Organising work-related learning projects

This study demonstrates that work-related learning can be organised in different (group) learning projects. Learning projects can expand the action repertoire of participants. In a descriptive evaluation of four cases, the learning-network theory was used to produce descriptive categories for the analysis of learning projects. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants. Each category was compared with theoretical types of learning projects for characterisation. Two empirical types emerged: a liberal-vertical one in which individual learning and training activities were gathered and an external-horizontal one in which group reflection and the development of professional norms were stressed. The results offer employees, managers, and trainers alternative options to organise work-related learning.