Trends in workplace learning research

Citation

Fenwick T (2010) Trends in workplace learning research. In: Peterson P, Baker E & McGaw B (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Education. 3rd ed. Elsevier, pp. 83-88. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080448947000129

Abstract
Research in workplace learning - by now a contested and problematic term - has proliferated along highly diverse ideological, theoretical, and contextual lines. This article offers a selective glimpse of these lines as well as their distinctive contributions to theory and practice. Perspectives range from more individualist (human development, reflection, and skill acquisition) to more collective and even sociomaterial (complexity and activity theory) views. Foci range from the functional (processes of learning and how to enhance them) to the political (identities, literacies, and different views of power and politics in learning). The emphasis of the article is upon fostering productive dialog among these views, and pointing to those which appear to be attracting greatest attention.

Keywords
Communities of practice; Co-participation; Cultural–historical activity theory; Identity; Learning; Literacy; Politics; Reflection; Skill; Work; Workplace

People

Professor Tara Fenwick

Emeritus Professor, Education