The purpose of this article is to explore the complex interrelations between educators' work environments and their experiences as an entryway for thinking differently about workforce stability and sustainability. Concepts of macro- and micropolitics (drawn from the work of Deleuze and Guattari) are used to explore one educator's experiences in…

This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds…

Adult education and employee development are framed by globalization, insecurity, and uncertainty. Learning is a cultural change mechanism, and a learning culture is a key to organizational and individual survival. (SK)

In reference to Peter Kuchinke's manuscript, the author points out that current MBA programs suffer from a myriad of ills that are somehow detrimental to organizations and that there is a similar problem with human resource development (HRD) programs (hence the reference in the title to "birds of a feather"). In this article, he shares his…

Peter Kuchinke has written a powerful and relevant article that should generate much discussion in the human resource development (HRD) community. The focus of Kuchinke's paper is the question of whether HRD academic programs should emulate the value preference of business schools or march to a different drum. In this response, the author argues…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on motivation to learn and perform in the workplace. "Getting It Together: Motivations and Success Characteristics for Interorganizational Collaborations" (Mary Wilson Callahan) presents results of a literature review, a hierarchical framework of motivations for interorganizational collaboration,…

This comprehensive report on education and industrial technology in Japan begins with general descriptions of the size of the country, its economy, and the Japanese people and their cultural values. Comparative data are then presented to demonstrate differences between Japanese and American workers. Japan's intense education orientation, both…

This guide, which is intended for human resources personnel, industry trainers, educators working in industry, and others interested in learning in the workplace, presents practical guidelines for maximizing the benefits of learning on the job by creating an effective learning environment in the workplace. Discussed in the introduction are key…

Results from a study examining the predictors of skill transfer from an instructional to a work environment are presented. Prior research indicates that skill transfer is a function of both individual and contextual factors. A total of 186 employees from a work organization were surveyed on individual dimensions (goal orientation, training…

John Dewey's reflections regarding education, experience, and communication remain relevant to all educators, especially educators and trainers in the field of human resource development (HRD). Dewey viewed education as a process of growing in meaning. He stated, "all genuine education comes about through experience." Another essential…

This publication is part of the study materials for the distance education course, The Changing Workplace: Part B, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University. The first part of the document constructs a framework for exploring the concept of the workplace as a learning environment that is in fact the primary school for adult learning and…

The informal learning practices of bank branch workers were examined in a study of a major Canadian bank. The study included ethnographic fieldwork and secondary analysis of a national survey of branch workers' learning practices during the introduction of a new financial services software system. Activity theory was used to examine workers'…

Purpose: Since the end of the previous century social partners in different branches of industry have laid down measures to stimulate individual learning and competence development of workers in collective labour agreements. Special attention is given to stimulating learning demand among traditional non-participants to lifelong learning, such as…

This book presents the main principles of strategic training, which is an approach to employee training and development that supports the employing organization's business goals and strategy. The book is intended for use in undergraduate and master's-level training courses in a variety of disciplines. The following are among the topics covered:…

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…