construction of identitites at work

This paper analyses and discusses different constraints on workplace learning, vocational development and formation of identity. We ask how the learning and development of vocational identities are related to the various learning constraints and restrictions present in the socio-cultural contexts of the workplace. The study utilizes 20 interviews of industrial designers and nursing staff in Finland. The data on the vocational students was collected with Internet questionnaires (N = 1125) from these two fields; technology and transport, and social services and health care. The results indicated that constraints on learning and professional/vocational identity development at work were mainly …

Teachers’ professional agency in a centralisation-decentralisation system and a hierarchical cultural context : the case of Hong Kong

Teachers are frontline actors in actualising educational innovations. In some contexts, teachers’ professional agency is undervalued. This study investigated teachers’ agency and its related workplace affordances in Hong Kong, which features a centralised-decentralisation education governance system, and a hierarchical work culture. The study was based on 21 semi-structured interviews with teachers, and employed a deductive thematic analysis. Agency enactment was categorised into 1) pedagogical agency within classrooms, and 2) relational agency in the professional community. The factors contributing to workplace affordances were grouped as pertaining to 1) the collegial community, 2) school…

Professional Agency and Creativity in Information Technology Work

The meaning of professional agency in the context of professional learning, as well as in the development of working practices and work organisations, is pivotal. The role of creativity is also crucial for long-term economic growth in the current global environment, which is characterised by rapid changes in both technology and economy. Hence, it is important to study the relationship between professional agency and creativity. In this chapter, we explore professional agency and creativity within two Finnish information technology organisations. This study’s data include interviews with staff members and open-ended questionnaire responses to the question ‘What is creativity in your work?’. …

Kestävän oppimisen ulottuvuudet aikuisten oppimisen kontekstissa

Kestävyyden käsite on saanut paljon huomiota niin kansallisesti kuin kansainvälisestikin haettaessa ratkaisuja sivilisaation kohtaamiin maailman laajuisiin haasteisiin. Kasvatustieteellisessä tutkimuksessa kestävyyden käsite on ollut esillä vielä vähäisesti. Aikuisten oppimisen, työssä oppimisen ja oppivien organisaatioiden tutkimuksessa, joihin tämä luku erityisesti pureutuu, kestävyyttä on tarkasteltu hyvin rajallisesti, vaikka se näyttäytyy eräänä avainhaasteena kyseisillä kentillä. Tässä luvussa tarkastellaan kestävän oppimisen käsitettä erityisesti aikuisten oppimisen ja työn kontekstissa. Työelämätutkimuksen, korkeakoulututkimuksen sekä aikuiskasvatustieteellisen tutkimuksen ja kirjal…

Work, power and learning in a risk filled occupation

In this article we describe various ways in which power is exercised between personnel in a hospital operating theatre. We aim to investigate how the forms of discursive power and workplace learning are intertwined with each other by utilizing an ethnographic approach in the fieldwork. Our data were collected mainly through observations and interviews with surgical residents, physicians and nurses. In the article we describe the delicate ways in which power is exercised and resisted in everyday practices. We argue that there is a close relationship between learning and manifestations of power, together with the various forms of these manifestations and the restrictions that may be placed o…

Self-Directed Learning as a Practice of Workplace Learning: Interpretative Repertoires of Self-Directed Learning in ICT Work

Changing technologies and competition in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) are challenging the learning of individual workers and teams alongside and through work. Organisations call for employees’ autonomy and self-directedness executed by agile operations and low hierarchies, where learning is also increasingly the responsibility of the individuals and teams themselves and occurs in practice without strong control of the organisation. Therefore, the multidimensional concept of self-directed learning becomes essential in the context of learning at work. In this study, we examine how employees in the ICT sector describe self-directed learning practices in the conte…

Koulutuksen ja työelämän yhteistyö - pedagogisia näkökulmia

Tiedon oppiminen ja tiedon käyttäminen eivät ole erillisiä, vaan yhtä ja samaa prosessia. Oppiminen on tilannesidonnaista ja sitä tapahtuu työssä ja työn kautta osallistumalla aitoihin toimintakäytäntöihin. Nykyisin suositellaankin sellaisia pedagogisia järjestelyjä, joissa opiskelijat kohtaavat todellisen elämän ongelmat jo opiskelun alkuvaiheissa ja opiskelevat teoriaa kytkettynä näihin aitoihin arkielämän tilanteisiin.

Interaction among employees: how does learning take place in the social communities of the workplace and how might such learning be supervised?

The purpose of the present study is to look at the senses in which everyday workplace interactions can be considered manifestations of learning at work and the ways in which such activity could be supervised. Our data consist of discussions between employees taped in two technology enterprises and three municipal youth centres, analysed from an ethnographical and an ethnomethodological perspective. The paper concludes with a discussion of how learning at work—seen as a contextual activity bound up with the work process itself and with the communities that operate within the work process—could be taken into account in the practices of fostering and supervising such learning.

Co-Occurrence of Sociocultural Elements and Self-Direction in Learning Situations: A Police Organization Case Study

Adult’s self-direction and self-directed learning (SDL) have become topics in the discussion of work-related adult learning and an autonomous approach, emphasizing responsibility and independence, has received increasing attention in studies of learning. In the context of SDL, in contrast, the importance of the learning environment and community has received less empirical attention. The aim of this article is to increase the understanding of the co-occurrence of sociocultural elements and self-direction in learning situations at work. From a practical viewpoint, it is important to understand both, the sociocultural and self-directed nature of different learning situations at daily work, s…

Jatkuva työssä oppiminen : lähtökohtia, edellytyksiä ja seurauksia

Aikuisten jatkuva oppiminen työelämässä on noussut viime vuosina erääksi aikamme tärkeimmistä puheenaiheista. Sen taustalla on useat globaalit muutostrendit, jotka synnyttävät uudenlaisia oppimisvaatimuksia. Aikuisten työuran aikaisesta oppimisesta suurin osa tapahtuu työpaikoilla ja työn arjessa, mutta millä tavalla jatkuva oppiminen työssä tapahtuu, millaisia edellytyksiä sille on kuvattu ja mitä se tuottaa yksilölle, organisaatiolle tai yhteiskunnalle laajemmin? Tässä luvussa luomme kokonaiskuvan jatkuvan työssä oppimisen lähtökohdista, edellytyksistä ja seurauksista vuosina 2010–2021 julkaistujen 53 tieteellisen artikkelin pohjalta. Tutkimuskatsauksemme mukaan työssä oppimisen tarkastel…

Interprofessional collaboration during an emergency ward’s rounds

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore interprofessional collaboration during ward rounds on a Finnish emergency and infection ward from the viewpoint of three central professional groups: physicians, nurses and secretaries. Design/methodology/approach – The authors utilise an ethnographically informed approach, with observations and interviews as the data collection devices. The data comprise ten interviews with staff members and ten hours of observations. The data were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. Findings – The ward rounds were found to be rather physician- and medicine-centred, and mostly not interprofessional. Nurses and secretaries in particular expressed …

Johdanto : Jatkuva oppiminen ja työelämä (aikuis)kasvatustieteellisessä viitekehyksessä

Promoting inter‐professional teamwork and learning – the case of a surgical operating theatre

Hospitals, and surgical operating theatres (OTs) in particular, are environments in which inter‐professional teamwork and learning are essential to secure patient safety and effective practice. However, it has been revealed in many studies that inter‐professional collaborative work in hospital organisations faces many challenges and constraints. In this study we examine surgical operations as participatory practices from the perspective of inter‐professional learning and cooperation. We ask what kinds of shared practices enable learning and collaboration within the surgical operating team. We used an ethnographic approach to data collection including observations and interviews of surgical …

From Individual Cognition to Communities of Practice

Introduction : Creativity and Learning as Sociocultural and Intertwined Phenomena

AbstractThe importance of creativity and learning cannot be overestimated in education, in working life, and in society at large.

A meta-analysis of distributed leadership from 2002 to 2013 : Theory development, empirical evidence and future research focus

This article provides a meta-analysis of research conducted on distributed leadership from 2002 to 2013. It continues the review of distributed leadership commissioned by the English National College for School Leadership (NCSL) ( Distributed Leadership: A Desk Study, Bennett et al., 2003), which identified two gaps in the research during the 1996–2002 period. The review found that the studies had been unable to conceptualise distributed leadership or empirically outline its application. The two research gaps identified by Bennett et al. (2003) constitute the focus of the present review, which attempts to determine whether recent research has been able to fill these gaps. Based on the find…

Work‐related identity in individual and social learning at work

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate how workers' work‐related identity is related to various forms of workplace learning. The study also aims to show how changes in the organization affect both learning and the work‐related identity construction of employees.Design/methodology/approachIn‐depth interviews with four design engineers were conducted in 2000 and 2007 in Finland. Narrative analysis was used to construct four stories that were compared at two different points in time to find out what changes and development took place in relation to experiences of learning and work‐related identity.FindingsThe findings suggest that learning and work‐related identity are related to one a…

“Kun motivaatio oppimiseen on kohdallaan, niin voidaan oppimispolulla ohjata eteenpäin” : käsityksiä oppimisen johtamisesta esihenkilötyössä

Työssä oppimisen merkitys henkilöstön osaamisen kehittämiselle, mutta myös motivoitumiselle työssä on tärkeää. Asiantuntijatyön kontekstissa vastuu oppimisesta on osaltaan henkilöstöllä itsellään, mutta esihenkilöitä tarvitaan yhä tukemaan yksilöitä ja ryhmiä arjen oppimistilanteissa ja –prosesseissa. Tässä luvussa tarkastellaan mitä oppimisen johtamisella tarkoitetaan ja millä tavalla teknologia-, sairaala- ja poliisiorganisaatioissa esihenkilötyössä toimivat käsittävät oppimisen johtamisen omassa työkontekstissaan. Esittelemme tässä luvussa fenomenografi sen analyysin myötä esihenkilöiden (N=26) kirjoittamista teksteistä löytämämme neljä oppimisen johtamista kuvaavaa käsityskategoriaa sek…

The role of experience in work and learning among design engineers

Taking an approach to learning in the workplace as a phenomenon situated and accumulated in the course of work activities and everyday practice, the purpose of this study was to investigate how workers (development engineers and designers) themselves perceive the role of experience in work and learning. The empirical material consists of interviews with 18 employees in two enterprises in Finland. Narrative analysis of the holistic core stories yielded four thematic categories. The categories indicate that learning from experience plays an essential part in coping and learning along with other people, in understanding holistic work processes and in creating a personal perception of one’s wor…

Connecting work and learning: design engineers' learning at work

PurposeThe paper seeks to investigate design engineers' and product developers' learning through their work. The aim was to approach designers' work practice and their learning in the course of it as perceived by the designers themselves. The aim is also to examine their learning through the various individual and social processes, which take place in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThe ethnographic approach in this paper, with its use of combined and qualitative data gathering and analytical methods, was selected to approach the aim described above. Observations in two Finnish high‐tech companies and interviews with 18 designers were conducted. The observations and interviews were…

Development engineers’ work and learning as shared practice

The field of workplace learning lacks empirical studies that view workplace practices as places for learning and see these practices in a critical light. Accordingly, the aim of this study is, first, to describe examples of everyday shared practice and consider what kinds of various conflicting aims and demands exist in it. Second, the purpose is to explore what and how it is possible to learn through these shared practices in the area of design and development work. The empirical material consists of ethnographic observations made in two organizations in Finland. Three thematic lines were extracted from field notes and transcribed work talk on the basis of ethnographic and adapted membersh…

Sustainability Perspectives in Organizational and Workplace Learning Studies

The association between sustainability and learning in organizations and workplaces represents a current articulated grand challenge for human resource development (HRD) and learning studies and practice, which calls for integrated inquiries. However, studies of learning in organizations and workplaces deal with sustainability in scattered and diverse ways that promote calls for more integrated understandings of the different approaches and associations. This article outlines the results from a scoping thematic review mapping out leading perspectives within the research fields of HRD, organizational learning (OL) and workplace learning (WPL). This article thus explores the perspectives that…

Johtamisen eettiset konfliktit vahingoittavat työhyvinvointia suomalaisissa kasvuyrityksissä

Kiinnostus eettistä johtamista eli johdon ja organisaation hyviä ja oikeudenmukaisia käytänteitä ja niiden vaikutuksia kohtaan on lisääntynyt. Eettinen johtaminen välittyy sekä työntekijöiden että asiakkaiden hyvinvointiin, ja se selittää jopa kolmanneksen organisaation innovaatiokyvystä. Epäeettinen toiminta ja sen tuottamat konfliktit taas aiheuttavat monia yksilöille, ryhmille ja organisaatioille epäedullisia seurauksia. nonPeerReviewed

Yhteistyö ja moniammatillisuus akuuttihoidossa : ryhmätoiminnan ja moniammatillisen yhteistyön kehittäminen sairaalan päivystysalueella

Characteristics of Workplace Learning Among Finnish Vocational Students

In Finnish VET, students’ work experience is explicitly defined as workplace learning, instead of the practice of already learnt skills. Therefore, vocational students’ learning periods in the workplace are goal-oriented, guided and assessed. This paper examines the characteristics of students’ workplace learning and compares them with the characteristics of employees’ workplace learning. The data were collected with an Internet questionnaire from final-year vocational students (N = 3106). In total, 1603 students (52 %) answered the questionnaire. The data were analysed using quantitative methods. The results indicate that features typical of employees’ workplace learning can also be found …

Työssä oppiminen - Kokemuksellisuutta ja jaettuja käytäntöjä

Rita Asplund Elinkeinoelämän tutkimuslaitoksesta kritisoi vuoden 2004 lopulla Insinööri-lehdessä sitä, että erityisesti työssä oppimisen vaikuttavuudesta esitetään julkisuudessa väitteitä ja käsityksiä, mutta harvemmin voidaan tukeutua tutkimustietoon. Sama ongelma pätee aikuiselämässä hankitun koulutuksen ja osaamisen vaikuttavuuden tutkimukseen yleisemminkin, sanoo Kaija Collin väitöskirjansa lectiossa. – Artikkeli pohjautuu kirjoittajan väitöskirjaan Experience and shared practice : design engineers’ learning at work (Jyväskylän yliopisto 2005). nonPeerReviewed

Correction to: Creativity and Learning

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Ways of interprofessional collaboration and learning in emergency work

In the paper we aim to identify various ways of interprofessional collaboration and learning in an emergency unit at a hospital in Finland. According to previous studies, health care work faces various constraints which also challenge interprofessional interaction and learning. We ask what kinds of learning situations and challenges are manifested in moments of interprofessional practice. Ethnography was applied as a methodological approach. Empirical data were collected with the help of observations, audio taping, individual and focus group interviews, and suitable qualitative methods were utilised in the analysis. It was found that multi- and interprofessional collaboration and learning w…

Conflicts related to Human Resource Management in Finnish Project-Based Companies

In contemporary working life of Nordic countries, employee involvement and well-being are emphasized and organizational functions and demands are continuously changing. Thus, the study of human resource management (HRM) practices and their consequences for employees is relevant. This study examines conflicts related to HRM in Finnish project-based companies and provides new information on the implications of conflicts in HRM practices for theorists and practitioners. The research was conducted qualitatively using content and thematic analysis. The findings suggest that conflicts framed within HRM practices are generally the result of the practices and expectations of the organization and ma…

Integrating theory and practice? Employees’ and students’ experiences of learning at work

The integration of theory and practice has been recognised as one of the key questions in the development of professional expertise and vocational competence. In this study the question of how theory and practice meet each other during professional development was approached from the point of view of two different groups of learners: employees with varying length of work experience and university students taking a working life project course. Altogether 18 employees and 51 students were interviewed, after which transcribed interviews were qualitatively categorised. The opinions expressed by the informants indicate that work‐based learning is not a unified phenomenon but varies in different …

Leadership as an enabler of professional agency and creativity : case studies from the Finnish information technology sector

This paper summarizes and elaborates the findings of a research project on leadership as an enabler of professional agency and creativity in information technology organizations. The synthesis in this paper is based on a summary of three primary studies. Each of the studies approached leadership, creativity and/or professional agency with a specific focus. Leaning on a mixed‐methods and ethnographic approach, including various empirical data collection and analytical tools, the project investigated the relationship between professional agency and creativity; issues that frame professional agency and creativity; and the meaning of leadership practices for the enhancement of agency and creati…

Supporting Creativity and Learning at Work : Practices and Structures from Growth Companies

The constant change embedded in contemporary working life requires employees and organisations alike to continuously learn and, simultaneously, adapt and be creative. The potential to attract, manage and engage creative people, as well as support learning, has become increasingly important in organisational contexts. It is essential to recognise what the underlying learning theories are and how they connect with the current understanding of creativity. It is also important to study different manifestations of creativity and learning and reactively and proactively discover ways of supporting and developing both aspects in contemporary organisations. In this chapter, we first present our appr…

Challenges for surgical residents' practice-based learning

This chapter explores the practice-based learning of surgical residents. We concentrate on the challenges encountered and experienced by the residents during their clinical practice. In line with Billett (2010), we understand learning through practice as a process that arises through the exercise of occupational activities. For the surgical residents this means that they learn through participating in various kinds of hands-on surgical practices and interactions in clinical wards and units. peerReviewed

Self-organised structures in the field of ICT : challenges for employees’ workplace learning

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify the challenges of low hierarchy and self-organised structures for employees’ learning and competency development at work. In the past decade, interest in employees’ and organisations’ self-directedness has increased. Self-organised structures are perceived as better able to answer to the quickly changing requirements of clients and business environments. Within these structures, employees are expected to take on more responsibility and maintain more control over their workplace learning, which means they must be self-directed and autonomous. An important question for this approach is how can workplace learning and employee competence developme…

Kirjoja koulutuksen ja työelämän yhteistyöstä sekä työssä oppimisesta. Kirjaesittely

Kirja-arvostelu teoksista Osmo Kivinen, Heikki Silvennoinen & Pia Puustelli (toim.) 1999. Work-based learning. Prospects and challenges. Helsinki: Ministry of Education. ja Pekka Ruohotie, Juhani Honka ja Antti Suvanto (toim). 1999.The Developmental Challenges in the Cooperation of Education and Training and Working Life. Helsinki: EDITA. nonPeerReviewed

Moment of dialogic leadership in Finnish IT organisation

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe the construction of leadership through authentic dialogues at work and leaders’ actions as contributors to dialogic leadership. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected the data by recording the organisation’s meetings and discussions and used content analysis of dialogic leadership and typifying of critical moments as analytical methods. Findings On the basis of the findings, this paper suggests that dialogic leadership begins with a startup critical moment and progresses through the different positions by manager and employees through democratic interaction. Individual and collective level learning of participants and the formatio…

Human resource development practices supporting creativity in Finnish growth organizations

Creativity can be enhanced through appropriate Human Resource Development (HRD) practices that support employees’ learning and competence development. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of HRD practices that enhance creativity in Finnish growth companies. To achieve this aim, we searched for creativity requirements based on employees’ experiences expressed in interviews, and we studied HRD practices used in organizations that respond to the requirements of creativity. We gathered 98 interviews from personnel in technology, industrial and artistic design organizations and utilized them for a theory‐driven content analysis to identify the variety of requirements for creati…

Vanhemmuuden ja selviytymiskykyisyyden tukeminen ohjatussa äiti–lapsi-vertaisryhmässä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tarkastella työntekijöiden kuvauksia ja havaintoja siitä, miten ohjatussa äiti–lapsi-vertaisryhmässä tuetaan vanhemmuutta ja selviytymiskykyisyyttä. Tutkimuksen viitekehyksenä sovellettiin resilienssitutkimuksen ja Seligmanin (2011) PERMA-hyvinvointiteorian käsitteitä. Tutkimuksen kontekstina oli matalan kynnyksen perhekeskustoiminta ja kohteena äiti–lapsi-vertaisryhmä. Lähestymistapana sovellettiin tapaustutkimusta, ja menetelminä olivat työntekijöiden (N=2) parihaastattelut tutkimusjakson alussa ja lopussa sekä puolistrukturoidut päiväkirjat, joihin työntekijät kirjasivat huomioitaan omista toimintatavoistaan ja vuorovaikutustilanteista äitien ja lasten ryhmäta…

Teachers’ Identity Tensions and Related Coping Strategies : Interaction With the Career Stages and Socio-Political Context

When external requirements conflict with teachers’ personal beliefs and values, the resulting internal struggles can lead to identity tensions. Contributing to discussion on teachers’ identity development in a challenging context, this study investigated teacher identity tensions and related coping strategies in Hong Kong. We conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with qualified teachers and then performed a deductive thematic analysis of the data. We categorised the identity tensions as positioned on the micro or macro level, and distinguished the coping strategies as emotion-focused or problem-focused behaviours. The identity tensions and related coping strategies seemed to be associated…

Työ andragogisena oppimisympäristönä : oletuksia aikuisesta oppijasta teknologiayrityksessä ja poliisiorganisaatiossa

Aikuisväestön osaamis- ja oppimisvaatimusten kasvaessa työpaikoilla ja yhteiskunnassa tarvitaan ymmärrystä aikuisten oppimisen erityispiirteistä sekä sen tukemisesta ja ohjaamisesta työssä. Tässä luvussa tarkastellaan andragogisen teorian soveltuvuutta työssä tapahtuvaan oppimiseen teknologiatyössä ja poliisissa toteutettuun empiiriseen tutkimukseen perustuen. Luvun taustalla olevassa tutkimuksessa etsitään vastauksia kahteen kysymykseen: miten (andragogiikassa kuvatut) oletukset aikuisesta oppijasta ilmenevät kohdeorganisaatioissa työskentelevien henkilöiden puheessa omasta työstään ja oppimisestaan, ja millaisena kontekstina työ näyttäytyy aikuiselle oppijalle andragogiikan näkökulmasta? …

Experience and shared practice : design engineers' learning at work

Kaija Collin tarkastelee, miten ja mitä suunnittelu- ja kehitysinsinöörit oppivat työssään. Millaisia käsityksiä suunnittelijoilla on työstään ja siinä oppimisestaan, millainen rooli aikaisemmilla työkokemuksilla on heidän työssä oppimisessaan ja miten oppimista tapahtuu työn alati muuttuvissa käytännöissä?- Suunnittelutyössä oppiminen on moni-ilmeistä. Työ itsessään opettaa paljon, mutta erityisen tärkeiksi oppimisen tavoiksi koettiin omasta työkokemuksesta ja yhdessä työskentelystä oppiminen, Collin havaitsi.- Työtä ja oppimista on vaikea erottaa toistaan työtä tehdessä. Koulutuksen kautta saatua ja työssä omaksuttua oppia ei ole tarpeen erottaa toisistaan. Aikaisemmilla työkokemuksilla o…

Eettinen henkilöstön kehittäminen luovuutta tukemassa

Henkilöstön kehittämisen (HRD) rooli muuttuu samaan tahtiin työelämän nopeiden muutosten kanssa. Erityisesti tietointensiivisessä työssä oppiminen korostuu digitalisaation ja teknologioiden jatkuvan kehittymisen seurauksena. Osaamisen kehittämisen ja oppimisen rinnalla luovuutta pidetään työelämässä toimimisen edellytyksenä. Luovuuden määrittely on kuitenkin jäänyt usein vaillinaiseksi ja sen yhteys organisaatioiden eri toimintoihin liian väljästi määritellyksi. Myöskään empiiristä tutkimusta näiden käsitteiden välisistä suhteista ei juurikaan ole. Työ suomalaisissa kasvuyrityksissä sisältää luovaa toimintaa: jatkuvaa ongelmanratkaisua, uuden luomista tai työmenetelmien kehittämistä, joka p…

Multiple Forms of Professional Agency for (non)crafting of Work Practices in a Hospital Organization

In recent working life studies, professional agency is seen as pivotal to the development of work communities and work organizations. This paper addresses professional agency during a practicebased intervention (work conference) in a Finnish hospital setting. To develop work practices, the intervention sought to create a dialogical space for the promotion of collective professional agency. Here, we present an investigation of the manifestations of professional agency and how they emerged within and between professional groups. We also elaborate how professional positions frame the emergence of different manifestations of professional agency. The audio and video materials from the interventi…

Lähijohtaminen kestävän oppimisen edistäjänä työelämässä (JoKo): Tutkimushankkeen loppuraportti

Luet Työsuojelurahaston rahoittaman JoKo-hankkeen (Lähijohtaminen kestävän oppimisen edistäjänä työelämässä) loppuraporttia. Tuomme tässä raportissa esille havaintojamme hankkeen aikana kerätyn haastatteluaineiston annista ja toteutetun ryhmävalmennuksen kokemuksista ja luomme niiden pohjalta syvempää ymmärrystä oppimisen kestävyydestä työssä. Suomalaisessa työelämässä painotetaan osaamisen ja jatkuvan oppimisen merkitystä erityisesti asiantuntijatyössä, mutta ymmärrystä oppimisen kestävyydestä meillä on vielä hyvin vähän. Tutkimusta hyvinvointia lisäävän eli kestävän oppimisen tukemisesta ja johtamisesta meillä on vielä vähemmän. Tällainen ymmärrys on kuitenkin ensiarvoisen tärkeää huomioi…

Throwaway knowledge, useful skills or a source for wellbeing? Outlining sustainability of workplace learning situations

Rapid changes in working life have raised awareness of the need for lifelong learning among personnel, and there is increasing concern regarding the sustainability of such learning, especially in growth companies, where learning can be seen as a prerequisite for many work practices. Hence, the aim of this study is to understand the sustainability of learning situations from the perspectives of individual wellbeing, widespread use of previous knowledge and rapid application of new knowledge. We broaden the understanding of workplace learning from the perspective of sustainability by identifying different workplace learning situations and outlining the sustainability of these situations. Two …

INPROF – promoting teamwork processes and interprofessional collaboration in emergency work (2010–2012)

This paper summarises the findings of a research project on interprofessional collaboration in the emergency unit of a major Finnish hospital. The findings are discussed through a broad conceptual framework which involves work process knowledge and interprofessional collaboration. The project, carried out from 2010–2012, investigated different forms of, prerequisites for, and barriers to, collaboration, and the aim was to develop the work together with staff at the unit. An ethnographically informed research strategy was utilised, with observations and interviews as the main data collection methods. On the whole, collaboration in the emergency unit was found to function rather well; i.e. pa…

The Practice of Professional Agency and the Emergence of Collaborative Creativity in Developmental Staff Meetings

In this study, we focused on the manifestations of professional agency and collaborative creativity in team meetings. We aimed to investigate how different kinds of professional agency are related to collaborative creativity. We used an ethnographic approach, collecting observational data from the team meetings of the Human Resource Department of a Finnish Health Care District during 2009–2010. We found that professional agency is practised in various ways in team meetings, reflecting different habitual practices and power relations. In addition, it appeared that the nature of the professional agency practised affected the emergence of collaborative creativity. An environment with a high de…

Connecting Work and Learning in Industrial Design and Development

The relationship of collective creativity with managerial work and workplace climate in hierarchical and less hierarchical organizations

Collective creativity, managerial work, and workplace climate can influence innovation, organizational learning, and productivity at work. However, little empirical research has examined these factors in everyday work, especially in relation to organizational hierarchies. This study explores the relationships among collective creativity, managerial work, and workplace climate in hierarchical and less hierarchical organizations. A quantitative empirical analysis was conducted using data from a survey of 265 respondents from six Finnish organizations. The findings show that managerial work and workplace climate that focus on building and maintaining trust and highlight empathy, fairness and e…