Editorial

Citation

Cervai, S. and Kekäle, T. (2012), "Editorial", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 24 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jwl.2012.08624aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Workplace Learning, Volume 24, Issue 1

This issue might be called “the tacit knowledge issue” as all the papers that we have selected discuss aspects of the fluidity of tacit knowledge and the difficulties in transferring that knowledge to others. They also all seem to emphasize the effects of the work environment on learning.

The recent activist movements in European countries and the USA have brought back interest in Marxist-Dualist research that recognizes the (at least sometimes) conflicting interests of the owners and the workers. The first article in this issue, by Anu Järvensivu and Pasi Koski, looks into workplace learning through research into the sociology of work. It explores the “learning discourse” at workplace level, looking for possibilities to oppose learning.

Their case studies show that there can also be a conflict of interests in the workplace if the worker disagrees with their employer’s demands. To overcome this, measures and training must be undertaken to support workplace learning with an understanding and awareness of conflict situations and differing interests in the workplace as well as the general structures and trends of working life.

Even more pertinent – and, we are afraid, a contemporary topic for years to come – is the ageing workforce and the tacit knowledge that disappears when people retire. Two of the papers in this issue examine nurses’ learning. The second article in the issue, by Esther Hauer, Annika M. Nordlund and Kristina Westerberg, looks at nurses’ learning environment of the care of the elderly in Sweden. Among their conclusions they state that “it is important to meet the demands of meaningful interpretation of the processes that may influence consequences (of the training)”. In the third paper of the issue, Johanna Lammintakanen and Tuula Kivinen also discuss nursing staff, this time in Finland, and their views on continuing professional development in different age groups. The authors highlight the problems in trying to transfer the tacit knowledge of the older nurses to the younger nurses, who may be reluctant to participate in these schemes.

The practitioner paper selected for this issue takes an interesting look at the franchising business, connects the tacit knowledge theory and identifies barriers that hinder tacit knowledge transfer in a franchise environment. We hope the suggested solutions are of benefit for franchisees and franchisers all over the world.

We also have a review on the book Training on Trial: How Workplace Learning Must Reinvent Itself to Remain Relevant. We welcome more book reviews – readers certainly like to know what relevant titles have been recently published. This piece was submitted to us by Carolyn Newman.

To finish this editorial, we are happy to see from recent statistics that downloads of the Journal of Workplace Learning articles are up. Thanks for the interest and trust in the research we are forwarding to you, dear readers; we hope to hear from you both in discussing the published pieces and submitting your own research work.

Sara Cervai, Tauno Kekäle