title: Learning in Multicultural Workspaces: A Case of Aged Care
Creators: name: Godby, Robert
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: adult learning
subject: workplace learning
subject: cross-cultural learning
subject: multicultural team learning
subject: learning in aged care

description: This thesis describes and elaborates the necessary and increasing requirement for workplaces to support learning in circumstances that are culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD). Workplaces are vital sites for workers’ learning and development in which, due to the continued effects of globalisation, they need to increasingly work and learn as members of culturally diverse teams. This need is especially the case for the Australian aged care sector where the proportion of migrant workers is higher than in most other industries. The predicted growth of this sector, driven by the ageing population, is expected to create an increasing need for workplaces to support the development for all kinds and classifications of workers, both native and non-native, to undertake their work with CaLD peers. This research has illuminated key factors that influence learning in multicultural work environments, how those factors support and/or hinder that learning, and how best learning support and guidance should be enacted in CaLD workplaces. There are a wide range of contributions from the literature that provide a foundation for understanding the phenomenon of working and learning in multicultural teams. A common element apparent across these contributions is that learning results in a change within workers arising from the construction of understandings, procedures, and dispositions (i.e., learning). More specifically, a review of the literature suggests that this change is influenced by individual (e.g., subjectivity), interactional (e.g., intersubjectivity), environmental (e.g., situation learning), and cultural (e.g., ethnicity and language) factors. These various contributions represent a foundation for a conceptual model for learning introduced in this thesis depicting an interrelationship between culture and the other factors that influence workplace learning. This model acts as a consistent theoretical framework for the research methodology, procedural design, data analysis, and presentation of findings. There are two instruments for data collection used in this research and then in thematic analyses of those data. The first, a questionnaire, produced two sets of data including quantitative characteristics of workers (e.g., age, ethnicity, and years of experience) and qualitative comments from workers (e.g., perceptions of learning and co-working). There were 102 questionnaire respondents from 23 worksites of two different aged care chains. The second instrument, a case study of one of these worksites, was formulated by capturing general facility information and, more importantly, interviews with its workers. These interviews included seven carers, the General Manager, and the Group Head of Learning and Development. The two instruments and three data sets represent a mixed methods approach for this inquiry. Arising from the collection and analysis of these data are six contributions to knowledge. First, a conceptual model for understanding learning in multicultural workplaces is proposed. Second, a set of explanatory concepts for learning in multicultural settings (e.g., “cross cultural habitude”) is introduced. Third, it is proposed that the label “CaLD” should be applied to all workers in diverse settings, not just to those born overseas. Fourth, this research emphasises a notion that cultural diversity has a fundamental influence on workplace learning in aged care. Fifth, practices to support cross-cultural communication, co-working, and learning are identified. Sixth, inter-worker learning is reinforced as a key enabler of performance in aged care work. Such contributions help to understand what influences workplace learning in multicultural settings and how it may be better supported. Opportunities for further research include the extension of this study through larger respondent sample sizes, the incorporation of additional worksites, and the inclusion of other job roles (e.g., nurse) in aged care. Case studies of other industries also represent an opportunity to further understand the influences of learning in multicultural workplaces.