Charting Collective Knowledge: Supporting Self-regulated Learning in the Workplace Allison Littlejohn Glasgow Caledonian University, UK allison.littlejohn@gcal.ac.uk Anoush Margaryan Glasgow Caledonian University, UK anoush.margaryan@gcal.ac.uk Colin Milligan Glasgow Caledonian University, UK colin.milligan@gcal.ac.uk Abstract The aim of this paper is to propose an approach to enhancing self-regulated learning in the workplace. Drawing upon social-cognitive theories of self- regulated learning, we argue that current, individualised conceptualisations of self-regulated learning should be re-examined. These contradict the interactional and collaborative nature of the workplace where goal actuation is socially mediated, structured by and closely integrated within work tasks. We outline a mechanism that integrates individual and collective components to enhance goal actuation processes for self-regulated learning in the workplace. We term this mechanism ‘charting’ and provide scenarios illustrating how it might work in practice. 1. Self-regulated learning in the workplace Self-regulated learning (SRL) in the workplace is gaining importance due to global societal transformations which create new demands for learning for work [1]. These changes require the contemporary knowledge worker to be self-regulated in setting and attaining their learning and development goals. Self-regulation can be defined as “self- generated thoughts, feelings and actions that are planned and cyclically adapted to the attainment of personal goals” [2]. Leontiev (1981) [3] provides a framework for all human activity including goal setting. In this framework Leontiev describes these three levels as activities governed by motivation, actions governed by goals and operations constituting actions. While Leontiev’s framework applies to all aspects of human activity, Zimmerman’s (2006) study on self regulated learning suggests three stages specific to the activity of self regulated learning: forethought, performance and self-reflection [4]. These processes are conventionally viewed as being predominantly individualistic. This view seems misaligned with the interactional and collaborative nature of most workplaces, where individuals’ work and learning are shaped by complex and often tacit interdependencies with others [5]. Although social cognitive theories of self-regulated learning recognise that the social context plays a role in learning, the impact of the collective is often assumed to be less significant than that of factors related to the individual [6]. This standpoint could be a consequence of the fact that research in self-regulation is typically conducted in laboratory settings, amongst disconnected individuals; therefore the impact of social interactions is overlooked. Further to this, since most research in self-regulated learning has taken place in formal instructional settings, the SRL processes in the workplace are not well understood. Self-regulated learning is both a process and an outcome. As a process self-regulated learning can be viewed as the autonomous actions learners take in planning, carrying out and evaluating their learning. As a product it can be seen as the disposition of learners to direct their own learning [7, 8]. Both the process and product aspects of self-regulated learning are important as an individual develops a representation of the scope of his/her learning goals and related challenges, he or she will become gradually more ready to set goals for his or her further development. The connection between process and product views is articulated in Zimmerman’s Social Cognitive View of Self-Regulated Academic Learning [9] in which there are mutual interactions between learners’ personal disposition and the environment (community, tools, rules), mediated by behaviour (enacted outcomes). The personal disposition itself contains components of commitment to goals, strategies, and self-efficacy perceptions (the 2009 Ninth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies 978-0-7695-3711-5/09 $25.00 © 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ICALT.2009.14 208