Abstract
Researchers have conventionally used objective, discrete and linear assumptions of time and space when constructing metaphors such as acquisition, transfer and progression to theorize learning and change. This chapter offers an alternative starting point. It suggests that the notion of practice-based learning and change is better conceptualized as dynamic patterns of human actions and materialities that are often comfortably familiar, yet paradoxically novel, leading to possibilities for remaking those practices. Building upon postmodern understandings of time and space, I introduce the concept of tempo-rhythm to highlight attention to the significance of practice dynamics for learning and change. Tempo-rhythm is a metaphor borrowed from the dramatic arts (Stanislavski, Building a character (trans: Hapgood ER). Methuen, London, 1979 [Originally published in 1950 by M. Reinhardt Ltd]) that describes how actors incorporate speed, intensity and variability into their movement and speech actions to engage the audience in the shared experience of character-building and performance.
I illustrate how the tempo-rhythm of chefs engaging in practice together goes beyond what can be observed, experienced or designed to be purposive in vocational learning. This focus on practice dynamics suggests that learning of an engagement kind requires practitioners to interact in emergent ways that add novelty, variety and intensity to work practices, shaping meaning and commitment to the changing patterns of practice in everyday work life.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Antonacopoulou, E. P. (2009). On the practise of practice: In-tensions and ex-tensions in the ongoing reconfiguration of practices. In D. Barry & H. Hansen (Eds.), The Sage handbook of new approaches in management and organization (pp. 112–131). Los Angeles: Sage.
Armenakis, A., & Harris, S. G. (2009). Reflections: Our journey in organizational change research and practice. Journal of Change Management, 9(2), 127–142.
Auer, P., Coupe-Kuhlen, E., & Műller, F. (1999). Language in time: The rhythm and tempo of spoken interaction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1993). In V. Liapunov & M. Holquist (Eds.), Toward a philosophy of the act (V. Liapunov, Trans.). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Bjørkeng, K., Clegg, S., & Pitsis, T. (2009). Becoming (a) practice. Management Learning, 40(2), 145–159.
Burke, W. W., & Litwin, G. H. (2009). A causal model of organizational performance and change. In W. W. Burke, D. G. Lake, & J. W. Paine (Eds.), Organizational change: A comprehensive reader (pp. 273–299). San Francisco: Wiley.
Burkitt, I. (1999). Relational moves and generative dances. In S. McNamee & K. J. Gergen (Eds.), Relational responsibility: Resources for sustainable dialogue (pp. 71–79). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Burkitt, I. (2004). The time and space of everyday life. Cultural Studies, 18(2/3), 211–227.
Carr, A. N., & Hancock, P. (2006). Space and time in organizational change management. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 19(5), 545–557.
Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., Carter, C., & Rhodes, C. (2006). For management? Management Learning, 37(1), 7–27.
Cunliffe, A. L. (2008). Orientations to social constructionism: Relationally responsive social constructionism and its implications for knowledge and learning. Management Learning, 39(2), 123–139.
Department of Tourism Industry and Resources, DTIR. (2004). The business of eating out: An action agenda for Australia’s Restaurant and Catering Industry. Canberra: DTIR.
Fairchild, K. D., & London, M. B. (2003). Tuning into the music of groups: A metaphor for team-based learning in music education. Journal of Management Education, 27(6), 654–672.
Feldman, M. S., & Pentland, B. T. (2008). Routine dynamics. In D. Barry & H. Hansen (Eds.), The Sage handbook of new approaches in management and organization (pp. 302–317). Los Angeles: Sage.
Fenwick, T. (2001). Tides of change: New themes and questions in workplace learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 92, 3–18.
Ford, L. S. (2009). Temporal and nontemporal becoming. Process Studies, 38(1), 5–42.
Gulson, K. N., & Symes, C. (2007). Knowing one’s place: Space, theory, education. Critical Studies in Education, 48(1), 97–110.
Hager, P. (2004). The competence affair, or why vocational education and training urgently needs a new understanding of learning. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 56(3), 409–433.
Hager, P. (2008). Learning and metaphors. Medical Teacher, 30(7), 679–686.
Kemmis, S., & Smith, T. R. (Eds.). (2008). Enabling praxis: Challenges for education. Rotterdam: Sense.
Langley, A. (2007). Process thinking in strategic organization. Strategic Organization, 5(3), 271–282.
Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lefebvre, H. (2004). Rhythmnanalysis: Space, time and everyday life. London: Continuum.
Lemke, J. L. (2000). Across the scales of time, artifacts, activities, and meanings in ecosocial systems. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 7(4), 273–290.
Marshak, R. J. (2002). Changing the language of change: How new contexts and concepts are challenging the ways we think and talk about organizational change. Strategic Change, 11(5), 279–286.
Massey, D. (2005). For space. London: Sage.
Orlikowski, W., & Yates, J. (2002). It’s about time: Temporal structuring in organizations. Organization Science, 13(6), 684–700.
Oswick, C., Anthony, P., Keenoy, T., Mangham, I. L., & Grant, D. (2002). A dialogic analysis of organizational learning. Journal of Management Studies, 37(6), 887–902.
Pettigrew, A. M., Woodman, R. W., & Cameron, K. S. (2001). Studying organizational change and development: Challenges for future research. Academy of Management Journal, 44(4), 697–713.
Rosenthal, S. (2000). Time, continuity and indeterminacy: A pragmatic engagement with contemporary perspectives. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Ruona, W. E. A., & Gibson, S. K. (2004). The making of twenty-first century HR: An analysis of the convergence of HRM, HRD, OD. Human Resource Management, 43(1), 49–66.
Schatzki, T. R. (1996). Social practices: A Wittgensteinian approach to human activity and the social. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schatzki, T. R. (2006). On organizations as they happen. Organization Studies, 27(12), 1863–1873.
Schatzki, T. (2009). Timespace and the organization of social life. In E. Shove, F. Trentmann, & R. Wilk (Eds.), Time, consumption and everyday life: Practice, materiality and culture (pp. 35–48). Oxford: Berg.
Schatzki, T. R. (2010). The timespace of human activity: On performance, society and history as indeterminate teleological events. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Schechner, R. (2003). Performance theory (2nd ed.). London/New York: Routledge. (Originally published as Essays on performance theory 1970–76 in 1977 by Drama Book Specialists)
Shotter, J., & Tsoukas, H. (2007, June 7–9). Theory as therapy: Towards reflective theorizing in organizational studies. Paper presented to the Third Organizational Studies Summer Workshop: ‘Organizational studies as applied science: The generation and use of academic knowledge about organizations’, Crete, Greece.
Soja, E. (1996). Thirdspace: Journey to Los Angeles and real-and-imagined places. Oxford: Blackwell.
Stanislavski, K. (1979). Building a character (E. R. Hapgood, Trans.). London: Methuen. (Originally published in 1950 by M. Reinhardt Ltd)
Van de Ven, A. H., & Poole, M. S. (2005). Alternative approaches to studying organizational change. Organization Studies, 26(7), 1377–1404.
Van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing social semiotics. London: Routledge.
Weick, K. E., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organization change and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 50(1), 361–386.
Weick, K. E., & Roberts, K. H. (1993). Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(3), 357–381.
Woodbury, L. J. (1962). The director’s use of rhythm. Educational Theatre Journal, 40(1), 23–28.
Acknowledgement
The empirical work researching cheffing practice was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Johnsson, M.C. (2012). Sensing the Tempo-Rhythm of Practice: The Dynamics of Engagement. In: Hager, P., Lee, A., Reich, A. (eds) Practice, Learning and Change. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4774-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4774-6_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4773-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4774-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)