![This figure displays the oscillating zig-zag movement up the spiral representing the changes in SDT worldview constructs, thinking, and problem-solving abilities (reproduced with permission [3]](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lisa-Brown-31/publication/370465355/figure/fig1/AS:11431281155115468@1683045854138/This-figure-displays-the-oscillating-zig-zag-movement-up-the-spiral-representing-the_Q320.jpg)
Content uploaded by Lisa R. Brown
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Lisa R. Brown on May 02, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based
Strategies to Circumvent “Quiet Quitting” Syndrome
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijac.v16i2.35747
Lisa R. Brown() , Pamela McCray, Jeff L. Neal, Lisa Caldwell-Serges
University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, USA
lrbrown5@uiwtx.edu
Abstract—Envision an employee showing up faithfully every day for work
but cognitively checked out every minute (i.e., quiet quitting). This article adapts
a futurist perspective to describe the adult education pedagogy of experiential
learning in juxtaposition to the limitations of behaviorist employee training
incentives. The authors conceptually apply Spiral Dynamic Theory-based (SDT-
based) predictive strategies to capitalize on the assumptions of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation themes among contemporary adult workers. The eld of
Adult and Continuing Education caters its teaching and learning to people who
are 25 years of age and older. As employees, they bring to the corporate work
environment a unique set of skills and life experiences that require pedagogical
delivery that is innovative and motivating. Research shows that older adults are
often technology averse. Therefore, scaffolding the employee’s use of technology
and social media as expectations of the work tasks could help improve low digital
literacy and increase self-efcacy. This paper offers SDT as an instrument for
adult training and professional development design.
Keywords—affective experiential learning, behaviorism, corporate social
media, quiet quitting, Spiral Dynamic Theory
1 Introduction
Learning environments and concepts are integrally connected to how adults engage
and problem-solve within social contexts and organizations. Marsick and Watkins [1]
emphasize the importance of innovation-and-organizational knowledge perspectives
that give attention to how adults store, retrieve, and manage knowledge by “nding
ways to harvest the tacit knowledge embedded in routines and processes.” Hence,
learning organizations made up of individuals are “socially created”; these collections
of people work together, playing a primary role in changing how they respond to
challenges within and outside of any institution [2]. Learning for adults also includes the
cultural perspectives that position them to utilize organic processes to make meaning as
they co-create knowledge. By introducing the concept of culture, we can more deeply
examine how it informs, facilitates, or impedes learning and team building. Deep
analysis of technology’s role in learning organizations alongside the convergence of
18
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
changing demographics requires optimal approaches and strategies for adult learners
and their psychosocial development [3].
1.1 Reimagining concepts in adult learning
This article explores the authors’ interpretative experiences relative to the role of
traditional adult learning philosophical perspectives and theories to juxtaposition them
to contemporary human resource development conditions using the Spiral Dynamic
Theory (SDT) framework. We engage with the concept of complexity and diversity as
we operationalize affective1 collaboration strategies for teams of adult learners, taking
into consideration the developmental change that occurs in the process. We privilege
the social context of delivering online learning in this discussion, focusing on teaching,
and how the experience evolves in the corporate workspace [4]. The examination of
how adult educators use innovation in their delivery of pedagogy and praxis while
considering how autonomy (self-directed learning) and collaboration are essential
methods for team and group work [5, 6] among adults is discussed. Additionally, we
recognize that the inclusion of life experience and embodied ways of knowing have
increasingly become critical aspects of how adults want to learn in innovative ways [7].
Crentsil, Gschwandtner, and Wahhaj [8] provide valuable insight into how technology
aversion among adults might be overcome when examining its impact on small-scale
farmers who were more inuenced by issues of ambiguity associated with risk-taking
in their use of technology. The ambiguity relative to new farming processes became a
primary variable that inhibited Ghanaian farmers from adopting innovative technologies.
This suggests that cognitively meeting adults at their level of complexity relative to
problem-solving is crucial for integrating technology into their daily life and work.
Piaget [9] developed a stage theory to provide models for cognitive
development—primarily among children—nding that as one matures, new capacities
for problem-solving and knowledge acquisition allow for more complex and accurate
real worldviews. However, the nal stage of his theory, formal operational thinking,
served as the beginning of adult thinking. Neo-Piagetian paradigms [10] built upon the
concept of formal operational thinking, leading to a more emergent understanding of
adults’ thinking and developmental problem-solving over time. In making a case for
what Piaget believed, von Glasersfeld [11] describes the theorist’s model of human
existence as that of Radical Constructivism. The neo-Piagetian held that Piaget’s theory
of knowledge required a reorganization of ideas about knowledge stating:
It is not a question of merely adjusting a denition here and there or rearranging
familiar concepts in a somewhat novel fashion. The change that is required is of a
far more drastic nature. It involves the demolition of our everyday conception of
reality and, thus, of everything explicitly or implicitly based on naïve realism; it
shakes the very foundations on which 19th-century science and most 20th-century
psychology have been built [11].
1 Affective collaboration and strategies, for our purposes, involve moods, feelings, and attitudes
that can emerge during team/group student work due to the diverse SDT ontological worldview(s)
of the adult learner(s) and the social context that locates the graduate-level education.
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
19
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
Adult learning and development scholarship identify linkages between how well
adults can navigate complexity and ambiguity using models of hierarchical cognitive
thinking [3, 12, 13, 14, 15]. Moreover, the evidence suggests that dynamic changes in
the ability to problem-solve among adults require a forward change in their psychosocial
realities [16, 17]. This change results from meeting particular conditions (Table 1) that
lead to higher-order thinking and consolidation of SDT worldview(s) change.
1.2 Spiral dynamic theory
The theoretical framework guiding our discussion and this conceptual article is based
upon the idea of expanding levels of human existence—termed SDT—that direct the
thinking and problem-solving capabilities among individual adults, organizations, and
larger societies [16]. We use this knowledge to inform our delivery of adult learning
pedagogy to groups and collaborative teams.
SDT has its origins in the scholarship of Clare W. Graves [15, 17, 18]—a
psychologist and Professor Emeritus—who retired in 1978 from Union College in New
York. Graves initially described the theory advanced as his Emergent Cyclical Level
of Existence Theory (ECLET), grounded in his interdisciplinary research that bridged
the adult biopsychosocial systems disciplines at Union College. Graves contended that
adult learning and development was an open-ended system of emergent thinking and
evolving worldview constructs [13, 15, 18]. However, he was initially discouraged
about the ECLET due to witnessing a colleague (Abraham Maslow) being torn to
pieces about his theory on the hierarchy of human needs due to underdeveloped data
at an APA seminar in the 1950s [18]. Graves vowed he would never subject himself to
such humiliation and have his research be strongly maligned in the eld due to weak
empiricism. Hence, he retained several incomplete manuscripts until he died in 1986.
Therefore, Grave’s scholarship was not as highly published and implemented until it
was taken up and shepherded by his protégés in the late 20th century [16]. Nevertheless,
Graves [18] used the rejection experienced by Maslow to ne-tune his theory. He later
goes on to state that:
Maslow came around to my point of view. If you look at some of his later
writings, you will see that he accepted both the cyclical idea that there are more
than one kind of expressive system and more than one kind of belonging system
and that the systems were open-ended [19].
As Grave’s protégés Don Beck and Chris Cowan continued to advance his
scholarship—the latter of whom mentored and trained one of the authors of this
article in the use and application of SDT—Brown [13, 20] has rened several of the
worldview constructs. The resulting evolution of the prior frameworks helps make the
application of the emergent model (offered in this presentation) useful in examining
adults’ thinking and values-based responses in connection to cultural diversity [65] and
even more specically, work environments.
20
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
Table 1. Six stages are required for SDT worldview level movement
The Chronological SDT Change States Conditions Needed for Problem Resolution
1. Change Potential (Open/Closed) The change potential for the adult must be met through
the acquisition of new insights. Some adults will remain
resistant to change, becoming static in their ability to
problem-solve or advance in ontological reality.
2. Solutions The problem is recognized cognitively, and an
understanding of the need to address the problem is made
clear.
3. Dissonance The disturbance generated by the solution stage
subsequently triggers a regressive movement in how to
solve the problem.
4. Insight New clarity and insight are introduced into the thinking
about the problem that halts the regression movement
as strong enlightenment points that facilitate change are
realized.
5. Barriers are removed or neutralized Non-interference for the change to occur or properly timed
aid is provided to the adult leading to assistance with
overcoming the problem.
6. Consummation of change The adult experiences an SDT worldview level jump to
consolidate the change in thinking and resolve the problem.
Note: During the consummation of change (Step 6), quantum leaps can occur in the SDT worldview
typologies stages, disrupting the normal progression of change and problem-solving ability. However, such
leaps are very unstable and typically result in a regression downward to a more optimal SDT worldview level
change stage [12, 18].
Memes the transferable units of culture. Although Clare W. Graves [18] never
explicitly used the term meme, a unit of culture that transfers from person to person
through non-genetic human imitation [21], his conceptualization of the term was present
in his research on how thinking and problem-solving capacities evolved from one stage
(worldview construct) to the next on the ECLET spiraling framework. His protégés
later advanced the theory of the movement up the framework as a dynamic spiral of
value memes (i.e., vMEME2) of increasing cognitive complexity [16]. Additionally,
movement along the framework is induced by problem resolution, as shown in Table 1.
Hierarchical and evolving worldview constructs. Brown [3, 20] provides some
descriptive details about the unique worldview constructs that exist in the framework.
The diagram (Figure 1) uses a mnemonically color-coded system to distinguish each
worldview construct that begins with low-order simplistic thinking and then progresses
upward in a zig-zag fashion toward more complex taxonomies of higher-order thinking
and problem-solving abilities.
The adult learners to whom we deliver the SDT training and professional
development are provided with initial in-session orientations to become familiar with
2
vMEME(s) represent ontological Spiral Dynamics organizing principles and values embedded
within a taxonomy of emergent worldviews and hierarchical cognitive problem-solving abilities.
The vMEME is mimetically inuenced and therefore functions as a type of meta-meme within
the SDT framework [13].
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
21
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
SDT and its taxonomy. Then they are asked to self-assess their positionality on the SDT
framework using case study scenario exercises to guide their evaluations. Throughout
the sessions, the instructor makes continuous nonformal assessments by observing
the trainees as individuals and in their group collaborations. The assessment tools
and strategies assist the session facilitator to identify optimal project team grouping
recommendations that align with the emergent SDT model.
The horizontal worldview constructs (Figure 1) experience the most conict while
the thinking among the immediately vertical neighboring system tends to maintain
the most harmonious collaborations. The following descriptions are associated with
each of the color-coded vMEME with conceptions of teal and coral currently at the
hypothesis stage of investigation:
Basic instinctive. The beige A/N coded value meme system is representative of a
precultural existence. Wherein the case of the individual, he would possess low self-
awareness. The thinking is driven by physiological imperatives and the simple purpose
of staying alive [13, 22]. The locus of control is internal, and the thematic orientation
is individualistic.
Magical mystical world. The purple B/O coded value meme system is concerned with
safety and security through kinship ties. This worldview system believes in obeying the
desires of magical-mystical spiritual beings and divine authority gures (e.g., priests,
Shamans, tribal elders). The purple-coded is marked by fantastical thinking, tribalism,
and traditionalism. The locus of control is external, and the thematic orientation is
collectivist.
Power impulsive. The red C/P coded value meme system is the egocentric memetic
worldview often marked by imperatives of domination by force and intimidation. It is
represented by thinking and actions that are impulsive. The perception in thinking holds
that life is a jungle where there exist the haves and the have-nots. The driving force is to
be among the haves. The locus of control is internal and individualistic.
22
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
SDT Constructivist Theoretical Framework Model
Fig. 1. This gure displays the oscillating zig-zag movement up the spiral representing
the changes in SDT worldview constructs, thinking, and problem-solving abilities
(reproduced with permission [3]
Purposeful and saintly living. The blue D/Q coded value meme system represents
honor and a good versus evil memetic worldview. This thinking believes that we are
assigned to a specic place in life and must accept our lots in life as predestined. This
thinking can be marked by dogmatic absolutism where calls for sacrice are urged
to bring order and stability to a chaotic space. The thinking can be paternalistic and
authoritarian with goals for obtaining the betterment of everyone. Rules are to be
followed and are often non-negotiable. The locus of control is external and collectivist.
Strategic materialism. The orange E/R coded value meme system is marked by
manipulation and a memetic worldview that values autonomy and independence.
Winning and competition are prevailing values of this system. Using scheming tactics
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
23
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
and cunning strategies to obtain desired outcomes is a driving force. Gaining high
achievements that bring praise and material possessions is viewed as the most optimal
reward. The thinking is grounded in logic and a reasonable calculated certainty for
success. The locus of control is internal and individualistic.
Humanistic consensus. The green F/S coded value meme system F/S is the relativistic
memetic worldview that believes in human dignity and consensus building in contrast
to religious edicts. There is an effort to explore the personal inner self in cooperation
with the inner self-discovery also being made by others. The thinking in this value
meme system prioritizes the life of community, unity, and harmony, as the group seeks
to share societal resources for the benet of all. The locus of control is external and
collectivist.
Creativity & innovation/ex-ow systems. The yellow G/T coded value meme system
represents the rst of the more complexity-oriented constructs (i.e., Tier 2 worldviews).
In the literature, the yellow value meme represents a departure from the preoccupations
of subsistence living found with the Tier 1 constructed thinking. Yellow marks the
rst worldview of Tier 2 being levels where the problems of subsistence living are
clearly understood even though they are not necessarily under control [1, 13]. The SDT
yellow value meme thinking welcomes paradoxes and uncertainty. It accepts a ex-
ow [13, 20] perspective that appreciates the layered dimensions of human nature and
societies. The locus of control is internal and individualistic.
Holistic globalism dichotomies. The turquoise H/U coded value meme thinking
represents the second of the Tier 2 constructs. This system reects the globalism
memetic worldview marked by its ability to more easily negotiate complexity and
recognize patterns more immediately than seen operating under the prior lower six,
Tier 1 vMEMEs. Its priorities include the pursuit of the good for all living things, and
the thinking views the world as a single dynamic organism possessing its own type
of independent human energy of mind. Turquoise thinking is more driven by purpose
versus achieving harmony with other persons. The locus of control is external and
collectivist.
The through era. The coral I/V coded value meme system reects the worldview that
privileges the use of perspectives that merge human biology and technology, thinking it
to be the most optimal approach to adult existence. At this level, adults have advanced
in their problem-solving abilities as they are no longer burdened by subsistence living.
As a result, there is a freeing up of the capacity for higher-order thinking to engage
more complex problems of the human condition. This construct is among the last two
value meme constructs currently included in the [12] SDT model and is in developing
formulation. The research limitation for the Coral and Teal constructs is constrained due
to the impediments for the author to secure access to a sufcient sample of individuals
holding to these types of adult thinking patterns. Coral thinking represents “a secular
vision of unlimited technoscientic progress” where notions of God and faith are
integral [22]. The locus of control is internal and individualistic.
Integral wisdom and human insight. Like the prior coral I/V coded value meme
system, the teal J/W coded value meme system represents a construction based
upon theoretical propositions by the author using interpretive observational pilot
research and adult development literature [23, 24]. Note that at the Tier 2 level of
the SDT framework, the differences between collectivist orientations juxtaposition
24
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
individualistic worldview orientations begin to become less pronounced. The tensions
and disagreements between the horizontal conict patterns among the adults engaged
in Tier 1 level thinking led to more signicant stagnation concerning problem-solving
between diametrically oppositional perspectives [13, 16]. However, the Tier 2 teal J/W
system departs more gently from the prior coral systems of adult thinking introducing
a more tempered reliance on technology and mechanization to resolve complex human
problems. The locus of control is external and collectivist.
2 Review of the adult learning literature
Constructivism theory views learning as constructing new knowledge that includes
social, cultural, and experiential components with early roots dating back to Socrates
and his teaching method of allowing his followers to challenge their ideas [25]. Jean
Piaget is attributed with developing the modern theory of Constructivism; however,
many well-known contributors, such as John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, and Seymour
Papert, have also informed the theory’s development. Constructivism purports that
learners interpret new information through personal, contextual lenses and build upon
existing knowledge and previous experiences to construct a new understanding of their
world [26]. Constructivism centers on the learner’s characteristics of self-direction and
experience to create new knowledge. It reects real-life problem-solving and supports
the general principles of adult education and lifelong learning [27, 28].
2.1 Experiential learning
As mentioned, Constructivism involves a synthesis of multiple theorists from Dewey
[29] to Piaget [9] and Vygotsky [30], who profoundly affected Kolb’s [31] Experiential
Learning theory. The latter theory emphasizes the signicance of experience in the
adult learning process, and it views learning as a more holistic and integrated process
that combines experience, perception, cognition, and behavior [32]. Experiential
Learning is the construction of knowledge and meaning from real-life incidents or
simply learning by doing and undergirded by individual reection [33].
Experiential Learning fosters new neurological connections in the brain, thus
helping adults learn new things [34]. Brown [13], as an element of the SDT framework,
advances the concept of transferable mental units of culture termed memes. She goes on
to recognize that in the eld of adult education, there is a “Growing body of knowledge
on adult development and how cognition—that can be dynamic and evolving—
contributes to the adults’ problem-solving capacities and their abilities to negotiate
environmentally complex social contexts and thinking” [13, p. 206].
Therefore, the role of experience and neuroplasticity3 can operate as key variables
for examining how adults learn and develop. SDT offers an interpretive model for how
adult learners engage in adaptive complex critical thinking in new and innovative ways
based on the connections formed (or uncoupling) that occur during group collaborations.
3 A general umbrella term that refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change, and adapt both
structure and function throughout life and in response to experience.
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
25
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
Nevertheless, Schenck and Cruickshank [35] offer criticism of the Kolb [31] model due
to its cyclical nature and its inability to adapt to newer research. We advance that SDT
introduces a contemporary lens of epistemology that bridges the need for a newer way
to examine adult learning using an integral view of the body, mind, and spiritual ways
of knowing within dynamically changing social contexts [3, 20].
3 Social media in the corporate environment
The use of social media and digital technology has left an indelible mark on adult
learning environments in our society, with both positive and negative outcomes [36].
The employee educational strategy for corporations has pivoted away from traditional
lecture-oriented approaches to digitally based knowledge delivery [37]. Leading the
way in adult learning innovation are social media informal learning formats heavily
inuenced by the corporation’s social media strategy. Corporate educators have adopted
the principles of social learning to improve collaborative learning, increase learner
exibility, and reduce costs by using standardized web-based learning environments
such as Twitter and Instagram [38].
Many organizations recognize the potential of digital literacy for its rapid access
to consumers and leverage their employees in their social media strategy [37, 39].
This plan of action allows employees to increase brand knowledge and connections
with potential customers hence becoming key market inuencers. Therefore, through
directives from upper leadership, a company policy may require employees to express
positive messages through social tweets and posts on behalf of the organization. Such
actions can serve to positively inuence brand awareness and improve market reach at
minimum costs [39, 40, 41].
However, the personal characteristics normatively associated with adult learners,
such as self-directedness, self-efcacy, adapting to new social contexts, personal
autonomy [42], and the application of lived experience in creating new knowledge by
employees, may be absent. Approaches to injecting social media as a work requirement
may risk producing the opposite effect of positive branding when behaviorist tasks
reduce affective learning and enthusiasm among workers [43]. Therefore, corporations
must be mindful in their attempts to infuse employee social media skills and usage into
the organizational culture [25, 36].
3.1 Case study
In this case analysis, a multinational technology company positioned digital brand
ambassadorships as a way for employees to increase collaboration with customers and
colleagues. The learning strategy was an opportunity to improve the worker’s social
skills. It also served to enhance digital identity and increase brand awareness online. The
company used a behavioralist approach in implementing the initiative, requiring brand
ambassadors to 1) tweet multiple times weekly, 2) participate in LinkedIn discussions,
and 3) post on Instagram. The employees who served in leadership roles were assigned
the titles of Brand Ambassador and were responsible for their departments or functional
groups. A measurement tool was used to track employee social media participation
26
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
and a departmental scorecard was published for senior management and departmental
leadership to inspect every Monday. The monitoring tool also provided statistical data
used in the employee evaluation process.
The company provided each employee access to a multi-dimensional digital
application with pre-built tweets to support the initiative and facilitate process efciency.
The application offered various categories of content that included organizational
updates, product launches, upcoming tradeshows and conferences, executive blogs and
briefs, and philanthropic events. However, employees still needed to acquire a baseline
knowledge of social skills and practices not directly supported by a formal learning
program offered by the company as part of the initiative’s launch. The employees
who served in leadership roles were assigned the titles of Brand Ambassador and
were responsible for their departments’ participation. Most employees acquired basic
skills through informal learning channels such as viewing online tutorials on YouTube,
colleague mentoring, and on-the-job independent practice.
Although the corporate marketing department developed limited training material,
each department’s responsibility was to ensure digital and social education among
its employees to the obtaining of self-efcacy. Many older employees struggled with
building digital prociency at the pace needed to achieve their weekly posting quotas.
This challenge created frustration and anxiety and thrust employees into a competitive
environment instead of a collaborative, knowledge-sharing community [43]. The
company missed the opportunity of integrating adult learning pedagogy into teaching
employees how to effectively acquire and use social media skills to improve personal
digital competency and expand interpersonal relationships in the workplace and in
producing harmony with the emerging external online work context.
4 Behaviorist training approaches in professional development
Noted psychologist B. F. Skinner [44] is well-known for his contributions to the eld
of adult education through his advancing of the philosophical perspective of behaviorism.
Practitioners whose professional concentration emphases are in the areas of Human
Resource Development (HRD) are much acquainted with traditional practices that draw
upon behaviorist pedagogy used for training and employee professional development
[45]. As an academic exercise, and for the scope of this article, we examine behaviors
and training that result from stimuli used to change the activities of workers through the
reinforcement systems of incentivizing rewards and disincentivizing penalties if targets
were not met within a newly implemented online corporate working environment for
lower-level employees.
Skinner saw human action as being dependent on the consequences of previous
actions, a theory he called the principle of reinforcement [46]. Under conditions of
reinforcement, he theorized that, if the consequences of an action are negative, it is
more likely that the action will not be repeated. Conversely, however, if the outcomes
of actions taken by the subject are positive and perceived as good by the authority
providing instruction about the new learning, the probability of the action being
repeated becomes inevitable [47].
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
27
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
The behaviorist perspective also overlaps with the humanist adult education
perspective [48] where the adult actor is centered within the learning experience.
However, in the case of the former, behaviorist instruction is far less self-directed.
Therefore, important elements of autonomy that are viewed as one of the key principles
of adult education (i.e., andragogy) are less pronounced [49].
Nonetheless, Skinner further discusses the administrative difculties encountered by
those leading adult instruction. He goes on to describe the phenomenon of individual
variances [50] and how adult educators might negotiate these differences. More
specically, Skinner makes the case for providing a supportive environment for the
worker holding that positive reinforcement rather than negative reinforcement is the
best way to inuence adult behavior when teaching [51]. He also found it necessary
to cope with individual variances most immediately among those adults where the
objectives of effective learning or training were not being met [50]. Ideally, most
workplace environments have been designed to promote specic employee behaviors,
and employees must perform their tasks satisfactorily to receive rewards.
4.1 What is quiet quitting?
A generational difference is emerging among worker classes giving rise to a
phenomenon known as quiet quitting, which was rst used in an academic setting
by economist Mark Boldger [52] at a Texas A&M economic symposium focused on
Venezuela’s waning ambitions among its worker class. A social media inuencer name
Zaiad Khan [53] made a Tik Tok video introducing the quiet quitting concept, and much
like most socially constructed memes, the term became popular, causing it to go viral
and spread like wildre globally. In essence, quiet quitting is the concept of continuing
to work but giving up the idea of going above and beyond the metrics of high work
performance. The employee simply continues to fulll assigned work-related tasks,
but the worker has disengaged from notions of competition or ambitions for company
advancement. The traditional symbols or other such on-the-job reward trinkets no
longer serve as intrinsic forms of motivation [54] for the adult worker.
The employee simply is no longer adhering to the hustle attitude that so many of
them had grown accustomed to believing by uncritically accepting memes that dened
notions of what makes for positive work ethics. Under the concept of quiet quitting,
the employee embraces the mentality that their worth as a person is not dened by
their labor [55]. Moreover, people who have experienced a lack of loyalty from a
company—when they work diligently for their employers but receive no loyalty in
return—have little incentive to exceed requirements giving rise to the quiet quitting
social phenomenon.
For example, if the national cost of living rate increases signicantly but an employee
receives a merit pay increase that is not in keeping with that ination, then the employee
may feel that they are not valued and succumb to the quiet quitting mindset. As an
example, to avoid a more radical response—such as a general worker strike—during
tenuous economic times, the employees operating under this social phenomenon simply
reduce their production rather than terminate their employment. They have come to
recognize that overworking themselves for promotions and incentive raises which are
28
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
likely not to materialize is untenable. As a result, workers negate and reject the hustle
culture, in which their jobs dominate and take precedence over their lives.
Another example of quiet quitting is muting emails and notications after work hours
rather than working outside of the normal 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday. The employee is
doing what they are paid to do and setting boundaries about work expectations versus
when they are off work and exercising that they are within their right to be unwilling to
do more or being exploited.
Now is the time for employers to effectively respond to this emerging trend. Corporate
leaders must take on the role of behavioral engineer to methodically motivate and
respond to organizational needs and change dynamics. Company leadership must be
mindful of the importance of rewards and incentives necessary to achieve the desired
output of productivity. Employee assessment tools are needed that monitor and gauge
the risk of quiet quitting—before disincentivizing feelings of being undervalued are
allowed to grow or become critical toward hampering long-term organizational success.
4.2 Benets of affective adult learning theory
The authors contend that a well-organized plan using a constructivist adult education
philosophical approach could have improved workplace collaboration, teamwork,
and reduced employee anxiety caused by the social media initiative’s launch in the
case study. For example, by leveraging Kolb’s [31] experiential learning theory in
formal and informal adult education settings, employees could 1) engage in on-hand
learning, 2) reect on their experience, 3) build conceptual knowledge of the broader
social media processes, and 4) incorporate new approaches to rene their learning and
delivery activities [55]. Using a more constructivist approach guided by experiential
learning with feedback loops would have allowed employees to value the benets of
using a social media platform and building digital literacy at a more individualized pace
with greater exibility.
Additionally, based on their organizational roles and responsibilities, there was
an a priori taken-for-granted assumption that the social media Brand Ambassadors
ranked high in the areas of self-directed learning. It was assumed that they could take
responsibility for employees’ autonomous learning due to their higher organizational
status and help with their direct reports. However, a proper understanding and preparation
of company leaders surrounding principles of adult self-directed learning theory
could have provided an additional layer of support techniques for the ambassadors.
For example, incorporating Grow’s self-directed learning stages for interacting with
the employees could better position leaders for proper evaluation of employee work
performance developmentally in meeting company goals and objectives [25].
5 Long-term strategic planning
The use of social media in corporate environments will continue to expand, so the
need for training and education will remain strong [36, 39]. As illustrated in the above
company case study, adopting social media presents a complex learning curve for
some employees—particularly for technology and social-media-adverse adult learners.
Therefore, organizations would benet from using adult learning pedagogy in worker
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
29
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
training to help capitalize on the life experiences of diverse adult learners and better
understand how the newly acquired skills can benet them professionally and personally
via interacting with and sharing social content [38].
Social media platforms are well positioned as emerging tools to expand the
modalities for corporate adult learning. They offer a venue for more novel and
contemporary constructivist learning opportunities. For example, through enhanced
human connection activities that leverage innovative social media tools, such as the
voice capture platform of Twitter Spaces, the potential to harness increased engagement
and high-quality informal adult learning is enhanced [56].
5.1 Ways of knowing and pragmatic collaboration
Adult Learning is expansive having a plethora of theories, modalities of pedagogy,
and innovations for teaching and instructing adults. Hence, we hold that adult education
and learning tend to be very organic, due in part to the role of life experience, and that
learning generally is far more developed in humans than in any other living species
[57]. Thus, the goal to sustain affective adult learning teams in employee training and
professional development entails the coordination of human phenomena (e.g., moods,
feelings, and attitudes) as we consider embodied ways of learning in online spaces [25].
Gallagher [58] describes an approach to meaning-making termed enactivist that
involves mixing the brain and bodily processes. He held that cognition is not just in
our minds but also in our bodies related to environmental factors. Therefore, enactivist
interventions are designed to show that the mind is not exclusively in the head, nor
would our responses to problem-solving be. SDT offers, per our proposal, an aperture
to the mind-body domain to the complexity of adult learning.
Opposite to the approach of enactivist is pragmatism, which holds that the truth
of beliefs, theories, or meaning-making happens via the practical success of their
applications. SDT holds that beliefs are a part of our conscious and unconscious value
systems. Thus, a practical application of a known truth (i.e., pragmatism) requires some
level of predictability but does not necessarily offer prescriptive pathways for the adult
learner when their practical truths are met by uncertainty or chaos. We suggest that the
incongruence of knowledge and experience among employee collaborative teams could
be mitigated by properly blending like-minded and diverse thinkers among working
group teams [59].
Illeris [57] contends that four notable styles are associated with specic languages
and geographical regions. They include the Gestalt view, American behaviorism,
Russian cultural-historical theory, and Piaget’s Constructivism. As technology has
expanded from the late 20th century until the present, team dynamics have needed to
evolve. Firstly, one must understand what elements comprise affective teams and group
collaborations. According to Johnson and Johnson [6], a team is a kluge of interpersonal
communications and actions molded to contend for an established goal. In formal adult
learning contexts, students are often challenged to form various connections and schemes
that lead to high-quality participation among team members. We hold that clear and
informed application of the SDT levels, particularly those found in Tier 1, provides for
conditions where one can see the scaffolding necessary to engage in problem-solving
[13] that facilitates higher-order thinking among individual students and groups.
30
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
5.2 Managing diversity in online communities of practice
The literature provides evidence that formal learning is the pedagogical model that
adults nd most helpful in establishing policy assessments about access, curriculum
preparation, resource management, and improvement of learning capabilities [60].
Moreover, adult learners in formal and nonformal settings tend to identify via
socioeconomic, cultural, and lived experiences. Schugurensky and Myers [61] argue
that lifelong learning is often centered on normative and ontological components.
Hence, the potential for human disconnection via the overuse of innovative learning
technologies, for the delivery of adult education can present emotional anxiety for
educators and learners [62]. For example, in a virtual learning setting, some team
members are more expressive, blunt, and free with their responses on discussion boards
and chat rooms [6]. We suggest that an adequate preliminary evaluation and assessment
of the individual employees’ diverse worldviews can foster optimal innovation and
affective team building using SDT to identify and foster sensory attributes [13, 65] that
may match well between collaborators as they pursue mutually accepted corporate goals.
6 Conclusion
SDT interprets the individual, organization, and societal domains into an adult
learning framework that demonstrates how behavior oscillates between dynamically
changing worldviews [20]. Since technology is a crucial factor in each of these three
domains, understanding its role in the lives of adult learners is important.
In the past, many technology-based learning programs emerged from a history
of computer-based training aligned with behaviorism [63]. In today’s adult learning
environment, technology plays a crucial role in providing a learning framework for
deeper personal learning while enabling real-world learning experiences through
virtual environments [63].
We contend that a proper SDT assessment is necessary as a precursor for affective adult
learning and development (diagnostic) or collaborative group formations. Assumptions
that all learners’ preferences for the delivery of pedagogy, technology, and organization/
logistics [62] are valid concerns in adult education. Nonformal and emerging informal
learning in local communities and online social media spaces—particularly during the
COVID pandemic—have experienced our highest adult participant increases [64].
Adult learning principles maintain that adults learn best when they are allotted
choices about their learning [42]. Our supposition and hypothesis to date hold that
being able to collaborate well within teams and groups, for optimal adult learning to
occur (especially when using innovative technologies), we intentionally include the
affective dimensions of intercultural relations among diverse adult groups engage in
corporate learning. Therefore, to curtail corporate economic losses due to maladaptive
training that leads to worker attrition or the emergence of quiet quitting in the workplace
environment, our recommendation would include the use of SDT-based assessments
and strategies.
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
31
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
7 References
[1] V. J. Marsick, and K. E. Watkins, K. E, “Group and organizational learning,” in Handbook of
adult and continuing education, C. Kasworm, A. Rose, and J. Ross-Gordon, Eds. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage, 2010, pp. 59–68.
[2] V. J. Marsick and K. E. Watkins, “Adult educators and the challenge of the learning
0rganization,” Adult Learning, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 18–20, 1996. https://doi.org/
10.1177/104515959600700409
[3] L. R. Brown, “Comparing graduate student civic engagement outcomes among for-prot
and public university adult learners in Chile,” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and
Engagement, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 81–112, 2018.
[4] L. Alemán de la Garza, M. G. Gómez Zermeño, and B.A. Hernández Guarneros, B. A.
“Online corporate courses: Teaching and learning ndings for good practices. Ubiquitous
Learning,” An International Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 19–31, 2021. https://doi.org/
10.18848/1835-9795/CGP/v14i01/19-31
[5] J. Gordon and M. Smith, You win in the locker room rst: The 7 C’s to build a winning team,
in business, sports, and life. Wiley, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119189404
[6] D. W. Johnson and F. P. Johnson, Joining together: Group theory and group skills, 12th ed.,
Pearson, 2011.
[7] E. J. Tisdell, Exploring spirituality and culture in adult and higher education. Jossey-Bass,
2003.
[8] C. Crentsil, A. Gschwandtner, and Z. Wahhaj, “The effects of risk and ambiguity aversion on
technology adoption: Evidence from aquaculture in Ghana,” Journal of Economic Behavior
& Organization, vol. 179, pp. 46–68, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2020.07.035
[9] J. Piaget, Six psychological studies. New York: Random House, 1967.
[10] O. Robinson, Development through adulthood: An integrative sourcebook, 2nd ed., Palgrave
Macmillan/Springer Nature, 2020.
[11] E. von Glasersfeld, “Piaget and the radical constructivist epistemology1,” Constructivism,
vol. 1, pp. 94–107, 2014.
[12] L. R. Brown. Class Lecture, Topic: “Spiral Dynamic Theory – Part 3: Memetic Worldviews
and Ways of Thinking.” Dreeben School of Education, University of the Incarnate Word,
San Antonio, TX, Dec. 2, 2021.
[13] L. R. Brown, “Civic engagement activities and outcomes in Chilean private for-prot and
public graduate education,” Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA,
2016.
[14] A. M. Butters, “A brief history of Spiral Dynamics,” Approaching Religion, vol. 5, no. 2,
pp. 67–78, 2015. https://doi.org/10.30664/ar.67574
[15] C. W. Graves, “Levels of existence: An open system theory of values,” Journal of Humanistic
Psychology, vol. 10, no. 2, 131–155, 1970. https://doi.org/10.1177/002216787001000205
[16] D. E. Beck and C. C. Cowan, Spiral dynamics: Mastering values, leadership, and change.
Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
[17] C. W. Graves, “Human nature prepares for a momentous leap,” The Futurist, vol. 8, no. 2,
pp, 72–87, 1974.
[18] C. W. Graves, The never ending quest, in C. C. Cowan and N. Todorovic, Eds. Santa Barbara,
CA: ECLET Publishing, 2005.
[19] C. W. Graves, Levels of Human Existence in L. R. William, C. C. Cowan, and N. Todorovic,
Eds. Santa Barbara, CA: ECLET Publishing, 2002.
32
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
[20] L. R. Brown (in print), “Reparations and adult education: Civic & community engagement
for lifelong learners,” in The black reparations project: A handbook for racial justice, W. A.
Darity, L. Hubbard, and A. K. Mullen, Eds. UC Berkley Press, 147–173, 2023.
[21] R. Dawkins, The selsh gene. Oxford University Press, 1976.
[22] D. Beck, T. Herbo-Larsen, S. Solonin, R. Vilijoen, and J. Q. Thomas, Spiral dynamics in
action: Humanity’s master code. Wiley, 2018.
[23] D. M. Erickson, “A developmental re-forming of the phases of meaning in transformational
learning,” Adult Education Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 61–80, 2007. https://doi.org/
10.1177/0741713607305936
[24] E. H. Erikson, “Identity and the life cycle: Selected papers,” Psychological Issues, vol. 1, no. 1,
pp. 5–165, 1959.
[25] S. B. Merriam and L. L. Bierema, Adult learning: Linking theory and practice. Jossey-Bass,
2014.
[26] J. Burrows and J. Brown, “Creating a tool to evaluate teaching materials for older beginner
piano students through the lens of Constructivism,” Australian Journal of Music Education,
vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 33–45, 2019.
[27] S. Chuang, “The applications of constructivist learning theory and social learning theory on
adult continuous development,” Performance Improvement, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 6–14, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1002/p.21963
[28] S. Mohammed and L. Kinyo, “Constructivist theory as a foundation for the utilization of
digital technology in the lifelong learning process,” Turkish Online Journal of Distance
Education, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1–20, 2020. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.803364
[29] J. Dewey, Experience and education. Collier Books, 1938.
[30] L. S. Vygotsky, Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Harvard University Press, 1978.
[31] D. A. Kolb, Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development.
Prentice-Hall, 1984.
[32] L. Abderrahim and M. Gutiérrez-Colón Plana, “A theoretical journey from social
constructivism to digital storytelling,” The EUROCALL Review, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 38–49.
2021. https://les.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1305303.pdf; https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.
2021.12853
[33] E. Michelson, “Truthiness, alternative facts, and experiential learning,” New Directions
for Adult and Continuing Education, vol. 165, pp. 103–114, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/
ace.20371
[34] E. Dopico, A. Ardura, Y. J. Borrell, L. Miralles, and E. García-Vázquez, “Boosting adults’
scientic literacy with experiential learning practices,” European Journal for Research
on the Education and Learning of Adults, vol. 12 no. 2, pp. 223–238, 2021. https://doi.
org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.ojs1717
[35] J. Schenck and J. Cruickshank, “Evolving Kolb: Experiential education in the age of
neuroscience,” Journal of Experiential Education, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 73–95, 2015. https://
doi.org/10.1177/1053825914547153
[36] J. Hruska and P. Maresova, “Use of social media platforms among adults in the United
States: Behavior on social media,” Societies, vol. 10, no. 27, pp. 1–14, 2020. https://doi.
org/10.3390/soc10010027
[37] K. M. Roessger, “Re-conceptualizing adult education’s monolithic behaviourist
interpretation: toward a new understanding of radical behaviourism,” International Journal
of Lifelong Education, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 569–589, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.
2012.700647
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
33
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
[38] M. Ewing, L. R. Men, and J. O’Neil, “Using social media to engage employees: Insights
from internal communication managers,” International Journal of Strategic Communication,
vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 110–132, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2019.1575830
[39] TalentLyft, “How can organizations benet social media activity of employees?,” February
21, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/361/how-can-
organizations-benet-from-social-media-activity-of-employees#. [Accessed Sept. 30, 2022].
[40] H. Lee and M. Lee, “Social learning constructs and employee learning performance in
informal Web-based learning environments,” The Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 30,
no. 6, pp. 394–414, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-11-2017-0101
[41] N. Reese, “5 ways to turn employees into advocates on Twitter,” n.d. [Online]. Available:
https://business.twitter.com/en/blog/employees-advocates-on-twitter.html. [Accessed Sept.
30, 2022].
[42] M. Knowles, Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers. Chicago: Follett
Publishing Company, 1975.
[43] L. R. Brown, P. McCray, and J. Neal. “Creating affective collaborative adult teams and
groups guided by Spiral Dynamic Theory,” In D. Guralnick et al. (Eds.), Innovative
approaches to technology-enhanced learning for the workplace and higher education,
(pp. 81–96). Springer Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21569-8_8
[44] B. F. Skinner, About behaviorism. Vintage Books, 1974.
[45] K. Rosenberger, “Designing digital badging programs: Findings from an interview-based
study with instructional designers,” TechTrends, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 477–484, 2018. https://
doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0349-7
[46] S. A. McLeod, “Skinner – operant conditioning,” Simply Psychology, January 21, 2018.
[Online]. Available: www.simplyspsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html. [Accessed
Sept. 30, 2022]
[47] D. L. Schacter, D. T. Gilbert, and D. M. Wagner, Psychology, 2nd ed. Worth Publishers,
2011.
[48] J. E. McLaughlin, “Humanism’s revival in third-wave behaviorism,” Journal of Humanistic
Counseling, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 2–16, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/johc.12086
[49] R. Beaman, “The unquiet … even loud, andragogy! Alternative assessments for adult
learners,” Innovative Higher Education, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 47–59, 1998. https://doi.org/
10.1023/A:1022920513341
[50] J. L. Elias and S. B. Merriam, Philosophical foundations of adult education, 3rd ed. Krieger,
2005.
[51] P. Lockwood and M. Klein-Flügge, “Computational modelling of social cognition and
behaviour-a reinforcement learning primer,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience,
vol.16, no. 8, 761–771, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa040
[52] A. Ichimura, “Quiet quitting: What each generation thinks about the work trend,” Esquire,
September 4, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.esquire.com/. [Accessed Sept. 25,
2022].
[53] Z. Khan, (n.d.), “On quiet quitting #workreform,” [Video]. TikTok, September 25, 2022.
[Online]. Available https://www.tiktok.com/@zaidleppelin/video /7124414185282391342.
[Accessed Sept. 29, 2022].
[54] A. Kohn, “Why incentive plans cannot work,” Harvard Business Review - Ideas and Advice
for Leaders, Sept. 25, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://hbr.org/. [Accessed Sept. 29, 2022].
[55] A. Krueger, “Who is quiet quitting for?,” New York Times, Aug. 23, 2022. [Online]. Available:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/23/style/quiet-quitting-tiktok.html. [Accessed Sept. 29,
2022].
34
http://www.i-jac.org
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
[56] L. R. Brown and M. Molina (in revision), “Democracy and innovation: Using Twitter Spaces
to explore reparation activism, ethnicity, and informal adult education,” Adult Learning,
2023.
[57] K. Illeris, “An overview of the history of learning theory,” European Journal of Education,
vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 86–101, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12265
[58] S. Gallagher, Enactivist interventions: Rethinking the mind. Oxford University Press, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198794325.001.0001
[59] A. Stoller, “The ipped curriculum: Dewey’s pragmatic university,” Studies in Philosophy
and Education, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 451–465, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-017-9592-1
[60] Y. Owusu-Agyeman, “An analysis of theoretical perspectives that dene adult learners for
effective and inclusive adult education policies,” International Review of Education, vol. 65,
no. 6, pp. 929–953, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-019-09811-3
[61] D. Schugurensky and J. P. Myers, “A framework to explore lifelong learning: The case of
the civic education of civics teachers,” International Journal of Lifelong Education, vol. 22,
no. 4, pp. 325–352, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370304835
[62] S. Lakhal, J. Mukamurera, M. Bédard, G. Heilporn, and M. Chauret, “Students and
instructors perspective on blended synchronous learning in a Canadian graduate program,”
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 1383–1396, 2021. https://doi.
org/10.1111/jcal.12578
[63] V. Wang, G. Torrisi-Steele, and E. Reinseld, Transformative learning, epistemology
and technology in adult education. SAGE Publications, 2020. https://doi.org/
10.1177/1477971420918602
[64] S. B. Merriam and L. M Baumgartner, Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide.
Jossey-Bass, 2020.
[65] R. B. Goings, “Introduce the Black male adult learner success theory,” Adult Education
Quarterly, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 128–147, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713620959603
8 Authors
Lisa R. Brown, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University of the
Incarnate Word (San Antonio, TX) in the Adult Education, Social Innovation, and
Entrepreneurship program in the Graduate Studies Department of the Dreeben
School of Education. In 2016, she earned her Ph.D. in Adult Education, Learning,
and Organization Development from the University of Georgia. Brown holds an MPA
and Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University
of Akron. She is a member of the American Association for Adult and Continuing
Education (AAACE), the Commission for Professors of Adult Education (CPAE),
and the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community
Engagement (IARSLCE).
Pamela McCray, is a doctoral student in the Organizational Leadership and
Evaluation Ph.D. program at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San
Antonio, Texas. She is also a Research Assistant and Program Evaluator for the UIW
Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science (GEMS) program. Pamela is a former IBM
Executive who brings relentless passion and commitment to her doctoral journey by
successfully delivering project objectives while building a culture of trust. Pamela is
committed to academics and community “give back.” She is a member of a women’s
iJAC ‒ Vol. 16, No. 2, 2023
35
TLIC Paper—Corporate Digital Literacy Mandates: Using SDT-Based Strategies to Circumvent…
philanthropic organization that provides over $550,000 in yearly grants to support San
Antonio non-prot projects and resides on two local non-prot boards.
Jeff L. Neal, is a doctoral student pursuing a Ph.D., in the Student Services and
Higher Education Administration program at the Dreeben School of Education at
the University of the Incarnate Word. In 2018, he earned his Teaching and Learning
Graduate Certicate from the University of Norwich. Neal holds an MSODL and
Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Development from the University of the Incarnate
Word. He is a member of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education
(AAACE), the International Society for Educational Biography (ISEB), the Texas
Evaluation Network (TEN), and the International Association for Research on Service
Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE).
Lisa Caldwell-Serges, is a graduate student in the Master to a Ph.D. degree program at
the University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio, TX) in the Adult Education, Social
Innovation, and Entrepreneurship program in the Graduate Studies Department of
the Dreeben School of Education. She earned her B.S. in Sociology with a minor in
Psychology from Texas Southern University (Houston, Texas). She has since that
time worked as a GED instructor and an instructional assistant in the local public
school system assisting special needs young adult learners.
This is a revised and extended version of a presentation given at The Learning Ideas Conference 2022,
held in New York and online June 15–17, 2022. Article submitted 2022-10-01. Resubmitted 2023-02-14.
Final acceptance 2023-02-15. Final version published as submitted by the authors.
36
http://www.i-jac.org
