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Learning and development expertise: an A ustralian analysis
Author(s) -
Hodge Steven,
Harvey Jack
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of training and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.558
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1468-2419
pISSN - 1360-3736
DOI - 10.1111/ijtd.12062
Subject(s) - typology , facilitation , cluster (spacecraft) , interpretative phenomenological analysis , perception , psychology , knowledge management , sociology , computer science , qualitative research , social science , neuroscience , anthropology , programming language
Learning and development ( L & D ) practitioners draw on a distinctive range of knowledge, skills and techniques in their work. Over the years, there have been attempts to capture this range and identify typical L & D roles. The research presented here was undertaken to identify characteristic areas of expertise ( AOEs ) of L & D practice in A ustralia, and to collect data about roles and organizational settings in which these AOEs are deployed. The research was commissioned by the A ustralian I nstitute of T raining and D evelopment. Literature relating to L & D was consulted, and A ustralian L & D experts were interviewed to draft a list of L & D AOEs . Responses to a survey by 589 A ustralian L & D practitioners were used to appraise the model. A principal components analysis of perceptions of the importance of the different types of expertise revealed that practitioners tended to rate one of three ‘clusters’ as important to their work: a strategy and analysis cluster, a learning facilitation cluster and a design and systems cluster. This analysis raises the question of contemporary L & D roles with implications for strategic HRD policy and professional associations. The typology may be utilized to target professional L & D activities, and provides impetus for further research to investigate the internal relationships between cluster components.