Materials for Teaching, Research and Policy Making

Principal Investigator: David W. Livingstone
Team Members: M. Raykov, K. Pollock, F. Antonelli

CHAPTER 4: Work and Learning [PDF]

SECTION

4.1. General Perspectives on Learning-Work
        Relationships [PDF]

1. Aarkrog, V. (2005). Learning in the workplace and the significance of school-based education: A study of learning in a Danish vocational education and training programme. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 24(2), 137-147.

            Over the last decades educational researchers and politicians have shown a growing interest in the concept of learning in practice, i.e. learning in the workplace. Learning in practice plays an important role in connection with lifelong learning, as the workplace is an obvious setting for realizing this aim. Theories about learning in practice often include a critique of school-based learning by seriously questioning the idea that learning in school can be transferred to action and by emphasizing the context dependence of learning and acting. This article contributes to the debate by pointing out some advantages of combining school-based and workplace-based learning. The results of a study of learning in a vocational education and training (VET) programme for sales assistants show that both the theoretical training in the VET school and the practical training in the workplace are necessary to develop competency. Furthermore, the results indicate that a careful matching of specific parts of the curriculum with the learning setting (the workplace or the school) may improve the trainees' achievements. The matching is not only useful in improving VET programmes but is also generally useful in planning lifelong learning as work-related education.

            KEY WORDS: Lifelong Learning; Vocational Education; Inplant Programs; Education Work Relationship; Foreign Countries; Sales Occupations.

2. Adler, P. S. (2004). From labour process to activity theory. In P. Sawchuk, N. Duarte & M. Elhammoumi (Eds.), Critical perspectives on activity: explorations across education, work and everyday life (pp. 160-192). New York: Cambridge University Press.

            Labor process theory is an influential school of thought in the analysis of work. Starting with Braverman (1976), labor process theory traditionally has ignored the fundamental contradiction Marx saw between the progressive socialization of the labor process and the persistence of capitalist profitability constraints. Implicit in Marx's terms, socialization is the development away from local isolation towards "universal interdependence," and it is a key trend both in the objective structure of industry and in subjective self-construals. Activity theory offers a framework in which we can conceptualize the various loci of the contradiction between socialization and profitability. I employ this framework to analyze three cases of work reorganization - Taylorism, lean production, and the rationalization of software development. In all cases, the socialization of the labor process has been simultaneously stimulated, retarded, and distorted by profitability pressures.

            KEY WORDS: Labour Process; Activity Theory.

3. Allman, P. (2001). Critical education against global capitalism: Karl Marx and revolutionary critical education. Westport: Bergin & Garvey.

            The author uses Marx and his primary texts as the key to understanding contemporary capitalism. Although the focus is on Marx's theoretical explanation of capitalism, material is informed by Marx's revolutionary theory of consciousness. She begins with a brief overview of the drawbacks of globalization, then presents Marx's dialectical explanation of capitalism, and examines the weaknesses of contemporary challenges to capitalism. She contends that critical education is necessary for revolutionary social transformation and suggests strategies for implementing critical education toward the goal of the abolition of capitalism.

            KEY WORDS: Globalization; Marxism; Work and Learning.

4. Avis, J. (2004). Work-based learning and social justice: 'Learning to labour' and the new vocationalism in England. Journal of Education and Work, 17(2), 197-217.

            The article explores work-based learning in the context of current changes taking place in vocational education and training in England. It seeks to locate these within an understanding of the economy and the way in which work-based knowledge is construed. The article analyses these issues, drawing upon a literature that examines the work-based experiences of young people. This allows an engagement with notions of social justice, providing an opportunity to address the rhetorical question, 'learning to labour', posed in the title. It concludes by suggesting that if work-based learning is to move beyond forms of occupational socialisation there is a need to critique its underlying assumptions and seek out spaces for a progressive practice underpinned by a commitment to social justice.

            KEY WORDS: Vocational Education; England; Work Based Learning; Vocational Training; Work and Learning.

5. Balagopalan, S. (2002). Constructing indigenous childhoods: Colonialism, vocational education and the working child. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research, 9(1), 19-34.

            Examines a Calcutta street child's experiences with vocational education within a broader historical framework of colonial and post-colonial discourses on formal education and the poor. Provides an ethnographic narrative of the child's experiences, exploring how colonialism, by establishing a modern education system and transforming children's work into wage labor, constitutes a major disjunction in the lives of the poor.

            KEY WORDS: Child Labor; Child Welfare; Colonialism; Disadvantaged Youth; Ethnography; Foreign Countries; Poverty; Social Environment; Social Influences; Vocational Education; India (Calcutta); Street Children.

6. Ball, S. (Ed.). (2004). The Routledge Falmer reader in sociology of education. London; New York: Routledge Falmer.

            The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Sociology of Education brings together a carefully selected collection of articles and book chapters to reflect enduring trends in the field of Sociology of Education. Focusing on the major issues confronting education today, this lively and informative Reader provides broad coverage of the field and includes sections on crucial topics such as: social class; globalization; gender; curriculum; social inequality and social justice; students and classrooms. With an emphasis on contemporary pieces that deal with issues relevant to the immediate real world, this volume represents the research and views of some of the most respected authors in the field today. Stephen Ball offers a collection that is theoretically informed, internationally applicable, and universally accessible. In a specially written introduction, Ball provides a much-needed context to the current educational climate. Students of sociology and sociology of education will find this Reader an important route map to further reading and understanding.

            KEY WORDS: Educational Sociology; Globalization; Work and Learning.

7. Bascia, N., Leithwood, K., Livingstone, D. W., Cumming, A., & Dantow, A. (Eds.). (2005). International handbook of educational policy. London: Springer.

            This book is the only one of its kind. It has over fifty chapters written by nearly ninety leading researchers from a number of countries and presents contemporary and emergent trends in educational policy research. It captures many of the current dominant educational policy foci, situating current understandings historically, in terms of both how they are conceptualized and in terms of past policy practice. The chapters are empirically grounded, providing illustrations of the conceptual implications contained within them as well as allowing for comparisons across them. The self-reflexivity within chapters with respect to jurisdictional particularities and contrasts allows readers to consider not only a range of approaches to policy analysis but also the ways in which policies and policy ideas play out in different times and places. Sections cover the contemporary strategic emphasis on large-scale reform; substantive emphases at several levels – on leadership and governance, improving teacher quality and conceptualizing learning in various domains around the notion of literacies and concluding, finally, with a contrasting topic, workplace learning, which has had less policy attention and thus allows readers to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of learning and teaching under the bright gaze of policy.

            KEY WORDS: Education and State; Philosophy of Education; Educational Change; Work and Learning; School-to-work Transition; Work and Learning.

8. Bauer, J., Festner, D., Gruber, H., Harteis, C., & Heid, H. (2004). The effects of epistemological beliefs on workplace learning. The Journal of Workplace Learning, 16(5), 284-292.

            Epistemological beliefs are fundamental assumptions about knowledge and learning. Research in university contexts has shown that they affect the ways and results of student learning. This article transfers the concept of epistemological beliefs on workplace learning. The basic assumption is that employees' epistemological beliefs affect whether they perceive their workplace as learning environments. A study conducted in which the interrelation of employees' epistemological beliefs with their appraisal of the workplace as supportive for learning were investigated. The role of professional hierarchical levels concerning work-related epistemological beliefs was analyzed. No significant interrelation among epistemological beliefs and workplace appraisal was found. Groups from different professional hierarchical levels didn't differ in their workplace appraisal. Consequences about the role of epistemological beliefs for workplace learning are discussed for future research.

            KEY WORDS: Workplace Learning; Epistemology; Beliefs; Learning.

9. Beckett, D., & Hager, P. (2000). Making judgement as the basis for workplace learning: Towards an epistemology of practice. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19(4), 300-311.

            Workplace learning has surfaced as a significant site of adults’ informal experiential learning, with implications for the provision and shape of formal education. However, a prohibitive number of variables encumber research into such learning. The authors suggest bypassing the variables by focusing on phenomenal accounts of how professionals (in this instance) make judgement at work, are underpinned by an organic logic derivable from Dewey. The article shows how to characterize a new epistemology of practice through both empirical and conceptual innovation, and thus advances the detail of this new informal workplace learning. Epistemology deals in 5 characteristics central to lifelong learning anyway, namely: the contingent (rather than exclusively formal, sustained, and systematic studies); the practical (rather than exclusively the theoretical); the process (rather than exclusively the assimilation of content); the particular (rather than the exclusively universal and a priori as the ”context”); and the affective and the social domains (rather than exclusively the cognitive domain). Fieldwork to date shows, through interview findings, how these are prominent in professional workplace judgments, and what prospects there are for further research on judgment as a site of ”organic” learning for adults.

            KEY WORDS: Workplace Learning; Epistemology; Informal Workplace Learning.

10. Beckett, D., & Hager, P. (2002). Life, work and learning: Practice in postmodernity. New York: Routledge.

            This book argues that adult learning from experiences in paid and unpaid work contexts should be the basis for a new perception of what is truly educative about life. Part I sets out what practice is like in postmodern times. Chapter 1 introduces the argument that 'know how' is important in lifelong learning. Chapter 2 shows organic learning is a manifestation of what it is to be human at work and workplaces can develop structures that advance "whole person" capabilities for purposeful action. Chapter 3 rounds out the concept of know-how by building on organic learning - in particular showing that practical judgement is central to practice in postmodernity. Chapter 4 shows that broader, more socially and culturally sensitive approaches to practice are available in the realm of policy. Part II theorizes practice anew, from an educational perspective, in light of postmodernity. Chapter 5 is an introduction to theories of practice. Chapter 6 begins to conceptualize practice as the successful performance of work by showing the intimate connection of practice with informal learning. Chapter 7 proposes an alternative to the standard paradigm of learning - one inclusive of practice-based informal workplace learning. Chapter 8 explains the authors' claim that they are strategic postmodernists. Chapter 9 clarifies the emerging paradigm of learning based on dissolution of dualisms and a "contiguous" model of vocational preparation by showing how the notion of judgement is at its heart.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Adult Learning; Cognitive Processes; Developed Nations; Educational Philosophy; Educational Practices; Educational Theories; Evaluative Thinking; Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Holistic Approach; Incidental Learning; Informal Education; Lifelong Learning; Postmodernism; Theory Practice Relationship; Vocational Education; Work Experience; Tacit Knowing; Australia.

11. Billett, S., & Somerville, M. (2004). Transformations at work: Identity and learning. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), 309-326.

            This paper examines how identity and learning are constituted and transformed at work. Its central concern is how individuals engage agentically in and learn through workplace practices, and in ways that transform work. Drawing upon recent research into work and participation in workplaces, the negotiated and contested relationship between workplace practices and individuals' identity and intentionality, and learning is illuminated and discussed. For instance, aged care workers and coal miners acquire work injuries that are almost emblematic of their work identity. Only particularly dramatic events (i.e. serious illness or workplace accidents) wholly transform their identity and views about work practice - their subjectivities. However, it is through the agentic actions of these individuals that workplace practices can be transformed. Yet individuals' agentic action is not necessarily directed to the abstracted and de-contextualized economic and civic goals privileged in lifelong learning policies. Instead, there is relational interdependency between the individual and work that can act to sustain or transform both self and their work. Individuals' agentic action is exercised within these relations in ways directed by their subjectivities. So these relations and that agentic action have policy and practice implications for the conduct of work and learning through and for work.

            KEY WORDS: Lifelong Learning; Self Concept; Work Environment.

12. Boud, D., & Solomon, N. (Eds.). (2001). Work-based learning: A new higher education? Florence: KY: Taylor & Francis.

            This three-part book contains 16 chapters exploring work-based learning from a theoretical and case-study perspective in the United Kingdom. Part 1, Framing Work-based Learning, contains the following four chapters: "New Practices for New Times" (David Boud, Nicky Solomon, and Colin Symes); "Repositioning Universities and Work" (David Boud and Nicky Solomon); "Knowledge at Work: Issues of Learning" (David Boud); and "Creating a Work-Based Curriculum" (David Boud). Ten case studies in the second part of the book include: "From Once Upon a Time to Happily Ever After: The Story of Work-Based Learning in the UK Higher Education Sector" (Norman Evans); "Making It Work Institutionally" (Derek Portwood); "Ensuring a Holistic Approach to Work-Based Learning: The Capability Envelope" (John Stephenson); "Working with Partners To Promote Intellectual Capital" (Jonathan Garnett, Alison Comerford, and Neville Webb); "The Possibilities in a Traditional University" (Lynne Caley); "Implementing Work-Based Learning for the First Time" (Jenny Onyx); "Smart Work: What Industry Needs from Partnerships" (Nicholas Shipley); "A Challenge to Assessment and Quality Assurance in Higher Education" (Richard Winter); "Setting the Standards: Judging Levels of Achievement" (Frank Lyons and Mike Bement); and "Earning Academic Credit for Part-Time Work" (Iain S. Marshall and Lynn S. M. Cooper). The final part, Past, Present, and Future, includes "Capital Degrees: Another Episode in the History of Work and Learning" (Colin Symes); and "Future Directions for Work-based Learning: Reconfiguring Higher Education" (David Boud and Nicky Solomon).

            KEY WORDS: Academic Achievement; Academic Education; Change Strategies; Corporate Education; Education Work Relationship; Educational Practices; Educational Quality; Foreign Countries; Industrial Education; Institutional Survival; Integrated Curriculum; Part Time Employment; Postsecondary Education; School Business Relationship; Secondary Education; Standard Setting; Student Evaluation; Vocational Education.

13. Brown, P., Green, A., & Lauder, H. (2001). High skills: Globalization, competitiveness, and skill formation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

            This volume draws on the findings of a major international comparative study of national routes to a 'high skills' economy in Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States, and includes data from interviews with over 250 key stakeholders. It offers a comparative examination of 'high skill' policies - a topic of major public debate that is destined to become of even greater importance in all the developed economies in the early decades of the twenty-first century.

            KEY WORDS: Employment Forecasting; Skilled Labour; Work and Learning.

14. Brown, B. L. (2003). Career education models. Trends and issues alert. Washington: DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

            The evolution of the workplace has required changes in the guidance and counseling practices of career education (CE). Basic elements of CE strategies for enhancing students' career awareness, exploration, and planning are still in place, but contemporary issues such as life-work balance, involuntary career transitions, and mentoring have led to new models that address trends in future careers. The traditional model of CE was designed for workplaces in which vertical movement within a single organization and career longevity were typical. It stressed a series of developmental stages, basic and academic learning, employability skill development, and lifelong learning. More current CE models are designed for workplaces characterized by interorganizational mobility, flexible work arrangements, teamwork, technology, and international relationships. Newer models include the following: (1) the "new careering," which advocates a theory of life as career; (2) the "integrated theory and practice" model, which stresses integration between school-, employer-, and residential-based models developed around lifelong learning needs; and (3) the "Intelligent Career" model, which stresses the importance of knowing how, why, and who when addressing ways to enhance career preparation. The new models are "boundaryless" in that career development can take place through lateral and horizontal, as well as vertical, movement.

            KEY WORDS: Annotated Bibliographies; Career Development; Career Education; Career Guidance; Career Ladders; Career Planning; Developmental Stages; Education Work Relationship; Employment Potential; Employment Practices; Family-Work Relationship; Flexible Working Hours; Horizontal Organization; Lifelong Learning; Occupational Mobility; Skill Development; Teaching Models; Vertical Organization; Work Environment.

15. Bryans, P., & Smith, R. (2000). Beyond training: Reconceptualising learning at work. Journal of Workplace Learning, 12(6), 228-235.

            Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; equivalent shifts need to occur, we argue, in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy makes such a shift particularly urgent. Notions of training tend to foreclose on outcomes; typically they are short-term and assume transferability of skills. Notions of personal development may be insufficiently focused on the workplace. We argue for a conception of workplace learning that foregrounds the dialectical relationship between persons and their organizations. Crucial in that relationship are notions of openness, uncertainty, complexity, relationships, reflection, reframing and restoration.

            KEY WORDS: Training; Development; Workplace Learning; Knowledge Management.

16. Buchmann, M. (2002). Labour market entry and beyond: Some reflections on the changing structure of work. Education + Training, 44(4-5), 217-223.

            In countries with well-established vocational training systems (i.e., Austria, Germany, and Switzerland), the changing structure of work is likely to modify the interplay between labor supply and demand. Changes in the relationship between school- and work-based learning, promotion of lifelong learning, and integration of new skill profiles into vocational education are needed.

            KEY WORDS: Career Development; Change; Education Work Relationship; Entry Workers; Foreign Countries; Labor Market; Labor Needs; Labor Supply; Occupational Mobility; Vocational Education.

17. Cunningham, I., Dawes, G., & Bennett, B. (2004). The handbook of work based learning. Aldershot: Gower.

            The Handbook of Work Based Learning answers the question of whether learning needs to be based in the realities of organizational life. This unique handbook provides a definitive guide to the set of strategies, tactics and methods for supporting work based learning. The three main parts of the book, which focus in turn on strategies, tactics and methods, are written for both the learner and the professional developer alike. Each part includes a description of the process (strategy, tactic or method), provides examples of what it looks like in action, explains the benefits and the likely limitations and provides a set of operating hints for applying the process.

            KEY WORDS: Work and Learning; Work-based Learning; Organization; Skills.

18. Davis, B., & Sumara, D. (2001). Learning communities: Understanding the workplace as a complex system. New directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 92(Winter), 85-97.

            Complexity theory informs this discussion of how collective learning practices can support personal learning. The learning system of a school is examined to understand the relationships, disequilibrium, and engagement of a learning community.

            KEY WORDS: Complexity Theory; Learning Communities.

19. De Bruijn, E., & Volman, M. (2000). Changes in occupational structure and occupational practice: A challenge to education. European Journal of Women's Studies, 7(4), 455-474.

            Responses to developments in the labor market, occupational structure, & occupational practice, many aspects of vocational education & training are subjects of discussion & in transition among Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) countries. Some occupations are integrating while others are differentiating. New methods of production & organization mean new types of employee competencies are necessary: problem-solving & social-communicative skills are becoming more important. This article focuses on the importance & the possibilities of shaping these developments. The significance of changing qualification requirements is discussed for the technical, service, care, and economic-administrative sectors. Innovations in vocational education and training are reviewed: (1) recognizing prior learning, & (2) developing flexible, modular educational pathways. Examples from the Netherlands are provided.

            KEY WORDS: Employment Changes; Labor Market; Occupational Structure; Job Training; Vocational Education; Education Work Relationship; Netherlands.

20. Elmholdt, C. (2004). Knowledge management and the practice of knowledge sharing and learning at work: A case study. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), 327-339.

            This article offers a critique of knowledge management. The critique is empirically based on the case study of a Danish software production company's (A-Soft) knowledge management strategy of implementing an information technology (IT) tool known as 'Knowledge Centre' (KC). The article argues: (1) the discourses on knowledge and learning informing KC and everyday practice are incompatible. KC conceptualizes knowledge as a resource that can be stored and retrieved from databases, and learning as an individual acquisition. The company's existing practice of knowledge sharing and learning seems better conceived from a situated and embodied perspective, seeing knowledge as an enactment inseparable from action, and learning as social participation. (2) The management's preoccupation with implementing technological solutions for codifying, archiving, and creating global access to information is conflicting with the practitioners' focus on seeking context-rich information through collegial networks. Moreover, it is suggested that cultivation of a culture where viable communities of practice and collegial networks can flourish may be more important than technological advancement. (3) The strategy of exercising knowledge management through control and ownership invokes a discourse that threatens to subjectify the employees as replaceable resources in a lifelong learning imperative.

            KEY WORDS: Technological Advancement; Educational Technology; Information Technology; Knowledge Level; Criticism; Computer Software Evaluation; Case Studies.

21. Engestrom, Y. (2004). New forms of learning in co-configuration work. Journal of Workplace Learning, 16(1/2), 11-21.

            Focuses on the theories and study of organizational and workplace learning. Outlines the landscape of learning in co-configuration settings, a new type of work that includes interdependency between multiple producers forming a strategic alliance, supplier network, or other such pattern of partnership which collaboratively puts together and maintains a complex package, integrating material products and services. Notes that learning in co-configuration settings is typically distributed over long, discontinuous periods of time. It is accomplished in and between multiple loosely interconnected activity systems and organizations operating in divided local and global terrains and representing different traditions, domains of expertise, and social languages. Learning is crucially dependent on the contribution of the clients or users. Asserts that co-configuration presents a twofold learning challenge to work organizations and outlines interventionist and longitudinal approaches taken.

            KEY WORDS: Workplace Learning; Organizational Theory; Configuration Management.

22. Evans, K., Hodkinson, P., & Unwin, L. (2002). Working to learn: Transforming learning in the workplace. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

            This book looks at the changing nature of work and the effect this has on the skill and knowledge requirements of individuals, its implications for the workplace and employment, and ways in which these changing requirements can be met. This book brings together the implications of workplace changes for educators, managers and society, especially in an age where jobs and work - and the success of organizations - are increasingly dependent on developing skills and knowledge.

            KEY WORDS: Organizational Learning; Communication In Organizations; Employees; Training; Case Studies.

23. Fenwick, T. (2003). Innovation: Examining workplace learning in new enterprises. Journal of Workplace Learning, 15(3), 123-132.

            Innovation is argued here to be a significant and complex dimension of learning in work, involving a mix of rational, intuitive, emotional and social processes embedded in activities of a particular community of practice. Dimensions of innovative learning are suggested to include level (individual, group, organization), rhythm (episodic or continuous), and magnitude of creative change (adaptive or generative) involved in the learning process. Drawing from a study of women who leave organizational employment to develop an enterprise of self-employment, this article explores these dimensions of innovative learning. Two questions guide the analysis: what conditions foster innovative learning; and what are the forms and processes of the innovative learning process? Findings suggest that innovative processes involve multiple strategies and demand conditions of freedom, patience, support, and recognition.

            KEY WORDS: Innovation; Organizational Learning; Small Firms; Women; Entrepreneurship.

24. Field, J. (2000). Governing the ungovernable: Why lifelong learning policies promise so much yet deliver so little. Educational Management & Administration, 28(3), 249-261.

            Lifelong learning is often viewed as "human resource development in drag," since debates are largely driven by economic preoccupations. Governments generally restrict their interventions to vocational, non-innovative training measures. England's faltering policy must be revamped to address needs for informal and information-age learning.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Learning; Education Work Relationship; Educational Policy; Foreign Countries; Government Role; Human Capital; Lifelong Learning; Postsecondary Education; Private Sector; Program Effectiveness; Public Sector; Training.

25. Foley, G. (1999). A political economy of workplace change and learning. Studies in the Education of Adults, 31(2), 181-196.

            This paper argues that political economy and labour process theory are essential to a proper understanding of workplace change and learning. In our time there is a struggle for comparative advantage as enterprises and nations compete to see which can most effectively exploit new technologies and human capital. This is the latest manifestation of the logic of capitalism, which creates an unwinnable competition among producers and in turn generates periodic crises, massive inequalities within and between nations and what appear to be radical changes in the organisation of production. But the way work is organised in capitalism does not fundamentally change - it still rests on the attempts of capital to control the work process and extract the labour surplus. Worker resistance is endemic in this intrinsically exploitative labour process, and this resistance has a learning dimension. If they are going to act effectively on them adult educators need to understand the capitalist political economy and labour process and the resistance and learning they generate.

            KEY WORDS: Workplace Change; Worker Resistance; Labour Process.

26. Frost, N., & Taylor, R. (2001). Patterns of change in the university: The impact of 'Lifelong Learning' and the 'World of Work'. Studies in the Education of Adults, 33(1), 49-59.

            Lifelong Learning is agreed to be a key concept in the new “knowledge society”. This paper discusses the nature of the changed environment of higher education and the influence of adult education theory and practice upon lifelong learning. Currently, commitment to lifelong learning, as far as higher education is concerned, is largely rhetorical. The paper discusses the fundamental changes in higher education that will be needed if this rhetoric is to be turned into reality. Both government policy and the wider social and political context make the relationship between the university and the “world of work” increasingly important. Work-related learning, as an aspect of lifelong learning, is thus a significant development in higher education and the paper discusses its positive and negative aspects, viewed from the perspective of radical, social purpose education.

            KEY WORDS: Lifelong Learning; University; Changes in Work; New Work World.

27. Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (1999). Credentialism, national targets, and the learning society: Perspectives on educational attainment in the UK steel industry. Journal of Educational Policy, 14(6), 605-617.

            A set of National Learning Targets by the UK is to be achieved by 2002. Revised from a previous set of National Targets for Education and Training (NTETs), the latest ones embrace 11-21-year-olds, adults and employers and promote a credentialist approach to both economic & social development. According to the National Advisory Council for Education and Training (NACETT), a primary purpose is to make the country more competitive internationally and to promote social cohesion. Drawing on a study of how one occupational sector, the steel industry, measures up to the national targets for the adult workforce. Results of the study question the appropriateness of using qualifications-target as a proxy for adult capability in the workplace industrial viability. Argued is that the credential approach detracts from the real challenges faced in becoming a learning society in the UK.

            KEY WORDS: Adolescents; Adult Education; Credentials; Economic Development; Education Work Relationship; Industry; Job Skills; Lifelong Learning; National Standards; Post Secondary Education; Secondary Education; Social Development; Young Adults.

28. Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2005). Older and wiser? Workplace learning from the perspective of experienced employees. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 24(1), p21-39.

            This paper explores the (changing) role of older, experienced employees in the workplace in terms of their own needs and opportunities for learning and in the context of changing organizational expectations. It draws on Lave and Wenger's (1991) theory of situated learning and the notion of 'learning as participation' as starting points for examining the types of learning opportunities experienced by older workers. The discussion relates the nature of such opportunities to the changing workplace contexts in which employees are located. The article presents illustrative data from a recent research project that focused on how older experienced workers learn at work in two contrasting organizations. A brief review of literature is provided, which discusses the changing nature of work and the implications for learning. The paper then describes and contrasts the sites from which the data presented in this paper were collected, and the data collection methods that have been utilised. An analysis of the research data is presented and the authors discuss what the evidence reveals about the types of learning opportunities older employees are experiencing and how they make sense of them. The analysis suggests that from the perspective of experienced employees, factors such as organizational culture and history, the way jobs are designed and work is organized, and the way people are managed and their performance is judged, help explain the lived realities of workplace learning and provide messages for enhancing workforce development. The paper argues that contrasting forms of work organization and approaches to managing employees are likely to generate different learning environments and opportunities for workplace learning. It concludes by calling for more empirical research to explore the relationship between work organization and learning and to increase understanding of the implications for what and how different groups of employees learn at work.

            KEY WORDS: Employees; Organizational Culture; Education Work Relationship; Surveys; Interviews; Employee Attitudes; Adult Learning.

29. Garrick, J., & Rhodes, C. (Eds.). (2000). Research and knowledge at work: Perspectives, case-studies and innovative strategies. New York: Routledge.

            This book, which contains 15 chapters by various authors, aims to conceptualize new ways that knowledge is being "legitimized" through various formal and informal workplace-based research practices. It examines the new legitimations critically, and analyzes possible directions for future developments in work-based research and "knowledge" formation. Following the first chapter, "Legitimizing Knowledge at Work" by the editors, John Garrick and Carl Rhodes, the book includes the following essays: (Part 1, Knowledge, Learning, and the Practice of Work) "Working Knowledge" (Ronald Barnett); "Research on Work, Research at Work: Postmodern Perspectives" (Richard Edwards and Robin Usher); "The Crisis of Scientific Research" (Christine Ewan and Dennis Calvert); (Part 2, Whose Knowledge? Collaboration and Research in and around Work) "Globalizing the Intelligent Organization" (Stewart Clegg); "Knowledge and Control in the Japanese Workplace" (Keiko Morita); "Organizational Knowledge, Professional Practice, and the Professional Doctorate at Work" (Alison Lee, Bill Green, and Marie Brennan); "Research and Engagement with Trade Unions: Bridging the Solitudes" (Carla Lipsig-Mumme); "The Negotiated Management of Meanings: Research for Policy" (John McIntyre and Rosie Wickert); "Research Partnerships at Work: New Identities for New Times" (Hermine Scheeres and Nicky Solomon); (Part 3, Changing Practices of Research at Work) "The Construction of 'Working Knowledge' and (Mis)interpretive Research" (John Garrick); "'Doing' Knowledge at Work: Dialogue, Monologue, and Power in Organizational Learning" (Carl Rhodes); "An Adventure in 'Postmodern' Action Research: Performativity, Professionalism, and Power" (Jill Sanguinetti); "Virtual Research in Performative Times" (Robin Usher and Richard Edwards); (Part 4, Conclusions) "Inside the Knowledge Works; Reviewing the Terrain" (Carl Rhodes and John Garrick). Each chapter contains reference lists.

            KEY WORDS: Employees; Technological Innovations; Economic Aspects; Organizational Learning; Work and Learning.

30. Gherardi, S. (2005). Organizational knowledge: The texture of workplace learning. Oxford: Blackwell.

            This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of practice-based organizational learning and knowing. The book involves the author's detailed study of safety practices in different corporate settings and his description of how learning, knowing and organizing are practised. Centred on the concepts of "knowing in practice" and the "texture" of organizational knowledge, this book gives a rich account of how organizations learn and how corporate practices and policies evolve.

            KEY WORDS: Workplace Learning; Private Sector.

31. Guile, D. (2003). From 'credentialism' to the 'practice of learning': Reconceptualising learning for the knowledge economy. Policy Futures in Education, 1(1), 83-106.

            This article argues that there is a paradox at the heart of United Kingdom and European Union policies for learning: the knowledge economy debate rests on a traditional interpretation of the concept of learning (i.e. the acquisition of existing knowledge and skill), yet the challenge of the knowledge economy is to produce new knowledge and skill. Over coming current credentialist approaches involves rethinking what is meant by 'learning'. Drawing on activity theory, the article introduces the concept of 'reflexive learning' to illustrate how to reformulate public education policies to prepare learners for working and living in a knowledge society/economy.

            KEY WORDS: Knowledge Economy; Credentials; Reflexive Learning.

32. Hager, P. (2001). Workplace judgement and conceptions of learning. Journal of Workplace Learning, 13(7/8), 352-359.

            Judgment is a pivotal notion for understanding learning. But how we view judgment is crucially shaped by our favoured conception of learning. The favoured conception of learning is shown to distort judgement, while an emerging conception of learning does justice both to judgement and learning from work.

            KEY WORDS: Workplace Learning; Learning Styles.

33. Hager, P. (2004). Conceptions of learning and understanding learning at work. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(1), 3-17.

            Recent research on learning in work situations has focused 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 people's understandings of learning in formal educational situations. Such assumptions distort attempts to understand learning at work. The main focus of this paper is to problematize 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.

            KEY WORDS: Vocational Education; Education Work Relationship; Productive Thinking; Learning Processes; Work Environment; Lifelong Learning; Transfer of Training.

34. Halfpap, K. (2001). Towards learning for the future: Some practical experiences. Vocational Training, 23, 53-59.

            In this paper, three German programs illustrate the enlarged purposes of vocational education, including the need to be trained for multiple occupations and unpaid work and to manage lifelong learning. The projects show that steps toward the future of vocational education require linkage between work and learning, teacher training, creation of supportive conditions, and new roles for teachers and learners.

            KEY WORDS: Education Work Relationship; Educational Change; Foreign Countries; Futures of Society; Role of Education; Secondary Education; Training; Vocational Education Germany.

35. Hyslop-Margison, E. J. (2002). Liberalizing career education: An Aristotelian approach. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 48(4), 350-363.

            Instrumental aims in vocational education pose a genuine threat to democratic citizenship by undermining student critique of prevailing social circumstances. By employing a broadened Aristotelian framework, career education can combine work-related subject matter with critical learning objectives, but that would require significant reform in content, objectives, and presentation.

            KEY WORDS: Critical Pedagogy; Democratic Values; Education Work Relationship; Educational Objectives; Educational Philosophy; General Education; Globalization; Lifelong Learning; School Business Relationship; Secondary Education; Vocational Education; Aristotle.

36. Hyson, D. M. (2002). Understanding adaptation to work in adulthood: A contextual developmental approach. Advances in Life Course Research, 7, 93-110.

            Psychological & behavioral components of the work ethic and its relationship to adult adaptation to work are investigated using an approach that combines the ecodevelopmental perspective of J. Szapocznik & J. D. Coatsworth (1999) & the developmental-contextual view proposed by R. Vondracek, R. M. Lerner, & J. E. Schulenberg (1986). Questionnaire and interview data were obtained from a subsample of 76 males and 70 females, age 23, from a 25-year longitudinal study of at-risk children & their parents in MN. Results support three hypotheses regarding the importance of initiative, high school academic achievement, socioeconomic background, access to educational & training opportunities, & middle-childhood variables for work ethic & a successful school-to-work transition. Findings also demonstrate the importance of using an integrative model to examine socialization to work in adulthood.

            KEY WORDS: Protestant Ethic; Work Values; Childhood Factors; Psychological Factors; Education Work Relationship; Young Adults; Socioeconomic Status; Academic Achievement; Socialization; Minnesota; Social Psychology; Personality & Social Roles; Complex Organization; Jobs; Work Organization; Workplaces; Unions; Work and Learning.

37. Illeris, K. (2006). Lifelong learning and the low-skilled. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 25(1), 15-28.

            This article is a combined result of a three years research project on low-skilled learners' experiences as participants of various kinds of adult training and education in Denmark, and the findings of a three years research consortium on workplace learning, summing up and generalizing our various findings as to how low-skilled adults function in relation to participation in training and education activities, how they feel about it, what is important to them, and consequently what works in practice in relation to this very important but often neglected group of adult learners.

            KEY WORDS: Foreign Countries; Lifelong Learning; Adult Students; Adult Learning; Vocational Education; Education Work Relationship; On-the-Job Training Denmark.

38. Jakupec, V., & Garrick, J. (Eds.). (2000). Flexible learning, human resource, and organisational development: Putting theory to work. New York: Routledge.

            This book addresses contemporary contexts of flexible learning and its practices and provides insights about directions that education and training providers may be required to follow to implement flexible learning in a variety of settings. Key issues and debates include the following: social and economic dimensions of flexible learning and delivery; the implications of globalization and internationalization for higher education; flexible learning, knowledge, and power; institutional strategies for implementing flexible learning and delivery; and practicing flexible learning through media and new technologies.

            KEY WORDS: Open Learning; Continuing Education; Occupational Training; Employee Training; Information Technology; Communication Technology; Work and Learning.

39. Jorgensen, C. H. (2004). Connecting work and education: Should learning be useful, correct or meaningful? The Journal of Workplace Learning, 16(8), 455-465.

            The aim of this paper is to examine the interplay between learning in school and learning in the workplace - and its problems. Historically, education and work have become separated and each developed its own rationale - a school rationale and a production rationale, both of which may form the foundation for interplay. Concurrently with this, the learners apply a subjective rationale based on their personal expectations and interests in education and work in the course of their lives. Using the three players, school, workplace and employee as a starting-point, three different rationales on which to base interplay can be deduced. Since viable interplay may not be established based on one rationale alone, one needs an institutional framework to mediate between them. This article proposes that a modernized version of the Dual System of vocational education may be best to provide such a framework.

            KEY WORDS: Education; Learning; Comparative Tests; Organizations; Work and Learning.

40. Karakowsky, l., & McBey, K. (1999). The lessons of work: Toward an understanding of the implications of the workplace for adult learning and development. Journal of Workplace Learning, 11(6), 192-201.

            Little research attention had addressed the notion of the organization as a facilitator or inhibitor of adult learning or personal growth and development. This paper attempts to identify individual-level and organizational-level factors that can influence the potential for learning and development in the workplace. Along with the presentation of a theoretical framework, a number of researcher propositions are generated with the aim of encouraging management scholars and practitioners to more fully consider the impact of the workplace on adult learning and development.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Workplace Learning; Employee Development.

41. Kerka, S. (2001). The balancing act of adult life. Retrieved January, 2007, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage _01/0000000b/80/2a/34/78.pdf

Technological advances, the changing nature of work, workplaces, and working relationships, international economic competition, the changing demographics of workers, families, and communities, and longer life spans have made life more complex for adults in the 21st century. Learning to cope with all these changing responsibilities is something referred to as "the hidden curriculum of adult life." Adult education approaches can be used to help individuals negotiate the curriculum of life challenges. In the 1990s, programs that targeted the work-life balance aimed at helping people cope by developing skills in communication, interpersonal effectiveness, and life management or family-career management. These programs, however, assume that there is an ideal work-life balance and that our attempts to live up to it are deficient. But who gets to define what work-life balance is? More recent approaches to adult education suggest that instead of merely informing people, adult education should be transformational. One such framework is Equipped for the Future (EFF). It was developed to help adults integrate their learning in four categories: communication skills, decision- interpersonal skills, learning.

KEY WORDS: Adjustment (to Environment); Adult Basic Education; Adult Development; Adult Learning; Communication Skills; Competence; Daily Living Skills; Decision Making Skills; Educational Needs; Family-Work Relationship; Hidden Curriculum; Interpersonal Competence; Learning Processes; Learning Theories; Life Satisfaction; Lifelong Learning; Postsecondary Education; Transformative Learning.

42. Kilpatrick, S. (1999). Learning on the job: How do farm business managers get the skills and knowledge to manage their businesses? CRLRA discussion paper series. Launceston: University of Tasmania.

            Industry leaders and agricultural educators (‘experts’) believe that farmers should be participating in training about management and marketing, while few farmers plan to attend formal training in these areas. This paper examines the differing perceptions of experts and farmers in relation to farmers’ management and marketing learning needs and the attitudes of farmers toward farm business management training.

More progressive farmers were proactive in identifying and meeting learning needs in management and marketing and were also the group most likely to have used training in learning for change, and to plan to train to meet learning needs in the future.

            Most farmers used multiple learning sources when learning about management, marketing and management-related issues. Most used informal sources, mainly experts, supplemented by observation and experience, other farmers, and print and electronic media. Training was very rarely the only source used.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Adult Learning; Agribusiness; Agricultural Education; Agricultural Occupations; Business Administration; Business Skills; Comparative Analysis; Conventional Instruction; Education Work Relationship; Educational Needs; Educational Opportunities; Educational Research; Experiential Learning; Farm Management; Foreign Countries; Informal Education; Information Sources; Learning Processes; Literature Reviews; Needs Assessment; Nonformal Education; On-the-Job Training Recordkeeping; Rural Areas; Rural Education; Sex Differences; Skill Development; Women's Education.

43. Kilpatrick, S., & Crowley, S. (1999). Learning and training: Enhancing small business success. Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

            In this study, owners or managers of 181 Australian businesses employing fewer than 20 people in the construction, manufacturing, property and business services, and retail industries in 3 metropolitan and 3 nonmetropolitan locations were interviewed by telephone to identify how they used training to enhance their small business's success. Of those surveyed, one-third had had someone attend a relevant course in the past 12 months, 30% had learned from a consultant or mentor, and more than 60% had attended a business-related meeting or seminar. Small businesses with partners or employees with postschool qualifications were more likely to engaging in ongoing learning activities. The low rate of participation in training, especially by owners, and their preference for informal learning methods are consistent with a picture of small business owners who are supervisors of more formalized training and unaware that training policy could be relevant. The study demonstrated a relationship between success and learning on the job and resulted in 11 recommendations concerning developing a learning culture, learning and training design, and future policy directions relating to the provision of learning/training opportunities for small business.

            KEY WORDS: Change Strategies; Education Work Relationship; Educational Attainment; Educational Attitudes; Educational Change; Educational Needs; Educational Policy; Educational Quality; Foreign Countries; Job Training; National Surveys; Needs Assessment; Organizational Climate; Outcomes of Education; Participation; Policy Formation; Postsecondary Education; Public Policy; Questionnaires; Small Businesses; Success; Tables (Data); Training Methods; Training Objectives; Vocational Education.

44. Kivinen, O., & Silvennoinen, H. (2002). Changing relations between education and work: On the mechanisms and outcomes of educational system. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 21(1), 44-54.

            Examines the educational system in Nordic countries as it regulates passage of age cohorts from home through school to the labor market. States that formal education is failing to close the skills gap. Advocates delinking vocational training from formal schooling and reorganizing working life in terms of production of practical know-how through workplace learning.

            KEY WORDS: Education Work Relationship; Educational Status Comparison; Foreign Countries; Government Role; Human Capital; Job Skills; Labor Market; Outcomes of Education.

45. Kuhn, M., & Sultana, R. G. (Eds.). (2006). Homo sapiens Europaeus? Creating the European learning citizen. New York: Peter Lang.

            In many ways, education reflects society by mirroring changing and emergent goals and values as well as by contributing to both the reproduction and production of particular life forms. In the context of the formative project (Europe), education is asked to play an increasingly central role, one that is responsive to particular images of the European Union and to its aspirations and goals. The widespread conviction is that education and training will re-invigorate ailing economies, and that, in the context of globalization, national and regional competitiveness will only triumph if there is a qualitative continued improvement in human capital. This book critically examines such claims, considering the ways in which learning is being constructed across Europe and the implications this has for notions of democratic citizenship and education.

            KEY WORDS: Europe; Globalization; Human Capital; Learning.

46. Littler, C. R., & Innes, P. (2003). Downsizing and deknowledging the firm. Work, Employment and Society, 17(1), 73-100.

            Many OECD organization economies have undergone a decade of downsizing, restructuring and transition. For example, workforce reductions were a dominant feature of firm behaviour in Australia throughout the 1990s. These wide-ranging organizational transitions are expected to continue. What do the new organizational forms and new job structures mean in relation to skill trends? Examined are the changing paradigms for understanding long-term skill change and assessing relevancy by empirically examining the relationship between downsizing, deskilling/upskilling and contingent labour use in larger firms. The analysis is based on a comprehensive, longitudinal data set of 4153 companies. One key finding is that downsizing was used as a vehicle for a different form of `deskilling' across the 1990s. Alongside the “knowledge organization”, there are processes of deknowledging the firm.

            KEY WORDS: Downsizing (Management); Knowledge Management; Labor Relations; Organization Theory.

47. Livingstone, D. W. (1999). Lifelong learning and underemployment in the knowledge society: A North American perspective. Comparative Education, 35(2), 163-186.

            Contrary to general assumptions about the need for lifelong learning, U.S. and Canadian adults' learning efforts exceed workplace requirements. Reasons for underemployment include the talent-use gap, structural unemployment, involuntary reduced employment, credential gap, performance gap, and subjective underemployment. What is needed to redress this underemployment are substantial economic reforms and not more emphasis on lifelong learning.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Continuing Education; Corporate Education; Education Work Relationship; Educational Attainment; Educational Demand; Employment Qualifications; Foreign Countries; Informal Education; Lifelong Learning; Postsecondary Education; Underemployment; Canada; United States.

48. Livingstone, D. W. (2000). Exploring the icebergs of adult learning: Findings of the first Canadian survey of informal learning practices. NALL Working Paper No. 10. Toronto: Centre for the Study of Education and Work, OISE/UT. Available at: http://www.nall.ca/.

            This paper provides empirical estimates of the extent and distribution of self-reported learning activities in the current Canadian adult population, based on a recent country-wide survey, and briefly addresses some implications of these adult learning patterns. The basic finding from the survey is that most Canadian adults are spending a great deal and increasing amount of time in learning activities, most of this in informal learning on their own. The major implications are that Canada is already and increasingly a knowledge society in any reasonable sense of the term and that Canadian adults’ mostly informal learning practices should more explicitly be taken into account in shaping educational, economic and other social policies; adult educators should take this detectable informal learning into greater account to develop more responsive further education opportunities.

There is a great deal of talk these days about living in the "information age", the "knowledge society" or the "learning society." The study described in this article indicates that adults in Canada now spend an average of 15 hours per week on informal learning. In light of this finding, if the crews of our big education and training ships do not increasingly look out for the massive, detectable icebergs of informal learning, many of their programs may sink into Titanic irrelevancy. However, before the survey findings are presented, informal learning should be distinguished from other basic sites of adult learning and the difficulties involved in studying informal learning should be identified.

            KEY WORDS: Informal Learning; Self-directed Learning; Adults; Continuing Education; Educational Research; Independent Study; Informal Education; Job Skills; Learning Activities; Lifelong Learning; National Surveys; Participation; Postsecondary Education; Vocational Education; Volunteer Training; Volunteers; Barriers to Participation; Canada.

49. Livingstone, D. W., & Sawchuk, P. (2000). Beyond cultural capital theory: Hidden dimensions of working class learning. Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies, 22(2), 203-221.

            This paper argues that working class people are at least as active as adult learners beyond schooling as those in the affluent classes, and that the collective capacity for creative cultural production and critical learning is alive and well in the organized core of the working class in advanced capitalist societies. After identifying the limitations of current theories of class cultures, especially as they relate to education and learning, the paper suggests an alternative theoretical perspective grounded in the activity theory of social learning. Its critique of cultural capital theory and proposed alternative perspective is based on participatory action research with several groups of organized Canadian workers and is illustrated here with evidence from ethnographic studies, as well as related social surveys.

            KEY WORDS: Working Class; Adult Education; Cultural Production; Critical Learning; Capitalist Systems; Industrialized Economics; Learning; Underemployment; Ethnographic Studies; Social Surveys.

50. Livingstone, D. W. (2001). Basic patterns of work and learning in Canada: Findings of the 1998 NALL Survey of Informal Learning and Related Statistics Canada Surveys. NALL Working Paper No. 33. Toronto: Centre for the Study of Education and Work, OISE/UT. Available at: http://www.nall.ca/.

            This study provides extensive statistics and documentation of Canadian adults' work and learning activities. It includes statistics for household labor and community volunteer activities and paid employment. Learning activities comprised both formal course work and informal learning and on-the-job training. Data sources included the 1998 National Survey of Learning and Work by the Research Network on New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL), estimates of unpaid household and community work; the Adult Education and Training Survey, the 1996 census. The National Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating, and the General Social Survey. Findings revealed that: (1) most Canadians are already extensively engaged in learning and that the needs for higher-level job skills has been greatly exaggerated; (2) Canadian adults are now spending about as much time in unpaid household and community work as they are in paid employment; (3) only a gradual upgrading of job skill requirements, and knowledge workers still comprise a small minority of the labor force; (4) many Canadians find themselves underemployed; and (5) society and government should address major paid work reforms in order to prevent underemployment from becoming one of the major social problems of the 21st century.

            KEY WORDS: Adults; Change; Developed Nations; Economic Development; Economic Factors; Education Work Relationship; Educational Needs; Educational Philosophy; Educational Policy; Employment; Employment Projections; Employment Qualifications; Foreign Countries; Futures of Society; Government Role; Housework; Informal Education; Job Skills; Knowledge Level; Labor Needs; Lifelong Learning; National Surveys; On-the-Job Training Participation; Postsecondary Education; Tables (Data); Underemployment; Volunteers.

51. Livingstone, D. (2002). Mapping the iceberg. NALL Working Paper No. 54. Toronto: Centre for the Study of Education and Work, OISE/UT. Available at: http://www.nall.ca/.

            A survey of 1,500 Canadian adults examined the range of adults' learning activities. These activities included informal learning related to employment, community volunteer work, household work, and other general interest. Findings revealed that those in the labor force, or those expecting to be in soon, engaged in informal learning related to current or prospective future employment. These included the following: informal learning projects to keep up with new job or career knowledge, informal employment-related computer learning, and learning new tasks, problem-solving and communication skills, occupational safety and health, and new technologies. Community volunteer workers participated in related informal learning on interpersonal, communication, and organizational or managerial skills, and social issues. Household workers participated in informal learning related to home renovations and gardening, home cooking, and home maintenance. Most participated in informal learning associated with their general interests, such as health and well being, environmental issues, finances, hobby skills, social skills, public issues, computers, and sports and recreation. Participation in all forms of schooling increased dramatically over the past two generations, and the educational attainment of the active labor force increased accordingly. Major barriers to course participation included inconvenient times or places, no time, family responsibilities and cost.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; Adults; Continuing Education; Educational Background; Educational Research; Foreign Countries; Home Economics; Independent Study; Informal Education; Job Skills; Learning Activities; Lifelong Learning; National Surveys; Participation; Postsecondary Education; Recreational Activities; Student Educational Objectives; Vocational Education; Volunteer Training; Volunteers.

52. Livingstone, D. W. (2002). Working and learning in the information age: A profile of Canadians. Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.

            In this study, Canadians' employment and working patterns were examined by analyzing the 1998 survey called New Approaches to Lifelong Learning and other recent surveys by Statistics Canada. "Work" was defined as comprising household labor, community volunteer activities, and paid employment, and "learning" was defined as comprising informal learning activities, initial formal schooling, and adult education courses and programs. The data indicated that Canadian adults generally spent as much time in unpaid household and community work as in paid employment. Canadians were extensively involved in learning throughout their lives. According to their self-reports, Canadian adults devoted an average of 15 hours each week to informal learning activities related to their paid employment, household duties, volunteer community work, and other general interests. Those in the labor force averaged 6 hours each week in job-related informal learning pursuits. A generally positive association between the amount of time people spend in paid employment, household labor, and community work and the time spent in work-related informal learning was found. Employment-related informal learning was more extensive than course-based training across nearly all employment statuses and occupational groups. At least 20% of the employed labor force saw itself as having skill levels exceeding those required by their jobs.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Adult Learning; Data Analysis; Definitions; Economic Change; Education Work Relationship; Educational Change; Employment Level; Employment Patterns; Enrollment Trends; Foreign Countries; Housework; Informal Education; Job Skills; Learning Activities; Lifelong Learning; Literature Reviews; National Surveys; Participant Characteristics; Participation; Policy Formation; Postsecondary Education; Public Policy; Time Factors (Learning); Time Management; Trend Analysis; Underemployment; Unemployment; Volunteers; Adult Education and Training Survey (Canada); Canada; Information Age; Information Economy; Work Based Learning.

53. Livingstone, D. W., & Sawchuk, P. H. (2004). Hidden knowledge: Organized labour in the information age. Aurora, ON: Garamond Press.

            The issue of workers' role in the increasingly "knowledge-based" economy and the need to create a "lifelong learning culture" in every workplace has been the focus of official studies in industrialized countries around the world over the past ten to fifteen years. These studies, as Livingstone and Sawchuk write, "impl[y] that most workers suffer from a deficit of necessary skills and knowledge which must be rectified by greater education and training efforts." This book details a sophisticated study that explicitly challenges these assumptions. Working with Canadian unions, the authors conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews with workers in five different industries: auto, chemical, college, small-parts sector (automobile components), and garments. The sites vary not only by industrial sector, but also by wage level, training, managerial practices, employment situation, and union strength.

            KEY WORDS: Learning; Unions; Underemployment; Knowledge; Working Class; Information Age; Information Society.

54. Manning, S., Ed; , Griffiths, T., Ed; , & Oliveira, T., Ed. (2002, September 11-14). Current research in European vocational education and human resource development. Paper presented at the European Conference of Educational Research (ECER), Lisbon, Portugal.

            This document contains the papers from a conference on current research in vocational education and training (VET) and human resource development in Europe.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Learning; Adult Students; Apprenticeships; Case Studies; Competence; Competency Based Education; Cultural Pluralism; Curriculum Development; Delivery Systems; Education Work Relationship; Educational Change; Educational Environment; Educational Planning; Educational Policy; Educational Practices; Educational Research; Educational Theories; Educational Trends; Employed Women; Employment Problems; Employment Qualifications; Entrepreneurship; Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Global Approach; Innovation; International Cooperation; International Programs; Job Training; Labor Force Development; Learning Motivation; Learning Processes; Learning Theories; Mentors; Models; Organizational Climate; Postsecondary Education; Professional Development; Public Policy; Research Methodology; Sex Differences; Student Certification; Theory Practice Relationship; Universities; Vocational Education; Vocational Education Teachers.

55. National Centre for Vocational Education Research. (2003). What makes for good workplace learning? At a glance. Leabrook: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

            Workplace learning, both formal and informal, is taking on an increasingly important role in the education and training of the workforce. Based on an analysis of recent research on workplace learning in Australia, in an 'ideal' workplace learning situation enterprises would have in place the elements outlined in the following key findings: (1) workplace learning is aimed at increasing innovative capacity in enterprises; (2) organizational culture supports and values training and learning; (3) training and learning are a part of doing business and are included as an integral part of the strategic planning cycle; (4) training and learning in all forms are valued and used according to the appropriate circumstances; (5) training is customized to individuals and to increase work capability; and (6) networks, partnerships, and supply chains are used to facilitate training. Workplace learning arrangements are important for employers in developing innovative capacity in enterprises. The main issues are developing a culture of learning; linking training to business strategy; valuing all forms of training; customizing training to increase skill levels; and importance of networks and partnerships.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Developed Nations; Education Work Relationship; Educational Indicators; Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Informal Education; Inplant Programs; Labor Force Development; Lifelong Learning; Networks; Nonschool Educational Programs; On-the-Job Training Organizational Climate; Organizational Culture; Partnerships in Education; Strategic Planning; Values; Vocational Education; Workplace Literacy; Work and Learning.

56. Pillay, H., Boulton-Lewis, G., Wilss, L., & Rhodes, S. (2003). Older and younger workers' conceptions of work and learning at work: A challenge to emerging work practices. Journal of Education & Work, 16(4), 427-444.

            Thirty-nine participants aged over 40 and 16 participants aged under 40 from a medical organization and a transport organization, were interviewed to obtain data regarding their conceptions of work and learning at work amid changing workplace practices. A phenomenographic approach was adopted to analyse the data. Frequency distributions of conceptions and a comparative analysis between the two age groups were also carried out. In addition, an analysis of the implications of these conceptions was conducted to understand workers’ behaviours in light of current changes in work practices and to assess the potential implications for knowledge creation and use. The results indicated that there were four and five hierarchical conceptions for work and learning at work respectively and that these were spread across Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) levels and workplaces. There were also differences between the two age groups and their distribution across the conceptions.

            KEY WORDS: Employee Attitudes; Learning; Personnel; Working Conditions.

57. Portelli, J., & Solomon, R. P. (Eds.). (2001). The erosion of democracy in education. Calgary: Detselig.

            This book brings forth issues in education and public policy that are most pertinent to Canada in the wake of rapid globalization. As well, this book continues the debate on the erosion of democracy in education in a Canadian perspective.

            KEY WORDS: Education; Work and Learning; Social Aspects; Educational Sociology; Canada.

58. Raelin, J. A. (2000). Work based learning: The new frontier of management development. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

            Promoting a return to what he describes as an earlier model than the classroom, the author explores how managers and corporate educators can facilitate learning in the work environment. The author also looks at theoretical considerations and suggests practical steps.

            KEY WORDS: Executive Training; Employee Training; Organizational Learning; Work and Learning.

59. Rainbird, H. (2000). Training in the workplace: Critical perspectives on learning at work. New York: St. Martin's Press.

            This book is part of the “Management, work and organisations” series, which is designed for post-graduate students and human resource professionals. This volume provides some background on the topics for those who are unfamiliar with them; the tone of the chapters is critical and analytic.

            KEY WORDS: Employee Training; Workplace Learning; Unions; Adult Learning; Work and Learning.

60. Raseev, S. (2002). Trends in the new configuration of the labor force in Europe. Revista Romana de Sociologie, 13(5-6), 515-522.

            Trends in the European labor market are discussed, with attention to European Union labor policies and problems, such as demographic decline & disparities in professional qualifications - the most significant problem is in emerging technology fields, like information technology and communications. Argued is that much investment is needed, and that the American MBA track is worth emulating, as the need for training of new elites is pronounced (e.g., estimated that in 2010, only 17% of Germans will have a university or polytechnic degree). Also discussed are issues in occupational modeling, such as cognitive pyramids, the 24-hour society, changing workflow & work life patterns and their future impact on Europe & Romania. In conclusion, Europe as a whole needs a coherent strategy for labor policy & training.

            KEY WORDS: Labor Market; Labor Force; Labor Policy; Romania; European Union; Job Training.

61. Robertson, S., & Dale, R. (2002). Local states of emergency: The contradictions of neo-liberal governance in education in New Zealand. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 23(3), 463-482.

            The authors argue that neoliberal governance regimes are deeply contradictory and that these contradictions are increasingly evident in the education sector. Drawing on a case study of the consequences of restructuring in education in New Zealand, arguably a paradigm case of neoliberal governance, the authors suggest the state is faced with a dilemma about how best to manage these tensions and contradictions within the framework of the political rationality itself. One strategy is to isolate these problems in order to manage and contain the risks associated with them. The authors identify five variants we argue can broadly be viewed as local states of emergency.

            KEY WORDS: Governance; Neoliberalism; New Zealand; Education; Policy; Reforms; Work and Learning.

62. Sanchez, F. (2003). Skills for a knowledge-based economy. Leadership, 33(2), 30-33.

            This paper describes what schools must do to prepare students for jobs in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.

            KEY WORDS: Educational Objectives; Elementary/ Secondary Education; Job Skills.

63. Sawchuk, P., Duarte, N., & Elhammoumi, M. (Eds.). (2006). Critical perspectives on activity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

            The last two decades have seen an explosion of interest throughout the world in theories of mind, culture, and activity. This unique collection of essays is the first to explicitly reach back to the tradition’s original critical impulse within which the writings of Karl Marx played such a central role. Each author pushes this impulse further to address leading contemporary questions. It includes a diverse array of international scholars working from the fields of education, psychology, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, communications, industrial relations, and business studies. Broken into three main sections - education, work, and everyday life - each chapter builds from an analysis of practice and learning as social cultural participation and historical change in relation to the concept of activity, contradiction, and struggle. This book offers insight into an important complexity of overlapping practices and institutions to shed light on broader debates over such matters as the “knowledge economy“ and “lifelong learning“.

            KEY WORDS: Marx; Education and Work; Knowledge Economy; Lifelong Learning.

64. Singh, M. E. (1999). Adult learning and the future of work. Hamburg: UNESCO, Institute for Education.

            This book contains 15 papers: "Introduction" (Madhu Singh); "Adult Learning and the Transformation of Work" (Paul Bélanger); "Future of Work and Adult Learning" (Ettore Gelpi); "The Obligation of Education in the Face of Globalisation" (Nicole Arnaud); "Lifelong Learning and Vocational Education and Training: A Teacher's and Trade Union View" (Hilde Borgir, Renate Peltzer); "Trends of Active Populations: Context and Scope" (J.A. Bofill); "Ethical Implications of Contemporary Trends in Work and Adult Vocational Learning" (Richard G. Bagnall); "Work, Technology and Lifelong Education: Training the Trainers" (Rafael E. Ferreyra); "Technical and Vocational Education, Lifelong Learning and the Future of Work in Zimbabwe" (Charles M. Nherera); "New Competence - A Reform in Norway" (Hilde Borgir); "Traditional Non-formal Vocational Education: The Indian Experience" (C.J. Daswani); "The Potential, Actual and Social Demand for Adult Learning in Argentina: The Situation of Educational Risk and Cumulative Advantage" (Maria Teresa Sirvent); "Social and Cultural Contexts of Vocational Learning in the Informal Sector: Implications for Vocational Education and Training Systems" (Madhu Singh); "Competencies for Innovative Entrepreneurship" (Gunter Faltin); and "UNIFEM [United Nations Development Fund for Women] Programme in Entrepreneurship Development for Women: An Experience from Lebanon" (Randa el Husseini). Concluding the book is the document "Proposals for Discussion on the Future of Work and Adult Learning," which was contributed to the Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education by the 15-member informal working group on the future of work and adult learning.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Adult Learning; Competence; Education Work Relationship; Educational Change; Educational Environment; Educational Needs; Educational Policy; Educational Research; Educational Technology; Educational Trends; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Foreign Countries; Futures of Society; Global Approach; Informal Education; Job Training; Lifelong Learning; Needs Assessment; Nonformal Education; Policy Formation; Population Trends; Strategic Planning; Systems Approach; Teacher Attitudes; Trend Analysis; Unions; Vocational Education; Women's Education; Work Environment.

65. Solomon, N. (2001). Workplace learning as a cultural technology. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 92(Winter), 41-53.

            This article explores some of the challenges and complexities presented by the new discourses on work and workplace learning, particularly those that serve as foreground to questions of culture.

            KEY WORDS: Discourse; Workplace Learning; Work; Culture.

66. Symes, C. E. (2000). Working knowledge: Productive learning at work. Proceedings of the International Conference, Sydney, Australia. December 10-13, 2000.

            These conference proceedings contain 65 presentations and 3 colloquiums from a conference that dealt with knowledge at work and knowledge that works and with how education can be successfully integrated into work and work into education.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Apprenticeships; Certification; Computer Mediated Communication; Cooperative Education; Developing Nations; Education Work Relationship; Educational Development; Educational Research; Employment; Employment Experience; Epistemology; Ethnography; Experiential Learning; Faculty Development; Family Literacy; Foreign Countries; Handicrafts; Higher Education; Industrial Training; Informal Education; Inplant Programs; Job Training; Literacy Education; Postsecondary Education; Secondary Education; Teleconferencing; Vocational Education; Work Environment; Work Ethic; Workplace Literacy.

67. Te Riele, K., & Crump, S. (2003). Ongoing inequality in a 'knowledge economy': Perceptions and actions. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 13(1), 55-75.

            The concept of the “knowledge economy“ is increasingly used to underpin education policy in developed countries. In Australia, it has been applied to post-compulsory education policy, with efforts to increase retention in senior secondary education and reform of vocational education in the senior years. The article draws on two research projects with senior secondary schools. Many students (and their teachers and parents) perceived qualifications not so much as providing the knowledge considered necessary by government policy for the contemporary economy, but rather as a '“screen“ used by employers to sort and select. Knowledge of opportunity structures and access to resources, while not only defined by social class, operated to create differential access to available choices in the educational market place. Despite ongoing inequality, the article argues that the hope many students expressed in relation to education can be fulfilled in practice.

            KEY WORDS: Information Society; Educational Policy; Educational Reform; Secondary Education; Vocational Education; Opportunity Structures; Educational Inequality; Social Reproduction; Student Attitudes; Australia.

68. Thery, M., Roussel, P., & Zygmunt, C. (2002). A European approach to lifelong learning: Goals and realities. Training & Employment, 44(October-December), 1-4.

            Comparison of company practices regarding continuing training of employees shows great diversity among the 15 European Union member states. In 11 countries, over 70 percent of companies are "training involved" (TICs). South European countries have a low percentage of TICs; the proportion of TICs in north European countries is over 80 percent. The proportion of companies offering training sessions is greater than that of those offering less formal training. As to formal training sessions, four groups of countries are distinguished in terms of employees' rates of access, average length of sessions, company size, percentage of companies conducting such sessions, company financial participation, and cost of training per trainee. The percentage of employees participating in a training session varies by proportion of TICs in the country. Comparing training session length with proportion of TICs, in countries with little training, average length of sessions is rather long, which is to the detriment of access; in TICs, rate of access is high but training is of short duration. With regard to other forms of training, three groups of countries emerge. In Denmark and Finland, self-training, lectures, and workshops play an important role. Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands mainly use inservice training. Ireland, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, and Sweden show greater recourse to job rotation. The conclusion is that a European approach to lifelong learning remains to be created.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; Comparative Analysis; Comparative Education; Continuing Education; Corporate Education; Developed Nations; Employees; Employer Employee Relationship; Foreign Countries; Industrial Training; Informal Education; Inplant Programs; Lifelong Learning; Participation; Personnel Management; Personnel Policy; Program Length; Training Methods.

69. Tomusk, V. (2002). The rise of the transnational capitalist class and World Bank 'aid' for higher education. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 12(3), 335-352.

            This article looks at globalization as a process of replacement of the global political order of nation states with the global economic order of transnational corporations. It is argued that this process carries far-reaching consequences, in which a growing number of spheres, including education, are subjected to the interests of the global economic order. Under the disguise of global economic development activities, the new world system strives toward maximizing the short-term profits of the transnational capitalist class. Following Sklair's global systems theory, this article looks at the World Bank as a transnational organization. Based on recent World Bank higher education reform loan projects in Eastern Europe, it is argued that the primary outcome of the World Bank loan projects is the redistribution of the resources of the so-called "recipient countries" to the transnational capitalist class.

            KEY WORDS: Globalization; International Economic Organizations; Higher Education; Educational Reform; Eastern Europe; Foreign Aid; Educational Policy; World System Theory.

70. Toronto Training Board. (2002). Training in Toronto's "new economy". Community Perspectives Series. Toronto: Toronto Training Board.

            This community Perspectives Series originates from the March 2001 forum and contains statements made by four participants about the new economy in Toronto. Defined by the moderator, the new economy was "an economy that emphasizes knowledge and technical processes put to the production of goods and other outputs so that an individual's knowledge is viewed as a factor in determining economic productivity."Access diminished: A report on women's training and employment services in Ontario" (Karen Lior) describes how legislation and funding decreases that have resulted in a fragmentation of services and the business community's lack of commitment to play an active role in training have resulted in decreased opportunities for women and their families. "The Temporary Economy" (Deena Ladd) suggests that the promotion of flexibility as a positive outcome of the economy can in fact result in a lack of stability that means low-paying, temporary jobs for many workers. "Preparing Ourselves for the New Economy" (Karen Lawson) suggests that women must become technologically savvy in order to take advantage of opportunities in the new economy. "The Young and the Enterprising" (Sandra Tam) presents some of the issues facing young workers in the new economy and describes school-to-work transitions that can help youth who are at-risk.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; Adult Education; At Risk Persons; Economically Disadvantaged; Education Work Relationship; Educational Finance; Employed Women; Flexible Working Hours; Foreign Countries; Employed Women; Flexible Working Hours; Job Training; School Business Relationship; Technological Literacy; Temporary Employment; Transitional Programs; Vocational Education; Women Education; Working Poor; Youth Employment.

71. Tuijnman, A. (2003). Measuring lifelong learning for the new economy. Compare, 33(4), 471-482.

            Describes the challenges that research and statistical systems are faced with in the education sector. Argues these consequences are the result of decisions made for economically advanced countries to adopt a lifelong learning framework and strategy in response to the move toward the new global economy.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Capital; Community Resources; Comparative Education; Developed Nations; Global Approach; Human Resources; Information Needs; Input Output Analysis; Labor Market; Lifelong Learning; International Adult Literacy Survey; International Standard; Classification of Education.

72. Unwin, L., & Fuller, A. (2003). Expanding learning in the workplace: Making more of individual and organizational potential. A NIACE Policy discussion paper. Leicester, England: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.

            Expanding workplace learning in the United Kingdom by making better use of individual and organizational potential were examined. Focusing on the following issues: ways of fostering, improving, and increasing learning in the workplace; ways of enhancing access to & participation in workplace learning; ways of making workplace learning opportunities accessible to people who are currently outside paid employment; and ways of helping workplaces play a more central role in the UK's plans for greater learning participation. Workplace learning was made an expansive approach to workplace learning was outlined. The issue of creating the institutional capacity for supporting the approach was discussed. Among the twelve recommendations offered to policymakers are: (1) establish greater coherence between the responsibilities of the organizations currently charged with improving workplace learning; (2) restrict public funding for workplace learning to organizations that are prepared to commit to moving toward becoming expansive learning environments; (3) place equal focus on adults and young people; (4) establish learning champions within & outside the workplace; (5) provide incentives to organizations to increase training for managers to enable then to foster and maintain expansive learning environments; and (6) set the standard by the public sector & reward exemplary private sector organizations.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; Adult Education; Adult Students; Corporate Education; Definitions; Education Work Relationship; Educational Environment; Educational Opportunities; Educational Policy; Employment Practices; Foreign Countries; Labor Force Development; Learning Motivation; Nonschool Educational Programs; Organizational Climate; Policy Formation; Postsecondary Education; School Business Relationship; Student Recruitment; Vocational Education.

73. Venter, K. (2004). One country, two systems, multiple skill demands: The dilemmas facing the education system in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Education and Work, 17(3), 283-300.

            This article argues that China's education system is facing unprecedented pressures to provide appropriately skilled individuals to meet the demands of the rapidly growing economy. In China this is a uniquely complex situation owing to the coexistence of a diminishing command and control economy and a growing market economy. Within this context we find that there are at least three sets of employers placing different demands on the education system. These demands come from three groups of organisations operating under different forms of ownership who prioritise skills differently based on different ideological and historical approaches to organisation, management and learning. Consequently they relate differently to the education system, placing varying demands on the system and using the education and training system to serve rather different functions in their skill supply strategies.

            KEY WORDS: Foreign Countries; Free Enterprise System; Education Work Relationship; Adult Education; Economic Change; Adults; Formal Education; Schooling.

74. Winch, C. (2000). Education, work and social capital: Towards a new conception of vocational education. New York: Routledge.

            This book examines the relationship among education, work, and social capital at the beginning of the 21st century. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 15 chapters: (1) necessity, work, effort, and leisure; (2) the economic and work-related aims of education, including liberal, vocational, and civic education; (3) the conceptualization of economic life and the consumptionist tradition inherited from Adam Smith and also found in the work of Marx; (4) the conceptualization of economic life and the political economy as discussed by List; (5) moral education and work (with special emphasis on paid employment and the continuing of education through the social demands and relationships arising in the workplace); (6) vocational education and vocational training (the misconception of vocational education as training, differences between training and conditioning, the importance of assessment in vocational education); (7) learning in the workplace; (8) two rival conceptions of vocational education; (9) education and labor markets; (10) education, well-being, and economic growth (vocational education as a process of formation); (11) the social value of work; (12) education and the "end-of-work" thesis; (13) education and work in a social capital perspective; and (14) policy issues related to schooling, qualifications, and the transition to work.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Education; Citizenship Education; Continuing Education; Economic Change; Economic Development; Economic Impact; Education Work Relationship; Educational Objectives; Educational Philosophy; Educational Policy; Employment; Employment Qualifications; General Education; Human Capital; Job Training; Labor Force Development; Labor Market; Leisure Time; Lifelong Learning; Moral Values; Political Issues; Popular Education; Productivity; Public Policy; School Business Relationship; Secondary Education; Skilled Occupations; Social Capital; Social Values; Trend Analysis; Values Education; Vocational Education; Well-Being; Work Attitudes; Work Environment; Work Ethic.