Published Under the Garamond Imprint This innovative book is concerned with the power relations, complexities, and contradictions in the paid workplace. Workplace learning is not value-free or politically neutral, and cannot be studied independently of the political economy of work. Workplace Learning is part of a growing body of work that offers an alternative to mainstream approaches to workplace learning, recognizing that power relations, politics and conflicts of interest all shape learning. The authors emphasize the lived experiences of working people, avoiding prescriptive accounts and uncritical Human Resource Development views. Comments: "Here is a map through contested and largely uncharted terrain..." - from the foreword by D'Arcy Martin

Work-related learning can be broadly seen to be concerned with all forms of education and training closely related to the daily work of (new) employees, and is increasingly playing a central role in the lives of individuals, groups or teams and the agenda’s of organizations. However, as this area of study becomes more prominent, debates have opened about the nature of the field, as well as about its configurations and effects. For example, some authors have a broad definition of WRL and define it as learning for work, at work and through work, ranging from formal, through semi-structured to informal learning. Others prefer to use the concept of WRL mainly in connection to informal, incidental learning processes during work, leading to competent workplace learners. Formal and informal learning are distinguished from each other with respect to the level of intention (implicit/non-intentional/incidental versus deliberative/intentional/structured). Another point of discussion originates from the different ‘theoretical backgrounds’ of the authors: the ‘learning theorists’ versus the ‘organizational theorists’. The first group is mainly interested in the question of how learning comes about; the second group is predominantly interested in the search for factors affecting learning.

Emphasizing learning skills as a metacompetency in the changing workplace, Rothwell (human resource development, Pennsylvania State U.) debuts two research studies: one examined workplace learner roles and competencies, while the other gathered hundreds of workers' perceptions of the learning climate of diverse workplaces. Seeking to transform training into learning departments, he identifies learning process steps; learner roles, competencies, and outputs; and ways that organizational conditions encouraging learning can be reinforced by workplace learning and performance practitioners, managers, academicians, and workers. Appends a study summary, interviewee responses, and assessment instruments. AMACOM is a division of the American Management Association. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Comprising 15 chapters the book offers perspectives from Finland, Germany, New Zealand and Australia and across a range of occupations and places of work. Individually and collectively these chapters make important contributions to learning about the self and agency at work and about learning work tasks.

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 learning. The editors draw together the three essential areas of Theory; Research and Practice; and Issues and Futures in the field of Workplace Learning. In addition, final chapters include 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 this 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. In Europe and Australia, 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 traditional "training" regimens has emerged in the last decade. Since the mid 1990s, the field has grown world-wide as an area of theory, research, and practical work that 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 is a resource for researchers and academics interested in the scope and breadth of Workplace Learning..

Learning and development is essential to organizational success. Training courses were traditionally used as the key method of teaching, but increasingly the focus is shifting to individuals and managers adopting a more flexible approach to learning. Organizations are being held responsible for maximizing the skills, knowledge and behaviours available to them, ensuring that employees are not solely learning new skills, but are using their existing skills to maximum effect. Workplace Learning and Development guides managers and employees through the concept of workplace learning. It identifies the variety of flexible learning strategies and methods, explains how to select the right method for a specific situation, and illustrates how these methods can add value to overall performance. Real-life examples of workplace learning are included to allow readers to gain insight into how it works and more importantly, how they could use it to address their specific needs.

The contributing authors of this multidisciplinary text agree that workplace learning truly is extraordinary when it is marked by structural congruence and a positive synergy among the intended and formal preparation of professionals, that tacit learning occurs within the hidden curriculum, and that the subsequent demands, both formal and tacit, are embedded in subsequent workplace settings. Thus, for this text, these authors explore research and practice literature related to curriculum, instruction and assessment of professionals’ learning in the workplace and the implications for best practices. But what makes this book truly unique is that the authors examine that literature in the context of four professions—education, nursing, medicine and clergy—at the point of those professions wherein students are learning during the degree program stages of their education. Extraordinary Learning in the Workplace is broken into four main sections. Part I explores curriculum, both formal and hidden. Part II focuses on conceptions and theories of learning and instruction and is intended to inform the work of educators with regard to components of professional education that occur in the practice settings of the workplace. Part III covers assessment, using medicine as its example to argue that assessment has remained largely unchanged for years, thus making the multiple choice questions tests introduced in the 1950s the de facto gold standard for “quality” assessment. And Part IV focuses on the training of the instructors, visiting the three key themes of relationships, activities or tasks, and work practices.

Work now invariably requires a continual focus on learning: to improve productivity, to enhance the flexibility of employees and to develop and transform organizations. This volume brings together leading experts from the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand to critically evaluate the current debates on workplace learning and to propose directions for future developments in both research and practice. Topics covered include: * expectations of learning at work into the twenty-first century * learning theories, practice and performance implications * the relationship between workplace learning and other forms of lifelong learning * the international developments in competency-based approaches to learning and assessment * the influence of language, power, culture and gender upon the 'construction' of learning. Topical and informative, this volume will be an invaluable resource for students and researchers of training, HRD, continuing and adult education.

Fundamentals of Workplace Learning is a comprehensive guide to how people learn in the workplace, and the issues and challenges involved. Examining the essential aspects of workplace learning and unravelling the various influences which affect the success of work-based learners, Knud Illeris presents a holistic model to explain how diverse individuals can be encouraged and invited to learn at work. Approaching workplace learning from the perspective of learners as human beings, with complex social and psychological needs, as opposed to resources to be managed, this book examines in detail the key issues surrounding workplace learning, including: The workplace environment as a learning space Workplace learning as competence development A multitude of different kinds of workplace learning arrangements Job-transcending learning initiatives The interaction between formal and informal learning environments The challenges presented by specific groups: early school leavers, elderly workers and the new young generation. Presenting conclusions on workplace learning and possibilities for the future this book focuses on a way forward while detailing the fundamentals of successful workplace learning. It will appeal to everyone involved in understanding and improving learning in the workplace including educationalists, business students, managers, personnel and educational leaders.

International in scope, Working to Learn brings together acknowledged experts in this field. Taking both evidence-based and analytical perspectives, the book challenges many of the generalizations about the changing nature of work and skills, and identifies the workplace itself a critical site for access to learning. In doing so, it develops an illuminating perspective on the social context of the modern workplace and highlights the implications of change for management, for the regulat.