Much attention has been given to the development of conceptual and procedural knowledge in workplace settings and how this development might be best promoted, guided and sustained. However, the development and transformation of the kinds of the dispositions (i.e. values, attitudes) (Perkins et al 1994) required for effective work practice, have been subject to less attention. Commencing from the position that dispositions are themselves problematic, this paper seeks to identify how dispositions are developed and transformed through workplace experiences (Billett 1994) and what can be done to promote their development and transformation. Drawing upon studies of hairdressers, coalminers and other workers (e.g. Billett 2001, 2003), the paper explores the way that dispositions are developed for engagement in everyday work activity and also through particular workplace interludes. The conceptual premise acknowledges that there are personal dispositions (e.g. values, interests, attitudes) as well as socially-derived and situated dispositions (e.g. norms, practices and values) that are central to the effective conduct of work practice. It is the intersection and negotiation comprising the appropriation of personal disposition, and individuals’ reshaping of workplace dispositions that is central to both individual development and workplace change.

References:

• Billett S. R. (2001) Learning in the workplace: Strategies for effective practice. Allen and Unwin, Sydney
• Billett S (2003) Sociogeneses, activity and ontogeny. Culture and Psychology, 9 (2) 133-169
• Billett S (2005) Being competent: the relational interdependence between individual and social agency in working life. In Gruber, H., Harteis, C., Mulder, R., & Rehrl, M. (Eds.). Bridging individual, organisational, and cultural perspectives on professional learning (pp.113-132). Regensburg: Germany Roderer. ISBN 3-89783-487-1
• Billett S (1997) Dispositions, vocational knowledge and development: sources and consequences. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research, 5 (1) 1-26.
• Perkins, D., Jay, E., & Tishman, S. (1993). Beyond abilities: A dispositional theory of thinking. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 39(1), 1-21.