A diagrammatical representation of organisational learning using socio-cultural theory

Traditional psychology conceptualises learning in organisations in a non-contextual way which means that the theories, due to their over-structured rigidity, cannot account for the complexities of learning.

This paper re-conceptualises learning through consideration of socio-cultural theories which position learning as something created as a result of the interaction of a person with their task and context. Through re-conceptualising an understanding of knowledge as something that is distributed through participation within communities of practice this paper will provide justification for the adoption of socio-cultural methods to enable the distribution of knowledge within an organisation.

The paper argues for a more complex model of organisational learning which will have the explanatory power to understand learning and how this impacts and informs learning outcomes within and across organisations.