Learning processes have an impact on both specific problems and provide wider knowledge of different work processes. For this, managerial work has been identified as crucial. Managerial work is ad hoc and full of daily disturbances, and as learning in organisations often occurs unplanned, it is of interest to study learning processes during…

This paper analyses the move by an Australian university faculty to a new building featuring open plan and alternative workspaces. Through the lens of the theory of practice architectures, the paper examines how the new built spaces both enabled and constrained the professional learning practices of academics. Drawing on a case study of the…

Soft skills have been increasingly recognised as important in the workplace. They have been incorporated, moreover, in education and training curricula internationally. However, their conceptualisation lacks in theoretical grounding. This study fills this gap by taking a skills-utilisation approach (rather than a skills-requirements approach) and…

Understanding what constitutes learning across working life and how negotiating worklife transitions can be best supported has never been more important for working age adults, their workplaces and communities. The kinds and frequencies of changes in occupational and workplace requirements have consequences for personal goals, workplace viability…

Informal workplace learning is an essential part of lifelong learning. In recent years, digital technology has come to play an increasingly important role in enabling informal learning at work through various tools and resources. However, as little empirical research exists on informal learning in this context, more knowledge of digital work…

Digitalisation does not only transform material constructions of workplaces and work but also social constructions for employees' interaction and learning at work. In this paper, we explore emerging challenges related to the digitalisation of workplaces aiming for an understanding of the changing prerequisites for working and competence. Our…

This article focuses on practice architectures of international schools that create affective atmosphere for the professional learning and becoming of international-hire and local-hire teachers. We use the concept of precarious labour to explore relational tensions and their effects on the professional learning of teachers and school leaders.…

This paper explores the learning and labour of academics during the beginnings of the novel coronavirus outbreak in 2020. Our photo-based research project surveyed academics about their experiences, and makes visible the impact, of the changing built and virtual environments, on academics' practices, relationships and identities. We theorise these…

The education-based NGO sector in India is a large sector and it depends on activities of learning, training and motivation to sustain its underpaid and overworked workers. I articulate a theoretical perspective on the 'learning activity' in these workplaces using ideas of Engeström and Freire, I focus and problematise the discourse of empowerment…

The importance of "self-directed learning" (SDL) in a business environment has been highlighted as a way to increase an organisation's competitiveness and innovativeness. While organisations increasingly require SDL from employees, less attention is paid to the situations and frames enabling it. This study examines "self-directed…

Many organisations declare that the ability for employees to speak out about organisational matters is important for organisational development. However, recent literature reports a widespread fear of retaliation among employees if they express themselves -- especially within the police. The point of departure of the present article is the tension…

A policy consensus has emerged in Australia that there is a workforce literacy and numeracy crisis, similar to many other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. The study informing this paper examined this framing of crisis by interviewing and observing production workers in three manufacturing companies. Each company was…

This article contests a racialised skills regime in Canada. Canadian studies of the labour market transitions of skilled immigrants are analysed through the lens of critical race theory. The analysis shows that knowledge and skills of recent immigrants in Canada are racialised and materialised on the basis of ethnic and national origins. Skin…

This article investigates the innovation concept in two key welfare areas where the demands for innovation are substantial, namely vocational education and elder care. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews on the collaboration between an educational institution and elder care services, the article develops a tripartite empirical…

This article presents one approach to assessing the impact of an online professional practice doctorate in education on participants' work environments. It is unique in that it explored impact during the doctoral program, before participants began their dissertation research, and it focused on how participants apply learning from the program…