Understanding learning at work (original) (raw)

Workplace Learning: Main Themes & Perspectives: Learning as Work Research Paper, No. 2 June 2004

2004

This paper provides an overview and critical discussion of some of the main themes and perspectives within existing academic literature concerning workplace learning. The introductory section of the paper outlines why learning at work has become a prominent issue for policy makers, employers and employees and discusses the social and multidisciplinary contexts through which workplace learning is understood and conceptualised. The paper continues in section one, to address the different approaches to learning that permeate current enquiry and research within the field. The discussion here centres upon two paradigms and two associated perspectives of learning and highlights how through these, the term 'learning' is subject to multiple definitions. Section two discusses formal and informal learning and attends to the ways in which learning at work has traditionally been associated with informal learning processes. The discussion illustrates how, as a result of ongoing debate, this perspective has been complicated and challenged and that learning at work is now understood to encompass a variety of both 'formal' and 'informal' elements. The final section of the paper, addresses the relationship between organisational structure and individual engagement in workplace learning. The discussion focuses on how underpinning this relationship is a structure/agency dynamic which, when attended to, illustrates how individuals and their learning contexts of work cannot be considered separately.

Workplace Learning: Main Themes & Perspectives:Learning as Work Research Paper, No. 2 June 2004

2004

Perspectives into learning at the workplace

Educational Research Review, 2008

The article presents a thematic review of the recent research on workplace learning. It is divided into two main sections. The first section asks what we know about learning at work, and states four propositions: (1) the nature of workplace learning is both different from and similar to school learning; (2) learning in the workplace can be described at different levels, ranging from the individual to the network and region; (3) workplace learning is both informal and formal; and (4) workplaces differ a lot in how they support learning. The second section focuses on workplace learning that is related to formal education. Different models of organising work experience for students and the challenges of creating partnerships between education and working life are described. It is concluded that the worlds of education and work are moving closer each other and that the integration of formal and informal learning is an essential prerequisite for developing the kinds of expertise needed in response to the changes taking place in working life.

Conceptions of learning and understanding learning at work

Studies in Continuing Education, 2004

Recent research on learning in work situations has focussed on concepts such as 'productive learning' and 'pedagogy of vocational learning'. In investigating what makes learning productive and what pedagogies enhance this, there is a tendency to take the notion of learning as unproblematic. This paper argues that much writing on workplace learning is strongly shaped by peoples' understandings of learning in formal educational situations. Such assumptions distort attempts to understand learning at work. The main focus of this paper is to problematise the concept of 'learning' and to identify the implications of this for attempts to understand learning at work and the conditions that enhance it. An alternative conception of learning that promises to do more justice to the richness of learning at work is presented and discussed.

The Sage Handbook of Workplace Learning

2011

This Handbook provides a state-of -the art overview of the field of workplace learning from a global perspective. The authors are all well-placed theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners in this burgeoning field , which cuts across higher education, vocational education and training, post-compulsory secondary schooling, and lifelong education. The volume provides a broad-based, yet incisive analysis of the range of theory, research, and practical developments in workplace learningThe editors draw together the three essential areas of Theory, Research and Practice, and Issues in the field of Workplace Learning. In addition, final chapters focus on issues, future developments, and directions with recommendations for further development. Key researchers and writers in the field have approached workplaces as the base of learning about work, that is, work-based learning. There has also been emerging interest in variations of the idea such as learning about, through, and at work. Many of the theoretical discussions have centred on adult learning and some on learners' managing their own learning, with emphasis on aspects such as communities of practice and self directed learning.Early work in the field was often linked to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) traditions with concerns around skills, competencies and 'on the job' learning. The idea that learning and workplaces had more to do with real lifelong and lifewide aspects than the traditional "training" regimen has emerged in the last decade. Since the mid 1990s the field has grown as an area of theory, research and practical work which has not only expanded the interest but has also legitimized the area as a field of study, reflection and progress.The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning draws together a wide range of views, theoretical dispositions and assertions and provides a leading-edge presentation by key writers and researchers with insight into the field and its current state. It will be a basic source for researchers and academics interested in the scope and breadth of the Workplace Learning area.

Learning as Work: Teaching and Learning Processes

2006

Understanding learning at work (original) (raw)

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