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The purpose of this document is to describe, interpret, synthesise and critique current thinking about the collective learning of social units. It investigates how social units collectively learn and how adult educators can work with these social units to enhance their learning. Learning is explored in three domains: work, the community, and politics. Four key elements of the learning process are examined: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity. The first section explores the concept of the learning organisation and its organisational learning processes, and identifies strategies for facilitating learning for the organisation as a system and the individuals within the system. The following section focuses on the wider learning community and uses theories and models including social learning, situated cognition and communities of practice to depict strategies to develop group learning and communication skills. The changes in the domain of politics and the learning of political systems are then described along with the role of adult educators in assisting individuals in learning how to take effective political action. The final section presents conclusions about the nature of collective learning and raises issues for future research and practice.