Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the personal antecedents to taking on the challenge of learning, particularly when there is competition for time at work. Taking on challenging tasks, particularly those that enhance learning, is a critical behavior in today's dynamic business environments. This paper explores how individual…

Although nurse aides take on a high share of care activities in nursing homes, almost nothing is known about how they develop the knowledge and skills to do so. This study attempts to close this research gap by answering the following research questions: (1) How do novice aides learn and develop and how is their learning trajectory structured? (2)…

Studies relating to reflection and reflective practice in learning, specifically workplace learning, have gradually emerged from within the professional education literature. Evidence has seen a shift from an individualistic to a more collective approach to reflection, in an attempt to move away from viewing learning as an individual action.…

The purpose of this study was to understand the learners' experience in corporate engineering virtual synchronous technical training. A literature review revealed that there was a gap for this topic, population, and this research design and methodology. The research previously conducted was predominantly either quantitative or mixed design. The…

Finnish vocational education and training is competence-based and learner-oriented. A personal competence development plan is drawn up for each learner. It charts and recognises the skills previously acquired by the learner and outlines any further competences the learner needs and how they can be acquired in different learning environments.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore what learning-oriented leadership could mean in practice and to identify possible sources of variability in this leadership between first-line managers (FLMs). The empirical basis of the study comprised FLMs in nursing homes for elderly care. Design/methodology/approach: The study was carried out…

Over the last 20 years, research focused on work-integrated learning (WIL) has expanded considerably. While early research predominantly utilized quantitative study designs, recently a more diverse set of methodologies is being used to address questions and issues arising from a range of WIL models. This Special Issue is intended to present…

This article considers systemic thinking in relation to the Systems Theory Framework (STF) and to career theory. An overview of systems theory and its applications is followed by a discussion of career theory to provide a context for the subsequent description of STF. The contributions of STF to career theory and to theory integration are…

Purpose: This paper aims to outline a proof of concept for a framework to support students in reflecting on and in articulating their disciplinary, contextual and professional learning in the workplace. The purpose of the framework was to help students to recognize and articulate their transferable employability skills in preparation for the…

Purpose: Interest in the topic of unlearning has grown in recent years, fueled by rapid changes in the business environment and resultant organizational change. This change challenges individuals and organizations to unlearn past knowledge and practice to embrace new organizational realities. However, much of the unlearning literature focuses on…

Research stresses the importance of social components in learning. The social contact with peers and tutors stimulates reflection and supports higher processes of learning necessary for the internalisation and application of new knowledge. However, merely proposing opportunities for interaction does not necessarily lead to fruitful discussion and…

In different streams of literature employability has been defined in different, often related ways. We take an interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from research on higher education and workplace learning, taking a Western perspective. In doing so we take a multi-dimensional, competence-based approach. Our approach to conceptualizing…

There is contrary research around whether collaboration at work fosters individual learning and skill development. This study's purpose was to examine the relationship between social characteristics of jobs on adults' cognitive skills as measured by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). For select industry…

A skill gap in Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments (PS-TRE) between U.S. Baby Boomers and younger generations has been documented in previous studies using the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Survey of Adult Skills (Rampey et al., 2016). Bringing this generation of workers up to speed in this…

Virtual Reality and education have been evolving for many years, moving from in-person classroom and online sessions to utilizing Virtual reality for training. Virtual reality allows students to actively engage with training rather than being passive in a classroom. The virtual world has been moving forward as a new tool to assist with…