The concept of employability extends beyond initial occupational preparation into the ability to remain employable as, inevitably, occupational capacities and workplace requirements change frequently across working lives. Hence, the need to continually learn to remain occupationally current and respond to changing workplace requirements becomes…

This paper elaborates the role and development of personal epistemologies when learning through and for work. It does this by drawing on explanatory propositions from psychology, sociology and philosophical accounts. The aim here is to go beyond conceptions of epistemological beliefs and to position personal epistemologies as being active,…

This paper evaluates the need and prospects for older workers to develop and deploy effective and critical personal epistemologies in order to maintain workplace competence, successfully negotiate work transitions and secure ontological security in their working life. Furthermore, it addresses different ways of reflecting by workers, which types…

This paper examines how identity and learning are constituted and transformed at work. Its central concern is how individuals engage agentically in and learn through workplace practices, and in ways that transform work. Drawing upon recent research into work and participation in workplaces, the negotiated and contested relationship between…

Data from eight mentors who provided guided learning in a workplace illuminated the demands upon and benefits for workplace mentors. All mentors noted the efficacy of guiding workplace learning. However, finding time for mentoring and the low level of management support made the mentors' work intense. For some, the demands were not adequately…

Guided learning (questioning, diagrams/analogies, modeling, coaching) was studied through critical incident interviews in five workplaces. Participation in everyday work activities was the most effective contributor to workplace learning. Organizational readiness and the efficacy of guided learning in resolving novel tasks were also important. (SK)

A greater acknowledgment of relational interdependence between individual and social agencies is warranted within conceptions of learning throughout working life. Currently, some accounts of learning tend to overly privilege social agency in the form of situational contributions. This de-emphasises the contributions of the more widely socially…

Although workplace learning is frequently characterized as informal, it usually involves structured, goal-directed, intentional activities. Instead, learning should be seen as interdependent between the individual and the social practice. Tensions arise between the need for continuity and work practices and individual needs to realize goals.…

Proposes that situational factors in communities of practice should be considered when examining the social origins of knowledge and individual construction of it. Suggests that, because existing knowledge interacts with that from history, culture, and community, the roles of particular social circumstances in the construction of individuals'…

Discusses findings of an investigation of a model of guided workplace learning in a large processing plant. The model is composed of three interdependent planes: (1) everyday participation at work; (2) guided learning for work; and (3) guided learning for transfer. (Contains 18 references.) (JOW)

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)

Learning throughout working life results from everyday thinking and acting, shaped by work practices. The quality of learning depends on the kinds of activities and interdependencies available. Individuals' ability to maintain vocational practice is shaped by their opportunities for engagement and interaction. (Contains 64 references.) (SK)

The goal of workplace learning should be development of robust vocational knowledge. A model to achieve this includes guided learning strategies such as modeling, coaching, and questioning used by expert co-workers and opportunities for participation in workplace activities that provide learning experiences. (SK)

Three strategies for developing conceptual knowledge in the workplace were tested in hospitality businesses: questioning, analogies, and diagrams. Proximal guidance of experts was most helpful in the construction of conceptual knowledge. Diagrams appeared least useful in this occupational context. (SK)

This paper focuses on dualities in both the process and outcomes of participation in work. First, the process of participation in work activities and interactions draws on contributions of both individuals and the social world in ways that are variably interdependent, that is, relational. The affordances of workplaces shape the array of…