The significance of workplace learning for a 'learning society'

Connections are made between learning programs incorporating work-based learning and the non-formal aspects of learning occurring through workplace practices and between the workplace and wider life/work relationships.

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors emphasise the significance of workplace learning for a learning society. However, workplace learning is poorly understood and under-researched despite its prominent position in discourses about the 'knowledge-based' economy and policies derived from this concept. Two sets of issues are examined: (1) the need to reconsider what is meant by learning and knowledge in relation to the workplace as a site of learning; and (2) the balance of responsibilities and rights in the employment relationship and in wider society. Connections are made between learning programs incorporating work-based learning and the non-formal aspects of learning occurring through workplace practices and between the workplace and wider life/work relationships. Frameworks providing insight into the social nature of workplace learning are linked to economic and political frameworks that influence policy formation.