Can Individuals and Their Practices Promote Social Learning?

Abstract

This article seeks how professionals learn from each other to perform their functions. Thus, try to understand their learning processes in workplace as apprentices, in contrast to formal processes of learning that prepares them for professional practice. To understand the tension between social learning and individual learning, this paper uses descriptive and explanatory literature on how and where people learn. National and international references on learning, organizational learning and communities of practice were investigated. Conclusions find that formal studies are in line with training in practice to prepare professionals to perform their functions ; theory and practice are much more complementary than antagonistic ; and practice in a community works as powerful situated learning curricula in workplaces.