from
Karen Evans, Institute of Education, University of London, UK,
Phil Hodkinson, University of Leeds, UK,
Helen Rainbird, Birmingham Business School, UK and
Lorna Unwin, University of Leicester, UK

With Alison Fuller, Heather Hodkinson, Natasha Kersh, Anne Munro and Peter Senker

July 2006 -  192pp
Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group
http://www.routledge.com/

Hb: 0-415-37119-8: £75.00
Pb: 0-415-37120-1: £21.99

Across the western world, there is a growing awareness of the importance of workplace learning, seen at the level of national and international policy, as well as in the developing practices of employers, training providers and Trades Unions. This key text is the first on workplace learning in a new series published in partnership with the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). Authoritative and appealing, it presents key findings on work-based learning, bringing together conclusions from five different projects, and investigating a variety of workplace contexts. An extensive practical treatment, the included research has a unique combination of breadth of coverage and depth of understanding which significantly advances the understanding of workplace learning.

This exceptional volume challenges conventional thinking by showing how workplace learning can be improved if close attention is paid to the relationship between organizational context, individual worker biographies, and regulatory frameworks. Multi-authored, but with a centrally organized and clear argument, it takes a broad perspective on workplace learning as in, for, and through the workplace.

A unique analysis, Evans, Hodkinson, Rainbird and Unwin bring together social and individual perspectives and explain the uneven impact of workplace learning policies. In doing so, this book gives a wide audience of students, practitioners, policy-makers and researchers access to information and linked guidelines for the further improvement of such learning.

Contents

Part 1
1. Workplace Learning: Perspectives and Challenges
Part 2
2. Expansive and Restrictive Learning Environments
3. Applying the Expansive Restrictive Framework
4. Learner Biographies, Workplace Practices and Learning
5. How Individuals Influence Workplace Practices, and Work can Change Worker Dispositions and Identities
6. Workplace Learning: The Direct and Indirect Impact of Policy Interventions
7. The Direct and Indirect Impact of Policy Interventions - Case Studies from the Research
Part 3
8. Improving Workplace Learning: An Integrated Approach
Appendix

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