Learning to recycle: a look at work practices

Abstract

This study aims to understanding how the practice of collective recycling work is learned, produced and reproduced, based on a case study in front a recycling association. The construction of empirical data was based on the zoom in and zoom out method, operated through ethnographic techniques. The analysis was developed through textual analysis and the use of templates. The data reveals that practitioners give new meaning to the practices of collective recycling work through negotiation and reflexivity, suspending the flow of the previous action and legitimizing a new repertoire of normative constructions, recognized together. It is concluded that the way of organizing and learning of the recyclers provides the construction and reconstruction of practices over time, produced in the interactions between subjects, knowledge and materiality, making the practice of collective recycling work remain in constant refinement. The contributions of these findings, especially in regard to collective work, reveals nuances about the organizing and learning process, supporting managers to overcome challenges facing social projects based on learning through practice.

Keywords

• estudos baseados em prática
• aprendizagem
• prática
• knowing in practice