The development of skills - Constructive Ergonomics - page 5

Work environments for the development of skills
Temporal and situational aspects of work are crucial in the construction
of skills, whose development is neither random nor predetermined. This
development is strongly related to the real-world work situations in which
operators evolve (Weill-Fassina, 2012). These situations may or may not
be 'situations of potential development', i.e. situations that fulfill a set of
conditions necessary to 'starting off and supporting the processes of skills
development within individuals or groups of individuals' (Mayen, 1999,
p. 66, our translation).
Favourable conditions: Potential situations
of development and mediation
The first of these conditions relates to the connection between the actual
skills of a person or collective of persons, and the features of the profes-
sional situation they are involved in. This connection can be described
from the idea of an 'envelope of situations' (Rogalski et al., 2002), which
corresponds to the zone of proximal development of individuals and of the
collective (Vygotski, 1934/1986). This envelope comprises situations that,
in order to be apprehended, require some learning and the implementa-
tion of mediations that can be based on tools (e.g. support tools), on peers
or on other people (e.g. tutors, trainers). Situations that are included in
this envelope are well-known, even routine situations. Situations that are
outside of it cannot be considered, taking into account the skills that have
been acquired so far.
Other conditions are related to the features of work situations them-
selves, which may be a source of mediations (Samurçay and Rogalski,
1998). The work organization that is implemented, the type of tasks or
missions that need to be completed, the actual conditions in which they
are carried out, and the ways in which people are employed and their
professional histories are managed within organizations will colour and
drive the development of skills, or hinder it.
Highlighting the fact that skills are developed through the situated
realization of activity shows the importance of the processes of mediation
based on work situations, but also on peers. These two types of processes
are strongly interdependent. Let us once again take the example of pro-
cess controllers in the steel industry (Pueyo et al., 2011). It is because both
the work organization and the conditions of activity realization allow
elder workers to carry out their tasks with sufficient decision latitude
in temporal and operational terms (e.g. leaving the control room to go
examine steel production with the naked eye) that these operators have