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Toward a Social Understanding of How People Learn in Organizations

The Notion of Situated Curriculum

University degli Studi de Trento, silvia.gherard{at}soc.unitn.it

Davide Nicolini

Università degli Studi de Trento

Francesca Odella

University degli Studi de Trento

In this article we submit the view that learning in the workplace is to be understood both as a cognitive and a social activity. We support our claim by introducing and discussing the concept of `situated curriculum', a specific form of social order that instructs the socialization of novices within the context of ongoing work activities. We describe both the nature and features of the situated curriculum, discussing the factors that make it characteristic of a specific community of practice. Finally, after discussing some of the specific conceptual and practical problems related to the disclosure of the `situated curriculum', we shall illustrate some of the implications of the notion of the `situated curriculum' for the study of learning in organizations.

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