The aim of this qualitative study is to explore adults' motivation to learn mathematics in the workplace and the role that the trade union education approach promoted in the United Kingdom plays in that motivation. The findings draw on data from 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with adults learning mathematics, organised through their trade…

For almost two decades, the Prairie School for Union Women (PSUW) has operated in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its use of feminist popular education, adult learning principles in facilitation, and mentoring and support for activist practices make it unique from other labour schools in many respects. This paper focuses on a community-based participatory…

Purpose: Work-place learning takes place in many settings and in different ways, resulting in knowledge and skills of different kinds. The recognition process in the work place is however often implicit and seldom discussed in terms of recognition of prior learning (RPL). The aim of this paper is to give examples of how the knowledge/skills of…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on the author's recent research examining the meaning and practices of educating for solidarity, specifically from anti-racism and decolonizing perspective. The research is part of the critical exploration on new educational approaches on solidarity building among workers and trade union members in the broader…

Australian trade unions are at a pivotal moment. In 2007-2008, a review of the training and education programs of the Education and Campaign Centre (ECC), the education arm of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), was conducted through a series of interviews with leaders of twenty-five unions. The review found that Australian unions do…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze learning in a Swedish trade union board in a workplace, according to contemporary challenges in working life and conditions, of decentralization and local independency of trade union work and learning. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on ethnographic studies of two Swedish local trade…

The last quarter century saw a restructuring of employment, production and trade and a dramatic decline in union membership and density levels. There are many explanations for this, including the hostile industrial relations framework imposed by many governments, but there have been other factors such as the growth of new non-unionized industries…

The head gangman in the Swedish building trade is a worker elected organiser in a gang comprising between about 4 and 16 workers and an "on-site" and trained representative of the trades union. In 2002 the employer association for the building industry in Sweden (BI) and the Swedish Building and Allied Trades Union (SBATU) signed a joint…

This article suggests that the union learning representative (ULR) is increasingly situated at the heart of trade union activity. The paper draws upon recent research based on interviews with national trade union officers and case studies of union learning activity to explore the competing demands being made upon ULRs and the implications for…

When floodwater swept through the McVities biscuit factory in Carlisle in January 2005 few were confident that it would reopen. The factory, in the Caldewgate area of the city, was one of the first casualties of the flood, as water, nine feet deep in places, coursed trough the food preparation areas, destroying equipment and covering everything in…

This article aims to provide a broad understanding of the role of union learning representatives (ULRs) and the contribution of union education and learning initiatives. It examines the scope for union learning to be distinctive and sustainable, and it does this by summarising and building upon a holistic review of research of ULR activity across…

As the most unionized segment of the public sector workforce in the USA, teachers and their bargaining representatives wield significant power in the world of educational labour relations and beyond. Yet, just as the First Amendment's freedom of association clause affords unions the right to exist, its concomitant recognition that employees are…

Against a background of declining union significance and falling membership, this article reviews the recent development of trade union workplace learning in Britain. It is argued that the dominant framework within which this learning is currently undertaken is one of "employability". Instead of an employability framework, it is…

In recent years, educators have begun to use learning portfolios as a means of evaluating student learning in higher education. Research indicates that learning portfolios can help students understand better the learning process as well as enhancing learning outcomes. They promote reflection on the learning experience and encourage students to…