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…

Learning in workplaces is always mediated through talk. It is tempting for management to seek to utilise everyday talk as part of learning and therefore enhance productivity. This paper examines the responses of workers to interventions that aim to formalise informal conversations at work as part of an explicit workplace learning strategy. It…

Work-based learning as expressed in national qualifications frameworks is discussed within the theoretical context of Foucault's notion of discipline. Argues that the management of worker subjectivity is an essential element of the governmentality of organizations. (SK)

In postindustrial workplaces, training enables new forms of control and surveillance of workers. Corporate culture persuades workers to comply through the rhetoric of empowerment, the promise of belonging and reward, and the rhetoric of valuing differences. (SK)