Transitioning to a new role can be challenging whether at one's current institution or at a new one. Often, the resources that are meant to help with the transition are written by those who have been in the field for many years and who are far removed from the excitement, trepidation, and, at times, uncertainty that may attend a new role. As a…

Much has been written about how space and time are integral to understanding social relations, in particular about associations between space and understanding learning in workplaces. Drawing from a research study exploring everyday learning at work, this paper looks beyond what is generally understood as work situations by turning to those spaces…

Accessibility and accuracy are important attributes for either manual or electronic support tools. Training with performance support tools will fail if it uses the same approach, only electronic; has no mechanism for keeping content up to date; and is not integrated with the job. (SK)

Workplace learning is goal-directed activity shaped by the context and needs of a particular community of practice. Learning in the workplace includes close guidance by experts and distant guidance from other workers and the physical environment. The activities and the guidance are key components of the workplace learning curriculum. (SK)

Reflective practice through continuous learning in the workplace involves viewing experiences as potential learning and reexamining assumptions, values, methods, policies, and practices. Steps in continuous work/learning are as follows: clarify thinking, be open to questions, notice context, test hunches, investigate, name and rename the problem,…

Correctly used communication tools such as focus groups and organizational surveys actually inhibit the learning and communication that corporations now demand of managers and employees. They do not encourage individual accountability or allow the revelation of threatening or embarrassing information. (JOW)

Distinguishes between adaptive learning (reproducing routine actions) and developmental learning (using creativity or problem solving). States that the learning potential of a task is function of the following: (1) task complexity, variety, and control; (2) feedback, evaluation, and reflection; (3) type and degree of formalization; (4) employee…

Australian vocational education policy emphasizes training over learning. Eight case studies of small businesses reveal that they make limited use of structured training; learning varied by educational level of staff and characteristics of the business. A more holistic view of how knowledge is acquired in business is called for. (SK)

The "portable skills" developed through the process of learning in the humanities enhance the individual in all life roles and have particular applicability in the workplace. (JOW)

New understandings about learning and a vision of vocational education as lifelong planning and learning to work with others and be productive converge to suggest that vocational education will be a central force in this century. Vocational programs will continue to stress personal and cognitive development, connections between practical and…

The question of what the future of work in the United States will be is examined in this publication using current information on trends and issues related to work, the economy, and the labor force. The compilation intended to give an overview of selected aspects of the topic and provide information about other resources. In the first section,…

The possibility of using a Gestalt-informed peer learning community to facilitate reflective learning and organizational change was explored. A peer learning community model exists that is based on two approaches to working with mental illness--therapeutic community practice (which is based on treating the community group rather than individuals…

Our understanding of workplace learning is shaped by four dominant discourses that may be labeled the discourses of design, demand, development and desire. Within these different discourses, understanding of workplace learning is shaped and bounded by particular assumptions about the "self in context," which includes the organizational…

This document argues that the new reality of work, which reintegrates learning and learning potential in a qualitative change of the work process itself, has made it necessary to theorize the subjective side of work and study and understand learning within a comprehensive context of the subjective experience. The following are among the specific…

This book examines the rhetoric surrounding the notion of informal learning in order to expand debate about the uses of informal learning in workplaces and about attempts to "recognize" it through competency-based standards. The following topics are among those discussed in the book's eight chapters: (1) the nature of informal learning…