Browsing by Subject "työntekijä"

The aim of this study was to examine what kinds of views do employees have on lifelong learning and what kind of phenomena they include in it. There has not been much research on this subject from the viewpoints of employees. It is possible to mirror the results of this study to some earlier theories on lifelong learning, which are handling lifelong learning as a concept and examine if the employees’ views and the earlier theories from different decades match. The employees’ views on lifelong learning are therefore reasonable to examine because lifelong learning has been a part of the discussion in education policy and working life for many decades now. This study’s method was qualitative. Three employees from different parts of Southern Finland were interviewed in this study, by using semi structured interview. The interviews were transcribed afterwards. The material of the study was analyzed using mainly inductive content analysis but abductive reasoning was also benefited. Using the inductive content analysis, the material was first reduced, then clustered and finally abstracted into five integrative categories. These categories represent the results of the study. There were a lot of variation to be noticed in the examples the employees gave of lifelong learning, even though the discussions handled similar themes. The first integrative category handled the bases of lifelong learning, which the employees associated specially with permanent education. For example learning new and adaptation to environment were linked to permanent education. Some different forms of learning, like education and self-study, arose from the speech of the employees and were perceived as a part of lifelong learning. The status of an individual was seen as a third integrative category especially through motivation. Motivation was a central phenomenon in the speech of every employee, but the examples linked to it varied between the interviewees. The workplace and particularly the work community were seen as an important part of lifelong learning and they formed the fourth integrative category. The closing category handled interaction, which was a part of every employees’ speech in different aspects. The results of the study attached well to earlier theories, although there were also some abnormalities in the study, for example in the interviewees’ positive attitude towards lifelong learning.