The adult basic education field in the United States has experienced an ebb and flow of interest and investment in "worker education" over the past three decades. Although the rhetoric around workplace basic skills tends to focus on such outcomes as productivity and competitiveness, some proponents of worker basic education see it as a…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance understandings of the subjectivities that influence auxiliary-level female employees' work and learning experiences in general legal practice. Moreover, the aim is to maximise the opportunities for these workers. Design/methodology/approach: A broader critical ethnographic study investigated…

Two studies examined the relative importance of good versus bad mentoring experiences in predicting subjective states associated with the mentoring relationship. Study 1 examined the protege perspective and found general support for the proposition that, on average, bad is stronger than good in predicting protege outcomes. Study 2 adopted the…

This article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated aspects of formal, non-formal and informal learning for workers and adult high school learners seeking literacy and essential skills. Three key themes emerged from the qualitative data: motivations for participation in various forms of learning; seeking out informal learning…

This paper reports on the development and implementation in 2012 of McGill University's French at Work program for McGill employees, using a blended learning model. The program is an example of how a reduction in face-to-face teaching presents one solution to employees' scheduling constraints and how this model might offer suggestions for the…

Governments across Europe have been encouraged by the European Union (EU) to take measures to upskill their workforce to ensure growth and social inclusion. Low-skilled workers are particular targets and learning providers and employers are expected to provide learning opportunities for them. However, research shows that those with low skills…

A fundamental aspect of work integrated learning (WIL) is the development of professional competence, the ability of students to perform in the workplace. Alignment theory therefore suggests that the assessment of WIL should include an assessment of students' demonstration of professional competence in the workplace. The assessment of professional…

This paper reports on a study exploring teacher learning of subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in four subject departments of secondary schools in England. The research design employed interview and observation. This paper focuses on characterising the cultures of the subject departments from the participants'…

In the United States, we tend to assume that young people should become educated and then go to work, as though the two were entirely separate stages of life. This dichotomy blinds us to the fact that work itself can be a powerful means of education-giving students opportunities to apply academic subject matter to real-world problems, and pushing…

For young people in the United States, whatever their backgrounds, one of the essential purposes of schooling should be to help them develop the knowledge, skills, and competence needed to search for and obtain work that they find at least reasonably satisfying. Our present educational system does precious little to introduce young people to the…

In the United States, we tend to assume that young people should become educated and then go to work, as though the two were entirely separate stages of life. This dichotomy blinds us to the fact that work itself can be a powerful means of education. Indeed, the workplace is where many young people become most engaged in learning high-level skills…

Multiple contexts shape team activities and how they learn, and group learning is a dynamic construct that reflects a repertoire of potential behaviour. The purpose of this developmental paper is to examine how better learning behaviours in semi-autonomous teams improves the level of team adaptability and performance. The discussion suggests that…

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss and present research findings from a proof of concept pilot, set up to test whether a teaching intervention which incorporated a dual reporting and learning approach from adverse incidents, could contribute towards individual and organisational approaches to patient safety. Design/methodology/approach: The study…

In 2010, district leaders of Douglas County Public Schools, Douglasville, Georgia, launched an ambitious initiative to ensure that teachers set goals that focus on increasing their effectiveness and show student growth. To achieve this goal, the district leadership team focused on common district assessments to establish common learning…

Purpose: A central issue in the field of workplace learning is how work-related learning can be stimulated so that a powerful learning work environment is created. This paper seeks to further enlarge understanding on this issue. Based on the demand-control-support the aim is to investigate the influence of job-characteristics on the work-related…