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Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-95).

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Main Author: Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Education 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth
author_browse Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth
author_facet Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth
author_sort Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-95).
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14755
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:51.607Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher School of Education
publisherStr School of Education
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14755 Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth Informal Education Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-95). This dissertation explores questions relating to informal learning by workers in a municipal workplace. It aims to understand what knowledge workers have about their work, how they have learnt what they know, the context within which learning happens and how power relations impact on the learning process. The study seeks to foreground the knowledge of workers in a context where such knowledge is generally ignored or devalued. The study draws on the literature on workplace learning that recognizes learning as a socially situated process. It makes use of the conceptual framework of situated learning, but draws on various critiques of this conceptual framework as a way of deepening the analysis. The research adopted a case study methodology as I was interested in exploring detail and depth in a specific context. Data collection involved mainly observations of workers at work and informal interviews in the field, and these were supplemented by semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that much informal learning about work takes place amongst workers in a work team, largely through modelling, but that this learning is shaped by power relations between workers. The findings show also that workers' learning, and their perceptions of their learning, have been impacted on by moves towards the formalization of learning. In the context of the pervasive emphasis on formal training and qualifications, studies which focus on workers' informal learning are an important counter-balance in the workplace learning research field. 2015-11-08T05:13:55Z 2015-11-08T05:13:55Z 2010 Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14755 eng application/pdf School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Informal Education
Van Niekerk, Sandra Elizabeth
Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town
title_full Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town
title_fullStr Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town
title_full_unstemmed Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town
title_short Learning informally on the job : reflections from the coalface : a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the City of Cape Town
title_sort learning informally on the job reflections from the coalface a case study of a municipal water reticulation depot in the city of cape town
topic Informal Education
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14755
work_keys_str_mv AT vanniekerksandraelizabeth learninginformallyonthejobreflectionsfromthecoalfaceacasestudyofamunicipalwaterreticulationdepotinthecityofcapetown