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Informal Workplace Learning

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Quality Education

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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Synonyms

Explicit learning; Incidental learning; Self-directed learning; Tacit learning

Definition

Dale and Bell (1999) define informal workplace learning as that which takes place in the work context, relates to an individual’s performance of their job and/or their employability, and which is not formally organized into a program or curriculum by the employer.

Introduction

Most learning in the workplace today is informal learning (Dale and Bell 1999; Enos et al. 2003; Merriam and Bierema 2014; Schurmann and Beausaert 2016) – and for various reasons. Unlike formal learning – which can delay a worker’s learning process due to the highly structured and complicated process of design, approval, and delivery – informal learning responds immediately to workers’ needs with its learner-centered and need-specific nature. More so, in today’s knowledge-based society characterized by fast-evolving technologies, this has made informal workplace learning unprecedentedly important for workers to...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies (OWLS), Texas State University, San Marcos/Round Rock, TX, USA

    Omar S. López

Authors
  1. Omar S. López
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Correspondence to Omar S. López .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. CHC Higher Education, Brisbane/Carindale, QLD, Australia

    Johannes M. Luetz

  2. University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Johannes M. Luetz

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López, O.S. (2020). Informal Workplace Learning. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Quality Education. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69902-8_108-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69902-8_108-1

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