The work-reflection-learning cycle - Department of Computer and ...

2 Work, learning and reflection: theoretical
background
[Theory] can be a useful signpost for those who need directions, or for
that matter for those who are busily writing PhD theses and feel they need
a crutch.
(Randall et al. 2007)
In this chapter, I briefly account for the theory guiding the research in the thesis.
Concepts from various theoretical frameworks have been combined in order to shed
light on issues of interest within a coherent conceptual frame. I start by summarizing
theory on how to understand work and learning. I next consider theory illuminating how
reflection can bridge work and learning. Finally, I turn to the concept of trajectory as a
way of conceiving and making sense of a process.
2.1 Understanding work and learning
Outlining the main theory on work and learning underlying the thesis I address the
constructionist perspective, theory of Communities of Practice (CoP) and learning, and
the theoretical framework of Distributed cognition.
2.1.1 A constructionist perspective on work and learning
Constructionism and constructivism are the core concepts of a large and non-unified
body of research (Phillips 1995) building on the assumption that human knowledge is
constructed in an interplay between individuals‟ thought processes and social processes
(Berger and Luckmann 1966; Brown et al. 1989; Palincsar 1998; Vygotsky 1978). This
view “discards the notion that knowledge could or should be a representation of an
observer-independent world-in-itself and replaces it with the demand that the conceptual
constructs we call knowledge be viable in the experiential world of the knowing
subject” (von Glasersfeld 1989). Such a perspective has profound implications for how
learning is regarded, and sets learners‟ experience at the centre of attention. The
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