Understanding Learning at Work

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

Chapter 1 Understandings of Workplace Learning, David Boud, John Garrick; Part 1 Context; Chapter 2 The Changing Contexts of Work, Catherine Casey; Chapter 3 Learning to Work and Working to Learn, Ronald Barnett; Part 2 Perspectives; Chapter 4 New Dimensions in the Dynamics of Learning and Knowledge, Judith H. Matthews, Philip C. Candy; Chapter 5 Finding a Good Theory of Workplace Learning, Paul Hager; Chapter 6 Past the Guru and up the Garden Path, David Beckett; Chapter 7 Gendered Workers and Gendered Work, Belinda Probert; Part 3 Issues in practice; Chapter 8 Culture and Difference in Workplace Learning, Nicky Solomon; Chapter 9 Technologising Equity, Elaine Butler; Chapter 10 Guided Learning at Work, Stephen Billett; Chapter 11 Is Learning Transferable?, Mark Tennant; Chapter 12 Competency-Based Learning, Andrew Gonczi; Part 4 Futures; Chapter 13 Envisioning New Organisations for Learning, Victoria J. Marsick, Karen E. Watkins; Chapter 14 The Dominant Discourses of Learning at Work, John Garrick;

David Boud is Professor of Adult Education at the University of Technology, Sydney. His most recent publications include Working With Experience: Animating Learning (Routledge; 1996), Learning Contracts: A Practical Guide (Kogan Page; 1996) and Using Experience for Learning (Open University Press; 1995).John Garrick is a Senior Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training, University of Technology, Sydney. He is author of Informal Learning in the Workplace (also by Routledge), and has been widely published on the topics of workplace reform and industry training, informal learning, the politics of learning at work and HRD.