As policy makers increasingly focus on workplace learning as a way of improving organizational performance, the debate about the learning organization has grown. Counterbalancing the often over-optimistic assumptions made about the future of work and learning, this book argues that without a contextualized analysis of the field, our understanding of the learning environment is limited. It reconsiders the true role and nature of workplace learning in context. Grounded in original research, the book features case studies which illuminate how the workplace environment can provide both barriers to and opportunities for learning. It explores learning in different organizational contexts and different countries, sectors, types of public and private sector organization, and by different occupational groups. This multi-disciplinary approach provides a coherent perspective of the institutional, organizational and pedagogical contexts of workplace learning, and as a result, policy-makers, trainers, trade unionists and educators alike will welcome this groundbreaking text, as it gives the intellectual tools required to understand how learning in the workplace can be improved.
Author(s): Helen Rainbird; Alison Fuller; Anne Munro
Edition: annotated edition
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 336
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of illustrations......Page 9
Notes on contributors......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 15
Introduction and overview......Page 18
The context of workplace learning......Page 36
The political economy of workplace learning......Page 38
The employment relationship and workplace learning......Page 55
Work organization, 'fields of activities' and workers' competence: the case of Italian small firms......Page 71
The context of learning in professional work environments: insights from the accountancy profession......Page 88
The assessment of workers' 'basic skills': a critique based on evidence from the United States, Canada and England......Page 106
The workplace as a learning environment......Page 124
Learning through work: workplace participatory practices......Page 126
Expansive learning environments: integrating organizational and personal development......Page 143
The new generation of expertise: seven theses......Page 162
Supporting learning in advanced supply systems in the automotive and aerospace industries......Page 183
Skills, knowledge and the workplace......Page 200
Conceptualizing vocational knowledge: some theoretical considerations......Page 202
Transfer of knowledge between education and workplace settings......Page 218
Learner biographies: exploring tacit dimensions of knowledge and skills......Page 239
The conceptualization and measurement of learning at work......Page 259
The complexities of workplace learning: problems and dangers in trying to measure attainment......Page 276
Research and policy......Page 294
Evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence? The struggle over new policy for workforce development in England......Page 296
Conclusion......Page 316
Index......Page 324
