Active learning in the workplace: transforming individuals and institutions

Abstract

In order to keep current and dynamic, organizations depend on the careful induction of new members. In social work, as in many professions, that task is generally given to experienced practitioners who supervise and manage the gradual transformation of novices into effective professionals. The process is critical for both organizations and newcomers: the former require new practitioners who are capable of respecting and emulating current practice, but also able and willing to challenge and revise the way things are done; the latter require a quick, deep immersion in organizational life if they are to participate in and influence practice. Unsuccessful induction can lead to stagnation for individuals and the organizations they seek to join.

This article draws on a longitudinal study of the school‐to‐work transition in social work, with particular attention to the conditions that are most conducive to the effective induction of newcomers. Social work students were interviewed during their final field education placements (ie internships) and again in their first professional jobs. Findings considered here include the student’s responsibility in the induction process, the importance of first impressions and activities, the ways successful mentoring is distributed across organizations, and the benefits gained by the organization through the induction process.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding in support of their research.

Notes

1. The full study focused on three other fields as well — education, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy — but this article is concerned primarily with professional induction in social work and builds on earlier work reported in Dias et al. (1999), Paré & Szewello (1995), Paré (2005, 2002, 2000).

2. Definitions of ‘success’ in the process of induction will clearly vary; as we argue in this article, our definition of success is the simultaneous, beneficial transformation of individual and institution.

3. Questions about the nature and mechanism of knowledge transfer — from the site or moment of learning to a new location or problem — are at least as old as modern schooling, and far too complex for our purposes here (see Tuomi‐Gröhn & Engeström, 2003a, 2003b for a history of the notion of transfer and a discussion of current understandings).

4. The four field‐education coordinators were university faculty members, but all had extensive experience as practitioners in their fields; indeed, they were hired by the university because of their professional expertise. In addition, research assistants included two doctoral students with experience as social work practitioners.

5. The interview excerpts we present are representative of particular themes — that is, they are the most articulate or succinct examples of patterns of repeated commentary that we have identified in the data. For ease of reading, we have made minor changes to the verbatim transcripts, but we have tried to retain the gist of the participants’ comments, without distorting what we believe is their crucial meaning. We have identified the speaker as either a student (ST), a supervisor (SU), or a new practitioner (NP).

6. In Montreal, where this research took place, French words are occasionally used in English (and vice versa). The French word for practicum is stage, and thus a stagier is one engaged in a practicum.