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This book explores teacher workplace learning from four different perspectives: social policy, international comparators, multi-professional stances/perspectives, and socio-cultural theory. First, it considers the policy and practice context of professional learning in teacher education England, and the rest of the UK, with particular reference to professional Masters level provision. Secondly, it considers models of teacher workplace learning to be found in international research and practice to explore what perspective they can bring to understanding policy and practice relating to workplace learning in the UK. Third, the book draws on cross-professional analysis to understand workplace learning by examining how insights from across the professions can provide useful perspectives on policy and practice. It draws in particular on insights from medicine and educational psychology. Finally, it draws insights from educational research perspectives such as socio-cultural and activity theory, and situated learning/cognition to determine their contribution to the analysis of the theoretical and pedagogical underpinnings of teacher workplace learning.

Edited excerpts from publication.

The chapters are as follows: Framing workplace learning / Olwen McNamara, Marion Jones and Jean Murray (pages 1-27); Developing a multi-layered system of distributed expertise: what does cultural historical theory bring to understandings of workplace learning in school-university partnerships? / Anne Childs, Anne Edwards and Jane McNicholl (pages 29-45); Developing knowledge for qualified professionals / Michael Eraut (pages 47-72); Work-based, accredited professional education: insights from medicine / Tim Dornan and Anne-Mette Morcke (pages 73-86); ‘In this together’: developing university-workplace partnerships in initial professional training for practitioner educational psychologists / Kevin Woods (pages 87-101); Disentangling what it means to be a teacher in the twenty-first century: policy and practice in teachers’ continuing professional learning / Bob Burstow and Meg Maguire (pages 103-119); Pulling learning through: building the profession’s skills in making use of workplace coaching opportunities / Philippa Cordingley and Natalia Buckler (pages 121-135); Empowering teachers as learners: continuing professional learning programmes as sites for critical development in pedagogical practice / Yvonne Barnes and Yvette Solomon (pages 137-150); Lessons study in a performative culture / Julian Williams, Julie Ryan and Sian Morgan (pages 151-167).

The policy context of teachers’ workplace learning: the case for research-based professionalism in teacher education in England / Anne Campbell (pages 169-182); Workplace learning in pre-service teacher education: an English case study / Olwen McNamara, Jean Murray and Marion Jones (pages 183-205); Work-based learning in teacher education: a Scottish perspective / James Conroy, Graham Donaldson and Ian Menter (pages 207-219); ‘Learningplace’ practices and pre-service teacher education in Ireland: knowledge generation, partnerships and pedagogy / Paul F. Conway, Rosaleen Murphy and Vanessa Rutherford (pages 221-241); Teacher learning in the workplace in pre-service teacher education in Portugal: potential and limits from a pre-service teacher perspective / Maria Assuncao Flores (pages 243-260); Learning to teach in Norway: a shared responsibility / Kari Smith and Marit Ulvik (pages 261-277); Teaching as a Master's level profession in Finland: theoretical reflections and practical solutions / Pertti Kansanen (pages 279-292); Improving workplace learning in teacher education / Jean Murray, Olwen McNamara and Marion Jones (pages 293-315). Show less

For training in a corporate setting transfer of training is essential. Yet time and again research shows transfer is a problem. Reflection on theory and years of practice as a trainer is the basis for this article. It aims to contribute to analysis and if possible to the solution of the persistent problem of transfer. First the concept of 'frame' is illustrated; then the transfer problem is described in the form of challenges for trainer, trainee and organisation. The transfer frame is introduced, presenting transfer as a two-way process. How can this view contribute to benefit transfer? Transfer may improve by closely connect the two contexts in which the trainee/employee functions. In the context of training there should be performance and the in context of work there should be learning. Training techniques creating 'as if' situations are applicable in both contexts. An instruction like 'evoke' may help the trainee/employee to operate successfully in the role of manager of his/her own transfer process. Further research is required to establish empirical evidence for or against the transfer effects of evocation strategies and 'as if' techniques.

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This study examined physicians' motivation to engage in work-related learning and its contribution to expertise development beyond work experience. Based on deliberate practice theory, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 residents and 28 experienced physicians in internal medicine, focusing on the activities they engaged in during work that might contribute to professional development and the goals underlying this behavior. Learning motivation was also measured using a goal orientation questionnaire. Expertise was measured by a case test derived from the Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP). The interviews showed that participants' learning was largely embedded in everyday work; most of their learning activities were inherent to the job rather than motivated by competence improvement goals. The problems encountered in patient care played a key role in prompting learning. Role, work experience and work situation affected the type of activities engaged in, as well as the intensity of practice. Deliberate engagement in work-related learning activities was related neither to goal orientations nor to case test performance, except activities by the experienced physicians to keep up-to-date. Work experience, in contrast, showed a clear positive relationship with the performance of residents. Two main conclusions can be drawn from this study: (1) patient care induced relevant learning activities aimed at performance improvement for the patient's sake; (2) deliberate investments in learning can be enhanced to promote expertise development. Self-regulated learning by physicians needs to be strengthened and the organization for which they work should facilitate and encourage learning in daily practice.

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Recent attention has focused on the pervasiveness of informal learning in the workplace and the important role played by workers in fostering the learning of their work colleagues (Harris and Simons 1999). This has raised some significant questions with regard to the role of the workplace trainer and how that role might be conceptualised. In the light of the presenters' findings from a National Research and Evaluation Committee (NREC) funded research study on workplace trainers, this paper offers a critique of the current conception of the role of workplace trainer as represented in the Training Package for Assessment and Workplace Training. Then, drawing on network learning theory, distinctions are drawn between different types of workplace trainers. In particular, the paper focuses on the roles of trainers primarily located in the workplace and the roles of trainers primarily located in training providers, but who also enter organisations to train workers. A model, highlighting how workplace trainers act on and within the learning and work networks in their enterprises to facilitate learning, is presented and discussed.

Volumes of collected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 64.481 to TD/TNC 64.483. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 62.625 to TD/TNC 62.632 and from TD/TNC 64.484 to TD/TNC 64.541. Show less

New information and communication technologies (ICT), new work and organisational concepts and the shift from an industrial to an information society have all attributed to a revival of learning in the workplace. This chapter looks at this revival of work-related learning in Germany. It begins by providing an overview of the revival of learning in the work context, then looks at the growing significance of informal learning, before discussing learning bays (learning venues within the workplace) as an example of integrating informal and intentional learning. Next, it points to the development of a new learning culture as a result of new learning approaches and forms, and finally outlines the following four research proposals and development tasks which have been formulated from issues and problems raised by linking work-related learning back to authentic work contexts: (1) analysis of the connection between intentional learning and learning by doing in decentralised learning forms; (2) constitution, recording, recognition and certification of informal learning; (3) cross-over of work-related organisational development and vocational training; and (4) concepts and instruments for analysing modern on-the-job learning processes.

The monograph from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 71.362; selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 71.363 to TD/TNC 71.376. Show less

Action learning has been promoted as a work-based learning strategy for professional development in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector throughout the 1990s. In her paper, the author examines how action learning is used by educators in the VET sector. Based on participation in several action learning projects, the author argues that action learning is used in a number of ways, three of which are: (1) for professional implementation; (2) for professional assimilation; and (3) for professional praxis. Each offers a different potential for professional development and each is associated with different problems. The author describes and discusses these three uses and how they may influence quality improvement in the VET sector.

The volumes of collected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 69.351 to TD/TNC 69.353. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 69.354 to TD/TNC 69.445. Show less

This thesis investigates the efficacy of capstone cooperative education projects within an [information technology] IT program at a New Zealand polytechnic. It is based on an investigation of students' abilities to use and develop their technical and non-technical skills during their capstone projects conducted in IT workplaces. Although there is anecdotal evidence and some research on the success of cooperative education in academic programs, this thesis focuses on how students demonstrate such learning. It also considers whether or not project-based learning approaches have value, either to students or the IT sector, in terms of the development of skills required to be a future IT professional.

[The] thesis researches a specific group of students undertaking their capstone projects in a given year at a mid-sized New Zealand polytechnic. Their capstone projects formed the final course of their undergraduate IT degree. These projects are implemented cooperatively with IT industry clients, for whom a student, as part of a team, must design, develop and implement a solution or artefact comprising of hardware and software elements. The research methodology used in the research for this thesis was qualitative. The thesis draws on a constructivist approach to identify and analyse demonstrations of students' skills. This is achieved through content analysis of students' journals kept during a project cycle, and through interviews with students, IT stakeholders, previous IT graduates, academic staff and the IT clients. Jarvis's 1987 model of learning is used to explain and analyse the students' learning processes.

The thesis shows that students demonstrated differing degrees of learning dependent on their level of clients' technical knowledge and their projects' work environment. Differences were found between a 'half-way house' workplace education environment managed by the polytechnic, and actual places of employment. The importance of non-technical skills, such as, communication and project management skills, to the success of a project was evident. The thesis reveals that there was disconnection between the academic intentions of capstone projects and the expectations of the IT sector employers and other stakeholders. It was found that although students gained skills required for entry to a career in IT, there was no direct involvement by the IT sector to link these skills to professional practice. More broadly, it was established that there was limited IT sector involvement in shaping or informing polytechnic IT curricula. This thesis suggests a holistic model for sector engagement, from secondary education through tertiary to graduate placement and employment.

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This paper is one of a series of studies that were commissioned for the National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE). The volume of papers is indexed at TD/IRD 88.197. This paper discusses the concept of contextual learning as a movement for the integration of skills. It calls into question the ideas of a skill hierarchy and the generalisation of basic skills. In particular, questions are raised about the ability of individuals to learn abstract skills divorced from the contexts in which the skills are to be used. What is needed is attention to the context, to the situation and to the real-life applications. The theoretical basis for contextual learning is set out and the literature relating to it is examined. Show less

Drawing on a presumption that a community of practice (CoP) can add significant value to the situated learning development of adults in any context, this paper exposes and analyses the challenges faced in facilitating the development of a CoP involving part-time work-based researchers. Using an empirical case example involving a collaborative research network of five industry organisations and a university, the specific purpose (and outcomes) of this paper are to: (a) conceptualise a researcher CoP involving part-time work-based [Doctorate of Philosophy] PhD and Masters of Philosophy candidates; (b) examine the pragmatic dilemmas these part-time researchers face in seeking to develop such a supportive social learning construct in respect to their research activities; (c) tentatively indicate some challenges that higher education institutions and industry organisations confront in facilitating and nurturing such learning structures which span industry and academia contexts. Through its analysis, this paper draws attention towards the complex issues involved in developing a functioning rather than the often idealised CoP in the part-time work-based researcher space.

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Learning is now at the forefront of the educational agenda for teaching professionals, policy makers and organisations. This book provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the key features of learning in contemporary society and uncovers all of the key terms in the modern educator's lexicon, including lifelong learning, learning organisations and the learning society. The chapters are: The emerging idea / Linda Merricks; Social, economic and political contexts / Stephen McNair; The changing educational scene / Peter Jarvis; From education policy to lifelong learning strategies / Colin Griffin; The learning society / Colin Griffin and Bob Brownhill; Lifelong learning / Bob Brownhill; Paying for the age of learning / Stephen McNair; Work-related learning / Paul Tosey and Stephen McNair; Facilitating access to learning: educational and vocational guidance / Julia Preece; Implications of the learning society for education beyond school / Linda Merricks; The school in the age of learning / John Holford and Gill Nicholls; Corporations and professions / Peter Jarvis and Paul Tosey; Implications for the delivery of learning materials / John Holford and Tom Black; Implications for including the socially excluded in the learning age / Julia Preece; The public recognition of learning / Peter Jarvis; Questioning the learning society / Peter Jarvis; Civil society and citizenship in a learning age / John Holford; Future directions for the learning society / Peter Jarvis and Julia Preece. Show less