LABATUT, Julie
The active role of instruments in articulating knowing and knowledge : the case of animal qualification practices in breeding organisations
- Bingley, UK : Emerald, 2009
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of instruments defined as artefacts, rules, models or norms, in the articulation between knowing-in-practice and knowledge, in learning processes. Design/methodology/approach – The paper focuses on a distributed, knowledge-intensive and instrumented activity at the core of any collective action: qualification. The particular case of breeding activities in the livestock sector has been studied, where collective practices of animal qualification for collective breeding have been studied. Qualitative data stemming from in-depth interviews and observation of daily practices have been analysed, combining practice-based approaches on knowing processes and science philosophers' theories on the use of instruments during action. Findings – The study of instruments used in daily practices allows us to go beyond the dichotomy between opposite types of knowledge, i.e. scientific knowledge seen as a stock, and sensible knowledge seen as purely tacit and equated to non-instrumented practices. Instruments are not merely mediators in learning processes; they also take an active part in shaping and activating knowledge and learning processes. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed on the designing of reflexive instrumentation, which takes knowing and knowledge articulation into account better. Practical implications – Using instruments as a key concept to analyse knowing-in-practice processes has both methodological and managerial implications for identifying those instruments that favour learning processes. Originality/value – This paper complements more classical practice-based approaches by proposing a new perspective on instruments in learning processes, which is particularly relevant to the study of pluralistic organisations where power is diffuse.