Theoretical Framework and Methodology for Exploring Instructional Videos for Cashier Work

Abstract

The study described in this paper is part of a thesis project consisting of three empirical studies researching work and work-based training and learning in connected workplaces. The specific case is sales assistants' work and skills in connected stores, focusing personal customer meeting practices on the sales floor and at the checkout. The first study explores work-based training for cashier work through instructional videos. In the second study, the focus shifts to explore work-based learning through apprenticeships education in the connected checkout. The third study explores sales assistants' work in connected stores focusing on the personal customer meeting on the sales floor and at the checkout. Theoretical framework and analytical tool in all of the three studies is the theory of practice architectures(Kemmis et al., 2014; Mahon, Francisco, & Kemmis, 2017). This recently developed practice theory builds on Schatzki's (2001) concepts of practice and the critical insights of Habermas (1974) and assumes that social reality consists of a variety of practices that we daily, without further reflection, engage in and take for granted.

This paper reports on the theoretical framework and methodology of the first empirical study, work-based training for cashier work through instructional videos. Instructional videos and film are since long an educational resource used in both workplace education and formal education (Spector, 2015; Wiatr, 2002). In the first half of the 20th century, pictures were considered more accessible than written text. They were therefore used as a resource for transference, for example, information, workplace norms, values and processes more rapidly and thoroughly. In the 21st century, video lectures are used in, for instance, Massive Open Online Courses for delivering lecture content (e.g.Johnston, 2015). In health care educations medical television programs, such as Grey's Anatomy are popular among health profession trainees communicating typical work situations in advance of workplace learning (Hoffman et al., 2018; Jubas & Knutson, 2013)2015). Winch and Cahn (2015) report on a study implementing supplementary online video tutorials to improve student performance in a management science course. In the context of this paper, instructional (including, presentation, lecture, training, tutorial, screencast) videos are understood as part of many pedagogical practices within networked learning.

Instructional videos for cashier work in checkout practices have been used since the 1910s as a technological resource in workplace training. The study described in this paper explores, among other things, the relationship between technology evolution and the formation of checkout practices and the cashier profession over time. The study was conducted between 2018-2019 using online video research in combination with a literature study of retail technology evolution. The data material consists of 50 instructional videos for cashier work produced between 1917 and 2010 and published on YouTube. The analysis was conducted in five steps, "zooming in" and "zooming out" (Nicolini, 2012) the checkout practices demonstrated in the videos using the theory of practice architectures as a theoretical lens and analytical tool.