End of Award Report - Improving incentives to

End of Award Report - Improving incentives to learning in the workplace
Network Overview
Background
The idea for this Network emerged the ‘Working to Learn’ group of researchers
(Evans, P. Hodkinson, Keep, Maguire, Raffe, Rainbird, Senker and Unwin) who
came together to produce an influential policy document published by the Institute of
Personnel and Development (Evans et al, 1997). Building on this, Evans organised
an ESRC seminar series between 1999 and 2001 to develop an evidence-based and
theoretically informed understanding of transformations in the nature of work which
affect learning and skills. This resulted in a collection of papers (Evans et al. 2002).
The Network proposal built on and contributed to the conceptual debates in that
seminar series, involving policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. The Network
researchers therefore had considerable experience of working together, engaging
with practitioners and locating their research in the wider debates in this field and it
was this background which underpinned the proposal. The proposal aimed to push
the boundaries of dominant theories of workplace learning, in particular, situated
learning, by bringing together multi-disciplinary perspectives on a range of
problematic sites of learning.
Network Objectives
The overall aims and objectives of the Research Network have remained the same:
1. To develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the context of work-based
learning, which is characterised by the conflict embodied in the wage relationship
and wider systems for the management and regulation of employment.
The Network has contributed to theoretical debate through iterative processes and
synergies developed between projects. This has resulted in the identification of three
major project themes: the expansive-restrictive continuum; the relationship between
learning, regulatory structures and policy interventions; and the place of individual
biography and tacit skills in workplace learning. It has also done this through
engagement with the wider academic community (the joint workshops with SKOPE in
2001 and 2003; the international workshop organised in Northampton in November
2001; participation in TLRP events; participation in national and international
conferences).
2. To explore and develop learning theory in relation to the pedagogy of the
workplace.
The Network has expanded situated learning theory to incorporate more centrally the
dispositions and biographies of individual workers and wider regulatory frameworks.
This theoretical work led directly to a new approach to understanding how learning
can be improved in the workplace, through the construction of more expansive
learning environments, including a better understanding of how tacit skills can be
mobilised.
3. To test and refine contemporary theories of ‘apprenticeship’ in a variety of
contexts.
The idea of learning as cognitive apprenticeship is a key theme in the situated
learning literature (Guile and Young, 1999). The research has tested and refined
these broader approaches, resulting in significant modifications to key concepts such
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as legitimate peripheral participation and communities of practice (Nominated Output
2).
4. To develop a better understanding of the practice of learning at, for and through
the workplace learning to the development of a concept of apprenticeship as a model
of contemporary workplace teaching and learning.
The new understanding of workplace learning that was developed is explained in
under ‘Results’, below.
5. To build capacity in this under-researched field.
The Network’s contributions to capacity building include:
• Working with and through its Advisory Group to increase understanding and use
of research in policy and practice communities. (See Annexe 1 and Impact
Section)
• Employing young researchers (Sakamoto and Kersh);
• Supporting a UNISON Regional Officer’s application for a PhD under the TLRP’s
Practitioner Fellowship Scheme. Although highly rated by the referees this was
not awarded. Nevertheless, the experience of working on the application was
fruitful and has encouraged the exploration of new models of working with
practitioners on research.
• Recruiting doctoral research students on topics linked to workplace learning
• P. Hodkinson will be conducting a workshop for the Research Capacity Building
Network on longitudinal qualitative research in November, 2003.
1. To contribute to improved practice amongst a range of practitioners whose
activities affect teaching and learning in the workplace and, in the case of Project
5, in formal educational contexts as well.
The contribution of the findings to improving policy and practice is ongoing:.
• Jim Sutherland has produced a pamphlet summarising the findings for a
practitioner audience (Nominated Output 3)
• Fuller and Unwin were commissioned by the National Institute of Adult and
Continuing Education to develop the concept of expansive/restrictive continuum
in ways that can be used by practitioners (Nominated Output 4).
• The tool developed to analyse tacit skills is being developed with CIPD and
adopted by Adult Education practitioners.
• The National Occupational Standards for carer support workers will be modified
by the Training Organisation for the Personal Social Services.
The Network produced an amended bid, in response to the emphasis being placed
on measuring attainment by the TLRP’s first Director and the Steering Group. Our
research confirmed our earlier scepticism about the validity of this approach when
applied to workplace settings (Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2004a). More recently, the
TLRP itself had moved to a broader conceptualisation and the emphasis on
measuring attainment has shifted.
Network Approach
The Network explored the workplace as an important site for learning and the extent
to which incentives for learning could be improved. The five projects were designed
to generate empirical data from a range of contemporary settings which could be
used to interrogate a number of influential theories and conceptual frameworks in.
These included situated learning, communities of practice, apprenticeship as a model
of learning, informal learning and tacit skills. The research included:
• young recruits, adult returners and ongoing experienced workers.
• public and private sectors.
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•
•
occupations ranging from routine and manual jobs to professional occupations.
predominantly male, predominantly female and mixed gender occupations.
In the course of the Network’s research, interviews were conducted with 230
learners/employees of whom 55 were longitudinally tracked within or between sites of
learning. A total of 170 questionnaires and 281 learning logs were completed by
research participants. Ten colleges/training providers and 41 workplace sites were
researched, including private and public sector organisations, school departments,
SMEs, service providers’ sites, work placement and Training Company (TCS) sites.
Observations were carried out during more than 250 days of site visits and interviews
were conducted with 116 key informants (tutors, trainers, managers, employers,
officers and representatives of trade union and employer organisations, officers of
sectoral training bodies).
The Network was managed and administrated from Northampton. Charlotte Spokes,
the Research Administrator, was responsible for day-to-day coordination between the
team and their respective institutions. The Network team was integrated through
regular two-day meetings, backed up by email and telephone contacts. It was
supported by Jim Sutherland, an experienced practitioner, and by an Advisory Group,
consisting of other influential practitioners, either linked to individual projects or with
broader workplace learning expertise (see Annexe I). Links with the academic
community were developed through a two-day International Conference and two
workshops, jointly run with the ESRC’s designated research centre, SKOPE.
Added value was achieved through synergising project research at all stages. This
involved resolving contrasting perspectives, as well as confirming findings, a process
enhanced by the interdisciplinary membership of the Network. We began with a
shared understanding of the issues to be investigated and built upon prior
collaborative work. We also shared our broad methodological approaches, as
accessing informal learning is notoriously difficult. As research progressed, each
project explored and tested out preliminary findings from the others. Project 4, in
particular, was modified in ways to maximise benefits to the Network as a whole.
Finally, we produced three linked ‘theme papers’, each of which was co-written and
covered findings from a range of projects. Drafts were presented to a workshop with
SKOPE (Nominated Outputs 1 and 5; Fuller et al., 2003) and are being reworked for
the proposed Gateway book. Debate has been generated within the Network on the
extent to which the concept of ‘communities of practice’ can be modified to apply to
contemporary workplaces or to which it fails to adequately take account of power
relationships and the changing nature of work.
Our findings are warranted in several ways. Each separate study draws upon
several complementary methods and data sources.
Where practicable, the
authenticity of findings have been cross-checked with practitioners. Preliminary
findings from each case study have been tested out and further refined in the others,
to validate their generalisability. Findings have been exposed and refined through
both ‘live peer review’ (TLRP Warrant Workshop, 2003) by practitioners and
academic researchers in the field, at conferences, seminars and workshops.
Network Results
This Network has made major contributions to knowledge about workplace learning,
to the theoretical understanding of workplace learning, to research methodology
through the integration of five research projects, and to understanding ways of
improving learning at work. These results have considerable generalisability
because of the variety of workplace contexts studied.
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Knowledge about Workplace Learning
Three dimensions of workplace learning were consistently identified:
1. Workplaces can be characterised as more expansive or more restrictive as
learning environments. Richer learning is found where environments are more
expansive.
2. The regulation of the employment relationship and state intervention have a
significant impact on opportunities for, and the nature of, workplace learning
3. The dispositions and tacit skills of workers influence the work environment and
the ways in which workers react to and interact with that environment.
These dimensions are inter-related. None of them can be properly understood
without the others.
Expansive and Restrictive Learning Environments.
Part way through the Network’s lifespan, Fuller and Unwin developed a conceptual
and analytical framework to enable them to make sense of the different patterns of
apprenticeship they encountered in their research sites. This framework, which they
termed the ‘expansive-restrictive continuum’, provided the means for conceptualising
different approaches to apprenticeship and workforce development; analysing the
character and quality of learning environments and cultures; and identifying the
opportunities and barriers to learning in a diverse range of organisational situations.
Through its application across the Network projects, the framework facilitated
analytical insight into aspects of the organisation of work and learning, organisational
culture and institutional factors which impinge on the lived reality of learning for a
wide range of new and experienced employees. This continuum was tested and
refined in other project settings (Nominated Output 8).
Expansive learning environments offer greater opportunities to learn than restrictive
ones. Learning occurs through the variety of work, challenges in the job and in
workers’ access to a range of different working environments. The latter includes
opportunities to ‘boundary cross’ into different jobs or work settings. A further
dimension refers to the potential to participate in off-the-job as well as on-the-job
learning and in collaborative as well as individual working and learning. Finally, in
more expansive learning environments, worker learning is taken seriously by most
staff and managers. This occurs at the level of informal work practices, but may be
extended into a more formalised recognition of learning, for example, through
management procedures.
All the case studies confirmed that regulatory frameworks, patterns of work
organisation and the division of labour were highly significant in determining the
extent to which the learning environments were expansive or restrictive.
Regulation and state intervention.
Rainbird, Munro, Jobert and Senker have developed an analysis of the impact of
regulation and state intervention upon workplace learning. Regulation refers to the
establishment of rules governing the employment relationship. This may occur
through legislation, collective bargaining or through workplace custom and practice.
Regulation can affect learning directly and indirectly. State intervention in
management practice is more common in the public sector, where the state is
effectively the employer, than in the private sector. The care sector is unusual in that
there are now statutory requirements for the operation of care homes and for the
qualifications of care workers wherever they are employed. This has consequences
for the assessment of their competence through NVQs and for their learning.
One of the characteristics of training and development in the UK is that it is relatively
unregulated compared to other European countries and this impacts on the
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characteristics of the workplace as a learning environment (Streeck, 1989). Our
comparative study of the cleaning sector in France, conducted by Jobert,
demonstrates that the regulatory framework affects the availability of resources for
training (managed through industry-level funds) and the types of training developed
and supported (through the involvement of the social partners in the management of
the funds). Moreover, the linkages between qualifications and payment systems
through sectoral level agreements and classification systems affect both the way in
which jobs are designed (greater use of generic work) and the development of career
structures. This accounts for different patterns of work modernisation in the UK and
in France (Jobert, Munro and Rainbird, f/c). Regulatory frameworks affect the
expansiveness of learning environments and impact significantly upon workers’
ability to access learning opportunities.
Individual Workers’ dispositions.
Work on this dimension was led by P. Hodkinson, H. Hodkinson, Evans and Kersh.
Across the Network as a whole, we identified four different ways in which individual
workers influenced workplace learning (Nominated Output 1). They are:
1. By bringing tacit prior abilities and experiences to the workplace.
2. In the extent to which individual dispositions influence the nature and use of
workplace learning opportunities.
3. Through the ways in which individuals contribute to the (re)construction of
workplace cultures and practices which influence learning.
4. In the extent to which learning and participation in work contribute to the
construction and development of learner/worker identity.
The dispositions and actions of workers themselves contribute to the extent to which
a workplace learning environment is expansive or restrictive. Other things being
equal, a more expansive environment is found where workers value their own
learning, support the learning of their fellow workers, and where their often tacit skills
are recognised and utilised by the employer. The dispositions and actions of workers
also strongly influence their interactions with opportunities to learn at work. Those
dispositions were influenced by the worker’s past life history, by their current working
environment, and by the direct and indirect effects of regulation and government
initiatives.
Theoretical Development
The Network has considered existing social theories of learning and critiqued the key
workplace learning concepts of ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ and ‘communities
of practice’ (Nominated Output 2), though differences of perspective on this persist
within the team. When the broader corpus of theorising about situated workplace
learning is considered, our work has made three specific contributions
1. Our integration of regulatory frameworks and state intervention with the other two
themes expands the more normal context for workplace learning theorising,
which is the workplace itself.
2. Our work is at the forefront of a growing international focus on the integration of
individual perspectives into social and cultural understandings of workplace
learning. This is also evidenced through ’live peer review’ in a series of
internationally refereed conferences and seminars on workplace learning. Other
work addressing this issue includes Billett (2001) and Illeris (2002)
3. The expansive-restrictive continuum is itself a highly original blending of Lave
and Wenger’s (1991) work on communities of practice, with Engestrom’s (2001)
work on activity theory.
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Methodological Innovation
The nature of workplace learning means that the best way to understand it is through
case studies, which combine mixed methods of data collection with immersion over a
period of time. Our study is innovative because the Network structure allowed the on
going integration of the five different studies. Though designed to be complementary,
each had its own internal logic and structure, to match the particular research
objectives and contexts being investigated. Each group of researchers brought their
own prior research experiences and theoretical orientations.
The integration of all five was achieved through:
1. Shared experiences of working together before the start of the Network, which
enhanced levels of trust and mutual understanding from the start.
2. Work on initial project designs, to balance creative differences with enough
shared focus to allow integration.
3. On-going sharing of approaches leading to mutual learning as the research
developed.
4. Taking up issues that were developing in one project and further developing and
testing them in others.
5. The synthesis of findings through the development of three theme papers, which
were presented to a joint workshop with SKOPE. These are being reworked as
the core of our Gateway book proposal.
This integration has resulted in findings and theoretical understandings that
transcend individual projects. It has also given a much stronger warrant for those
findings, because of the range of settings and number of researcher perspectives
that have been drawn upon. As is to be expected in such a large and diverse team,
differences of emphasis and of theoretical preference still remain and each project,
taken individually, stands as a significant contribution to the field in its own right.
Improving Learning at Work
Our research showed that attempts to improve workplace learning through
performance management schemes, short-term training initiatives and a target-driven
approach are often counter-productive. Our findings emphasised two weaknesses
and one omission with such approaches:
1. They are underpinned by a view of learning as the acquisition of skills and
knowledge, rather than a more supportable view of workplace learning as
participation. (Sfard 1998) As a result, they are often short-term in intended
impact, and overlook learning which cannot be easily measured.
2. T
hey are undermined because some workers respond through strategic
compliance and resistance, rather than enthusiasm.
3. They fail to address the context of the workplace, in particular aspects of the
employment relationship (work intensification, deskilling, work re-organisation,
absence of rewards for learning, threatened redundancies), which may influence
workers’ responses to workplace learning.
There are alternative positions to the target-driven approach to improving workplace
learning. These highlight the social and collective nature of learning at work and
focus on processes and relations rather than outcomes (eg see Eraut et al., 2000;
Billett, 2001; Engestrom, 2001; Boud and Garrick, 1999). The expansive – restrictive
continuum and its links with external regulation, on the one hand, and individual
worker dispositions, on the other, provides a tool with potential to contribute to the
planning and operationalising the improvement of learning. This can be done through
the skilled construction of a more expansive learning environment, including a
greater awareness of individual workers’ prior skills and abilities and their own
learning interests and preferences. By making the learning environment at work more
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expansive, the likelihood of rich and effective learning is increased (Nominated
Output 4).
This is not to argue that learning is neutral. Rather, workplace learning interventions
are introduced into existing social relations in the workplace. This broader context
may have a significant impact on the ways in which workers, managers and
supervisors perceive and respond to particular interventions. It is useful to distinguish
between learning for business need and that which meets employee need (Rainbird
et al. 2003:66). Whilst the former may contribute to the organisation' s efficiency and
competitiveness, it may not necessarily contribute to the expansiveness of the
learning environment. In contrast, learning for employee need may contribute to the
individual's personal development and wider employabilty. Whilst it may not
necessarily have a direct impact on business outcomes, it may contribute to the
quality of the work environment and thus to the ‘softer’ aspects of Human Resource
Management (Rainbird et al., 2004). For example, in the cleaning contractors studied
in Project 1, there was evidence of training to meet regulatory requirements, but this
was a mechanism to promote the standardisation of work and avoid risk in the
management of contracts. Rather than extending the expansiveness of the learning
environment, this training was being introduced alongside measures to reduce
worker's levels of discretion in their jobs (cf Grugulis and Vincent, 2003) and in one
case study organisation literacy content was being reduced as well. In contrast, some
of the broader development opportunities provided to staff in caring roles contributed
positively to individual workers' experience of the workplace as a learning
environment, their self-confidence in their own roles and ability to engage in further
job-related learning.
The construction of more expansive learning environments requires the involvement
of a range of actors, working at different levels. The state has a key role in
constructing the institutional framework. The comparative dimension of the research,
conducted by Jobert demonstrates how a more highly institutionalised regulatory
environment affects the recognition of training in wage structures and forms of work
modernisation in ways which can be considered more expansive than in the UK.
Employers exert considerable influence on the learning environment through the
decisions they make with regard to what Keep and Mayhew have called first order
strategies concerning product markets and competitive strategy. These, in turn,
influence second order strategies which concern work organisation and job design
(1999:12). Within these constraints, there is scope for trainers, managers, trade
union representatives and even individual workers to exercise some influence over
strategies towards training and development, on the one hand, and learning through
participation in the work environment, on the other.
Nevertheless, a distinction needs to be made between workplace learning and the
consequences of the recognition of this learning for work organisation and reward
systems. The concept of the Skills Escalator approach in the NHS is an example of
an initiative to create a more expansive learning environment through curriculum
offer and new worker entitlements to learning. In contrast, changes in work
organisation and skills mix are more contentious and have implications for
relationships between occupational groups and with their managers (Thornley, 1996).
Network Activities
The Network has organised a series of activities and events, aimed at extending the
impact of our work in a variety of contexts. These include:
1. ‘Context, Power and Perspective: Confronting the Challenges to Improving
Attainment in Learning at Work’ international workshop organised at University
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college Northampton, 8th-10th November, 2001 (with financial support from TLRP
and SKOPE).
2. Two joint meetings held with SKOPE in March 2001 and March, 2003.
3. Symposium in the 2001 BERA Annual Conference, Leeds.
4. Multiple presentations at three international conferences: the 3rd International
Conference on Work and Learning (Tampere, July 2003); International
Conference on ‘Researching outside the Academy’ (Glasgow, June 2003);
European Conference on Educational Research (Hamburg, September 2003 ).
5. Contribution to the TLRP symposium at BERA 2003, Edinburgh.
6. W
orkshops conducted at the Learning and Skills Research Conference,
Cambridge, 2001. Two workshops for practitioners and researchers in the
Lifelong Learning Institute, at the University of Leeds, in 2002 and 2003. The
second Leeds workshop was jointly organised with the local branch of Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development.
Network Outputs
The Regard database entries and evidence of publications in press show how prolific
this Network has been. As well as the nominated outputs, key outputs include:
H. Rainbird, A. Fuller and A. Munro Eds., (2004) Workplace Learning in Context.
London, Routledge (see Annexe 3 for outline).
K. Evans, P. Hodkinson, H. Rainbird and L. Unwin Eds., (forthcoming) Gateway book
– Improving Workplace Learning. Routledge/Falmer (see Annexe 4 for outline).
P. Senker and J. Hyman, Eds (2004) Special Issue of the International Journal of
Training and Development on Workplace Learning, 8, 1 (March).
Further joint work is planned between Munro, Rainbird and Senker on learning
environments in different care settings. Evans, Fuller, Kersh and Unwin’s joint paper
‘Tacit skills in the work-related learning of young and older adults’ will be submitted to
the Journal of Education and Work, 2004. These provide further examples of the
added value of a Network approach to researching key concepts.
Network Impacts
One of the achievements of the Network is to have produced theoretically grounded,
empirical research in a field which often has a weak empirical base, for example, the
literature on the ‘learning organisation’ and the more futuristic visions of work and
learning (Barnett, 2002; Senge, 1990; Pedlar, et al., 1991). It has brought together a
fragmented field of research through the organisation of the international workshop in
Northampton in November 2001. This was described by one eminent researcher as
‘the workplace learning field coming of age’ (Eraut, personal communication, 10 June
2003). In addition to the links set up by individual projects, the Network’s Advisory
Group has sustained links with key national user groups in relation to workplace
learning. Through the involvement of Jim Sutherland, our practitioner advisor, and
organic links with practitioners which were established early in the research process,
we are now engaged in a range of dissemination activities. These include
presentations to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s Public
Sector Forum and to a trade union dissemination event, jointly organised with
UNISON. Two major publications have been produced for practitioner audiences.
2000 copies have been distributed of 'The Learning Workplace', a summary of the
main findings of the research (Nominated Output 3). Unwin and Fuller have written a
guide 'Expanding Learning in the Workplace: Making More of Individual and
Organisational Potential', published and distributed by the National Institute for Adult
and Continuing Education (Nominated Output 4).
Other examples of impact include:
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1. The tool developed to analyse tacit skills is being developed with CIPD and
adopted by Adult Education practitioners.
2. The national occupational standards for carer support workers will be modified by
the Training Organisation for the Personal Social Services in the light of our
research findings.
3. As a Network we have contributed to the development of the TLRP through
specific projects (e.g. Evans, Hodkinson and Unwin have projects funded under
Phase 111 of the Programme). We have also developed analytical tools that can
be used more widely, for example, Dynamic Concept Analysis as methodological
tool (Project 2) and the expansive-restrictive framework (Project 4) which other
TLRP researchers could potentially use.
Longer term impacts:
The Network has contributed to the body of research evidence available to policy-
makers and practitioners at a time when informal learning is rising up the policy agenda. Evans’ planned contribution to the NHSU/Campaign for Learning Expert Seminar on Developing a Learning Culture relates network findings on tacit skills,
adult learning and career development to NHS workforce development issues. Future Research Priorities
There is a need for theoretically informed empirical research on workplace learning
on a comparative international basis, since much of the policy-oriented research in
this field has focussed on formal training interventions (e.g. CEDEFOP and the EU’s
Leonardo Programme). Informal learning is acquiring an increasing profile in EU
policy documents (European Commission, 2001) and this is reflected in the concern
of organisations such as the CIPD with ‘capability frameworks’.
All three of the main project themes require further research in differing contexts,
1. There are some indications in the government’s 2003 National Skills Strategy
(DfES et al., 2003) that policy may be moving towards a stronger institutional
framework. In this case it will be important to continue to explore the intended
and unintended consequences of different regulatory frameworks and their
implications for actors at national, sectoral and workplace level.
2. Further research is needed upon the extent to which the expansive/restrictive
continuum is used to improve workplace learning, and what effect it has.
3. Further qualitative/mixed method longitudinal research is needed into the ways in
which mid-career job change contributes to individual worker learning and in
which prior worker experiences interact with new working/learning environments.
Project 1: The Regulatory Framework of the Employment Relationship
Project background
This project was designed to provide the context for the other four projects. Cleaning
and care were chosen to examine similar types of work and jobs under different
regulatory frameworks. It built on earlier research on low paid workers in the public
sector conducted under the ESRC’s Future of Work Programme. The researchers’
theoretical position is based in a labour process approach, giving particular attention
to power relations in the workplace and its implications for learning opportunities.
Project objectives
Project 1 aimed to examine how the regulation of employment can influence
opportunities for learning. This included:
1. The relationship between pay structures and formal learning.
2. The relationship between trade union presence and access to training.
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3. The influence of national standards and statutory requirements on formal
learning.
4. The extent to which the workplace constitutes a community of practice and the
opportunities provided for informal learning.
Project methods
Eleven case studies were conducted of care and cleaning services in the public and
private sectors, and in sub-contractors to the public sector. This involved the
collection of documentary evidence and interviews with senior managers, training
managers, supervisors, union representatives where appropriate, between five and
eight members of staff, and educational providers. Semi-structured schedules were
used to investigate employment structure, strategic approaches to learning, adoption
of standards, formal training, employee voice, work organisation, experiences of
learning and assessment. Twelve case studies had been planned, but on the advice
of our practitioners, the decision was made to conduct additional interviews with
sectoral training bodies, national union officers and to include a private sector
provider of agency staff.
This project had a small comparative element, involving Annette Jobert of Travail et
Mobilites, Universite Paris X, which explored the structures of collective bargaining
and training in the cleaning industry in France. A series of joint meetings have taken
place with her.
A total of 97 interviews were conducted. Some cleaning staff could not be released,
so interviews were conducted as they worked. The pattern of access for the research
mirrored the spaces available in working time for learning. In contrast to the intensity
of cleaning work, in care homes there are pauses in activities around shift
changeovers, used for training sessions and for sharing information about clients’
needs.
Project results
The findings confirm the evidence from large data sets that the employment
relationship is significant to workers’ access to formal learning (Arulamapalam and
Booth, 1998; Cully et al., 1998), but different types of regulation interact with each
other. In the care sector, the distinction between public and private sectors has
become blurred. Statutory requirements which cover the operation of care homes
and workers’ attainment of NVQ/SVQ qualifications have in some instances
contributed indirectly to a more expansive learning environment, but NVQ/SVQ
assessment does not, in itself, produce this (Nominated Output 5). A key feature to
emerge was the issue of where the responsibility lies for NVQ/SVQ assessment for
agency workers. In cleaning, mandatory training, mainly health and safety, is limited
and further training is on-the-job, task-specific and geared to the monitoring of
cleaning standards rather than personal development.
An unexpected finding was that in care work there was as much difference between
sites within the public sector as between public and private sectors. Care workers are
recruited in extremely local labour markets and statutory requirements affect workers
wherever they are employed. With cleaning there was greater emphasis on providing
learning for all in the NHS, where it was part of a functional department within a
larger organisation, compared to private cleaning contractors, where there were no
opportunities to move into different work roles.
Work modernisation does not automatically produce a more expansive learning
environment. In cleaning, work intensification and new forms of specialisation have
reduced opportunities for learning. Work modernisation is taking different forms in
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France with greater emphasis on formal training, generic working and the
development of ‘multi-service’ activities. In care work, historically workers’ skills have
been undervalued and steps are now being taken to enhance and recognise learning
in this work environment. The provision of services across health and social care,
shortages of professional staff and the political significance of the public services
have contributed to the ability of ‘learning champions’ to achieve change.
Within the constraints of the regulatory framework, individual and collective actors
can influence the learning environment. Learning champions may be supervisors,
training managers, tutors or union officers but relationships of trust built up between
them and their respective constituencies are fragile in a weakly institutionalised
training system. Trade unions organising members across sectors may provide
stability in the context of fragmentation brought about by the reorganisation in the
public sector. Individual biography and learning aspirations are important, but for
some of the least confident staff these are shaped by their prior experience of failure.
For many learning is defined as an activity which takes place outside the workplace.
Project Activities
The team have contributed to Network and Programme activities. Anne Munro was
awarded a PhD studentship by Napier University, Edinburgh, for research on a
related topic.
Project outputs
1. Three book chapters are in press and two journal articles are being prepared with
Annette Jobert and Peter Senker. Both researchers are editing the Network book
and Rainbird the Gateway book.
2. Papers have been presented at the British Universities’ Industrial Relations
Association (2002 and 2003), the International Labour Process conference
(2001), the Work, Employment and Society conference (2001), the Network’s
international workshop (2001) and at two ESRC seminar series (2001).
3. Five papers have been presented to practitioner conferences.
4. Practitioner dissemination events are planned with UNISON, the CIPD’s Public
Sector Forum, the Scotland CIPD Knowledge into Practice Group and the
Autonomous Region of Trento, Italy.
Project impacts
We have worked closely with officers from UNISON, the Training Organisation for the
Personal Social Services (both members of the Advisory Board). Two meetings were
held with the British Institute of Cleaning Science to discuss the research findings.
Feedback to the case study organisations is on-going.
The researchers have been commissioned to conduct research on two closely
related projects: a study on the National Minimum Wage and training for the Low Pay
Commission and an evaluation of the ‘Skills Escalator’ approach to workplace
learning in NHS Professionals for the NHSU.
A paper presented to the CIPD’s Professional Standards Conference won the Ian
Beardwell best paper award. Rainbird was a keynote speaker at 'Learning at Work:
Working with Trade Unions to promote learning', organised by the Trade Union
Learning Link, Norfolk. She participated in the expert seminar on Social Care
Workforce Research, 15th-16th May, 2003. She has contributed papers to People
Management on Union Learning Representatives and will work on a CIPD guide for
managers and trainers working with union learning representatives. Anne Munro is
involved with the Scotland CIPD Partnership Knowledge Into Practice group and has
joined the Human Resource Development Forum Scotland Group.
13
Project 2: Recognition of Tacit Skills and Knowledge in Work Re-entry
Project Background
The project aimed to examine the limits of situated learning theory, which has
developed in ways which obscure the contributions of prior experiences and the
effects of moving between contexts over time (Damon 1991). Building on Molander
(1992), Eraut (1999) and Evans’ previous EU-funded work 1998-2000, the underlying
hypothesis was that, for those with interrupted work histories, tacit forms of personal
competences are frequently under-recognised and under-utilised in work re-entry .
Project Objectives
1. To identify tacit forms of personal competences gained through the different
configurations of life and work experiences of ’adult returners’ whose occupational
biographies have been interrupted by family circumstances, unemployment or
changes of direction
2. T
o identify how, when and under what circumstances recognition and
deployment of
’hidden capabilities’ in learning and teaching situations
strengthen learning success.
3. To identify interrelationships between the recognition of tacit skills and
student’s/employee’s learning processes and outcomes, as adults move
between college and different workplace environments.
The objectives have been met by using structured elicitation techniques (Eraut 1999)
to identify tacit dimensions of personal competences of importance in the
learning/work transitions of adults. Their learning experiences have been
longitudinally tracked through interview and observation, including tutor/trainer
observations and recordings of learning processes and achievements. Individual
cases of learners moving between college and workplace environments have been
qualitatively modelled. The Dynamic Concept Analysis (DCA) method has assisted in
clarifying the interrelationships between learning and skill recognition in different
environments and is being simplified for practitioner use.
Project Methods
61 adult learners following work re-entry courses in social care, management and
transport sector jobs in 6 London region further/adult education colleges were
selected as research participants.1 The sample represented different degrees/types of
interruption in occupational biographies of women and men. 30 of these cases were
longitudinally tracked to workplaces or other destinations. Adults’ learning
experiences were researched through observations, interviews with key informants
(trainers/supervisors/employers), questionnaires and recordings of learning processes
and achievements. Information matrices were constructed for each learner, using
DCA methods and software (Kontiainen, 2002) as an innovative basis for modelling
individual learning processes.
Project Results
Tacit forms of personal competences that are important for adults moving between
roles and settings are related to attitudes and values, learning competences,
social/cooperative competences, content-related and practical competences,
methodological competences and strategic (self-steering) competences. Learners
with more continuous occupational biographies recorded higher levels of confidence
in their personal competences at the outset of courses than those with substantial
1
An initial sample of 60 was necessary to ensure sufficient cases for the more
detailed longitudinal tracking specified in the amended award.
14
interruptions, except where recent work experiences had been poor. Gender
differences in perceptions of tacit skills have been explored (Evans et al., 2004a).
Most females with extended interruptions recognised, to some extent, personal
competences they developed and used while running a household, caring for a family
or overcoming setbacks, although they claimed that such skills are not recognised in
the job market except in low-status caring and ‘women’s’ work. Males tended to
disregard skills gained outside formal learning while attaching importance to ‘formally
acquired’ skills. Employers’ interviews confirmed that, while they see soft skills as
important, these are often disregarded when they have been gained in household
settings (Evans 2001; 2002).
Recognition and deployment of tacit skills are important elements of a
learning/workplace environment (see Evans et al., 2004a/b/c). Case analysis showed
how adults’ learning processes are negatively affected where recognition and
deployment of tacit skills is low. Conversely, positive deployment and recognition of
these skills sustains learning and contributes to learning outcomes. The starting point
is to develop students’ and tutors’ awareness of learners’ hidden abilities or tacit
skills. The modeling of individual learning processes provided insights into adults’
experiences by making the part played by tacit skills visible (Nominated Output 6).
Tutors and supervisors employed different methods to make learners’ tacit skills more
explicit: teamwork, one-to-one tutorial help, giving new tasks and responsibilities.
Individual approaches are needed in designing methods, taking into account
experience, background and disposition as well as learning environments and
cultures.
This project significantly advanced understanding of how environments can expand,
consolidate or undermine the learning gains of adults entering new workplaces
through retraining (Nominated Output 1). Systematic case comparison showed how
recognition and utilisation of tacit skills sustains learning outcomes and facilitates the
process of work re-entry. Employees’ experienced their workplaces as ‘expansive or
restrictive’ according to whether the work environment was stimulating or dull, the
extent to which their skills and abilities were recognised, and whether there were
opportunities for training and career development. An expansive learning/workplace
environment combined with individual initiative and intermediary support facilitates
further learning (Evans et al., 2004a/b/c/d).
Project Outputs
1. Two refereed articles in International Journal of Training and Development and
the Journal of Workplace Learning, two chapters in edited collections, one joint
refereed article in Studies in the Education of Adults, and one international
handbook entry. Evans is co-editing the Network’s Gateway book.
2. Papers presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, Lille,
2001; Lisbon, 2002; Hamburg, 2003; the Vocational Education and Training
Conference, Goettingen, 2001; Researching Learning Outside the Academy,
Glasgow, 2003; the Third International Conference on Researching Work and
Learning, Tampere, 2003.
3. Papers have been given at the Network/SKOPE seminars; at the Lifelong
Learning Institute, Leeds; at UMIST: to Industry/HE work-based learning
managers; at Hong Kong University/Business Consortium to work-based trainers
(see Evans 2002c and Regard).
4. Data sets, including modelled, anonymised cases offered to Qualidata.
5. Contributions in newsletters and professional journals
6. Training materials using simplified versions of DCA.
15
Project Activities
The team are engaging with user organisations, including colleges and training
providers in London and with NIACE, the NHSU, CIPD and UNISON at national level.
They are involved in an EU ‘spin-off’ project on prior learning and self-evaluation (see
Impacts). Capacity building has included training post-doctoral researchers and
research users in elicitation and modelling methods in college and workplace
environments.
Project Impacts
1. The researchers are working on with the CIPD on a tool for recognising tacit skills
in employee development, as part of the CIPD’s ‘Change Agenda’.
2. They are contributing to an EU sponsored Handbook of Methods and Models for
Self-Evaluation of Personal Competences for publication in 2004/5
3. The project and the DCA research tool will have an impact on Wolf and Evans’
five year research project funded under Phase III of the TLRP.
4. Other collaborations are planned for using the DCA tool with NIACE, the NHSU,
UNISON and the Pre-Retirement Association for Great Britain.
Project 3: The Workplace as a Site for Learning: Opportunities and Barriers in
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Project Background
This project set out to examine the opportunities for and barriers to learning in small
and medium-sized enterprises, building on the researchers’ existing studies of young
people’s experiences on the Modern Apprenticeship programme (see Fuller and
Unwin, 2003a). Drawing on social theories of learning (Lave and Wenger 1991,
Beckett and Hager 2002), the project set out to articulate more clearly the ways in
which workplace competence is attained through a combination of formal and
informal learning (Eraut et al 1998, Eraut et al 2000, Billett 2001). The setting for the
project was the steel industry in England and Wales.
Project Objectives
The overarching aim was to identify the factors influencing how inexperienced
(apprentices) and experienced employees attain competence in the workplace. This
was pursued through three objectives: examining the extent to which employees’
skills, knowledge and competence map on to formal qualifications; problematising the
concept of ‘key skills’ (mandatory for apprentices) in the workplace; and examining
broader organisational structures, job design, and workplace cultures within which
learning environments are created and managed.
Project Methods
A multi-level and case study methodology was developed to include: tape-recorded
individual and group interviews; observation of employees’ workplace activity and of
apprentices being assessed for competence-based qualifications; surveys of
employee attitudes to learning at work; analysis of organisational documentation; and
employee learning logs. The learning log proved to be an innovative and effective
method to help people reflect on and record their teaching and learning activities,
both systematically and longitudinally. De-briefing interviews were held with those
who had completed logs to further explore their selection of incidents and to
overcome any misinterpretations by the researchers.
Project Results
Examination of the data led to the development of an expansive-restrictive framework
for characterising learning environments (Fuller and Unwin 2004a; Nominated
Outputs 4 and 7). Expansive features include the opportunity for employees to:
16
engage with multiple communities of practice; gain broad experience across the
organisation; pursue knowledge-based as well as competence-based qualifications;
learn off-the-job as well as on-the-job; have a recognised status as a learner; and
have access to career progression and extended job roles. Restrictive features
represent the flip side of these attributes. In companies that have adopted a
restrictive approach, apprentices struggle to make progress in terms of achieving
formal qualifications and have limited opportunities available for progression and
development. An expansive learning environment develops a broad range of ‘key
skills’, by encouraging employees to cross boundaries and experience different workrelated contexts. The framework illuminates those organisational dimensions which
impact on the creation of workplace learning environments.
The research challenges the assumption behind situated learning theory that all
novices proceed on a linear journey from ‘newcomer’ to competent employee or even
‘expert’, with their progress dependent on the extent to which their participation is
facilitated by ‘experts’ (Fuller and Unwin 2004b). The concept of expert can mean
different things in different organisational contexts. In addition, learning log data
revealed that apprentices were actively engaged in helping older workers to learn by
passing on skills and knowledge as they worked alongside each other: thus the
‘novice’ becomes the ‘expert’.
An over-emphasis on the relationship between membership of a community of
practice and learning in the workplace underplays the role of individual biography
(Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2003b). The project developed, therefore, the metaphor
of ‘learning territory’ to encompass the range of learning opportunities to which an
individual might be exposed, including off-the-job learning and qualifications, and
learning at home. ‘Expansive’ apprenticeships draw on and take forward this
disparate learning by facilitating and supporting transfer from one part of the learning
territory to another.
Project Activities
The project has contributed to the research capacity of the case study organisations
through advice on the development and analysis of surveys to capture employees’
attitudes to learning at work. Research findings have been discussed with
policymakers in the DfES, Learning and Skills Council (LSC), sector-based agencies,
and other bodies responsible for the Modern Apprenticeship. The findings fed directly
into the 2003 White Paper, 21st Century Skills, published in July, following a visit by a
senior DfES official to two of the case study companies. The project informed a BBC
Radio 4 series, The Apprentice, broadcast in February, 2003. The Oxford/Warwick
ESRC Research Centre, SKOPE, drew on the expansive-restrictive framework at the
2003 national Skills Conference in New Zealand.
Project Outputs
1. Two refereed journal articles and two book chapters have been published, two
articles and one chapter are in press. Fuller is co-editing the Network book and
Unwin the Gateway book. Three further articles (on key skills; knowledge and
qualifications; and older workers) are in preparation.
2. NIACE commissioned and published a policy paper on the ‘expansive-restrictive’
framework (Nominated Output 4).
3. A ‘user guide’ to the expansive-restrictive framework has been produced for
practitioners attending the DfES/ESRC conferences – see below.
4. Papers presented at: Local Education Authorities’ Curriculum and Assessment
14-19 Network Conference (October 2003); Scottish 10th Lifelong Learning Forum
(September 2003); NIACE’s national conference on the Skills Strategy White
17
Paper (September 2003); the 2001(Canada) and 2003 (Finland) International
Conference on Work and Learning; LearningSpace 2002 (Brussels); European
Conference on Educational Research 2002 (Lisbon) and 2003 (Hamburg);
Journal of Vocational Education and Training 5th International Conference 2003
(Greenwich); HRD Conference 2002 (Malta); Learning and Skills Research
Centre Conference 2002 (Warwick); Vocational Education and Training
Conference 2001 (Goettingen).
Project Impacts
The government’s Task Force on Modern Apprenticeship is commissioning Fuller
and Unwin to explore the applicability of the expansive-restrictive framework with
employers and training providers throughout the UK. In addition, the Task Force, the
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the ESRC/TLRP will co-host a
conference in November 2003 to introduce the framework to practitioners and
policymakers. Piloting of the framework is also being planned with:
1. School of Healthcare Studies, University of Leeds;
2. West Yorkshire Forensic Science Service;
3. London Gateway development. The learning log is being adapted for use by researchers and PhD students in
Canada, Finland, and the Netherlands. Project 4: An Exploration of the Nature of Apprenticeship as a Site for Learning
in an Advanced Economy
Project Background
This project builds on Senker’s long standing interest in engineering apprentices and
the relevance of NVQ assessment to their learning. It also builds on his research on
the Teaching Company Scheme (TCS), which employs young graduates, and his
personal involvement in a voluntary organisation providing respite care through Carer
Support Workers. The approach to researching workplace learning is that adopted by
Eraut in a project funded under the ESRC’s Learning Society Programme (see Eraut
et al., 1998) in which Senker conducted research on engineers' learning.
Project Objectives
The project aimed to:
1. Contribute to development of a theoretical model of ‘apprenticeship’ in an
advanced economy.
2. Explore this concept in three contexts: Modern Apprentices in engineering;
Teaching Company Scheme Associates; and Carer Support Workers (CSWs)
entering employment.
Project Methods
The pilot study included interviews with ‘apprentices’ in three contexts. Since Project
3 was conducting research amongst apprentices in the steel industry, it was decided
not to proceed further with engineering apprentices, but to focus on the other two
contexts.
The access strategy was built on the researchers’ personal involvement in the
voluntary organisation and prior research contacts. This facilitated access to CSWs,
their managers and trainers. The project also built on two earlier studies for the
Teaching Company Directorate (TCD).
The methodology was adapted from Eraut's ESRC study, which used a semistructured checklist. In addition, interview schedules were devised for supervisors
18
and trainers to get a rounded picture of learning. A total of 62 interviews were
conducted.
Project Results
The traditional view of apprentices is that they learn a received body of knowledge
through their participation in the workplace and in formal training programmes. The
findings demonstrate that new entrants bring knowledge and skills with them to their
job roles (cf Project 3) and can also act as change agents. This raises important
questions about the effectiveness of interventions aimed at product market strategy,
as opposed to the setting of national targets for qualifications and assessment.
In order to understand workers’ needs for learning and assessment, it is first
necessary to understand their job roles. Providing respite care for a carer is very
different from the care worker’s job, as studied in Project 1. Respite care involves
responding to the varied needs of carers and the people they care for. Rather than
training workers for these job roles using an apprenticeship model, the task of the
Crossroads manager is to match the pre-existing skills, experience, attitudes and
biography of individual CSWs to families and their respite needs. The government is
imposing a statutory requirement for CSWs to acquire NVQ qualifications, which
were developed for residential care homes. Not only are these occupational
standards inappropriate to the CSW’s role, but the process of NVQ assessment does
little to enhance their learning. This represents an instance where a particular model
of learning and assessment, imposed by statutory regulation, is at variance with
occupational roles and diverts resources from enhancing learning.
At first sight the Teaching Company Scheme (TCS) appears to conform to the
traditional model of apprenticeship insofar as recent graduates are placed in
companies. Associates' knowledge and skills are enhanced through participation in a
range of learning environments at work, by involvement with the academic partner,
and through attendance at courses. This can be described as participation in an
expansive learning environment, to use the terminology of Project 3. But TCS
programmes also aim to facilitate technology transfer and the diffusion of technical
and management skills to companies and this almost invariably involves the
company in new forms of work activity. So TCS Associates are also often involved in
inherently risky ‘expansive learning’ in Engestrom's sense (2001). This indicates the
need for apprenticeship theory to take account of the nature and extent of the risks
involved in confronting new entrants in their journey to full participation in
communities of practice. In contrast, apprentices normally engage in activities which
are largely prescribed from above and far less risky and, therefore, could be
considered inherently restrictive in this sense.
An organisation's learning environment results from attitudes and practices
established over a long period and is difficult to change. The research showed that
learning environments are not immutable. Although they carry an element of risk,
well-supported interventions like the TCS scheme demonstrate that the learning
needed for economic success may contribute to the expansiveness of the learning
environment. This intervention is aimed at product market and competitive strategy,
with potential implications for job design, and thus has the capacity to produce
profound changes in workplace learning environments.
Project Activities
The researcher has contributed to Network and Programme activities. Research
findings have been discussed with the Crossroads Chief Executive and board
members and through the Project a meeting was set up between the Crossroads
organisation, UNISON’s Open College and Care Connect to improve distance
19
learning opportunities for CSWs. The research has contributed to the induction
training of the new Crossroads Training Manager. Research findings were used in
briefings for meetings with TOPSS
Project Outputs
1. A paper was presented at the conference Business Improvement for Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprise 2002 and published in the University of Brighton's TCS
conference digest.
2. Contributions to network papers including Nominated Outputs 1 and 5. Papers
are planned on the learning of care workers in different work environments (with
Munro and Rainbird) and on the role of innovation in creating expansive learning
environments.
3. Senker is co-editor of a special number of the International Journal of Training
and Development on workplace learning (2004,8.1). The research has informed
the editorial.
Project Impacts
The research findings have significantly influenced Crossroads policies and have
resulted in TOPSS’s decision to review the occupational standards for CSWs. In this
respect, Project 4 has made a major practical contribution to the improving the
incentives to learning of CSWs, as illustrated in the following comments by the
Crossroads Training Manager:
The research ‘highlights the lack of relevance of present NVQs to Carer Support
Workers and their specialised roles. This needs to be addressed in the review of
National Occupational Standards…. (we) are trying to ensure that future NVQ
structures relate to the flexible nature of the work of Crossroads …..The introduction
…to Care Connect may well develop into a more appropriate way of accessing NVQ’
(email, 23 July 2003).
Project 5: The School as a Site for Work-based Learning
Project Background
This project grew out of earlier research on the initial training of schoolteachers
(Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 1997, 1999). This demonstrated the significance of
school and departmental cultures, which were explored here mainly in relation to the
learning of experienced teachers.
Project Objectives
In addition to contributing to the aims and objectives of the Network, there were three
research questions:
1. What is the nature of teachers’ informal learning and what is the relationship
between informal and formal learning in teachers’ professional development?
2. How does the culture of school and department influence the quality of the
learning of teachers?
3. To what extent does helping teachers to understand their working cultures and
the nature of their own informal learning, enable them to improve their learning?
The first two were fully answered. It proved impossible to give a definitive answer to
(3) because too many other variables were involved (Hodkinson and Hodkinson,
2004, a). The research significantly advanced teachers’ understanding of their own
learning.
Project Methods
Longitudinal case study investigations were carried out in four subject departments,
two in each of two secondary schools. Data were gathered from 25 teachers, through
55 semi-structured interviews and 51 days of observation, in three sweeps, plus
documentary analysis. Fieldwork extended over 2.5 years. Data were analysed
20
cyclically, so that subsequent collection sweeps were informed by previous findings.
Analysis was heuristic (Moustakas, 1990) and hermeneutical/interpretivist (Wolcott,
1994).
Project Results
The research extended Eraut’s (2000) work on informal learning. Such learning is
largely neglected in continuing professional development literature, and is often
unrecognised by the teachers themselves (Eraut et al., 1998). Common patterns of
teacher learning were related to their working practices, which were numerous and
varied. Learning was strongly influenced by government policy towards education
and specifically towards teacher learning (c.f. Nominated Output 5). School
management approaches resulted in minor variations between the two sample
schools. Departmental cultures contributed to significant variations in teacher
learning. These variations were located in the differing inter-personal relationships in
those departments (Nominated Output 8). Teacher learning was strongly influenced
by the career history and dispositions of individual teachers. Teachers learned in
different ways and reacted differently to similar learning opportunities. Furthermore,
the dispositions and actions of teachers contributed to, and were influenced by, the
variations in departmental working and learning cultures.
Work in this project led the Network in developing a new understanding of the place
and significance of individual worker/learners in workplace learning (Nominated
Output 1). Following Beckett and Hager (2002), we saw such learning as embodied
but also social. We used the research to advance significantly a critical
understanding of Lave and Wenger’s (1991) and Wenger’s (1998) situated learning
theories (Hodkinson & Hodkinson, 2003b, 2004 b; Nominated Output 8). This work
was integrated with that of Unwin and Fuller (Nominated Output 2).
We used the research to test and further develop Unwin and Fuller’s work on
expansive and restrictive learning environments (Nominated Output 7) in the context
of teacher learning. We identified inadequacies in DfES approaches to enhancing
teacher learning, which were based on implicit assumptions about remedying skill
deficits, primarily through short courses and target-setting within performance
management. A better approach would be to make learning environments for
teachers more expansive and we identified ways in which teachers, heads of
department, senior school managers and the DfES could contribute to this process
(Hodkinson & Hodkinson, 2003a). These would sometimes entail modifications to
existing working practices in UK schools.
Formal courses can play a significant part in teacher learning. Short courses can be
effective if teachers link what is studied to their own practices. Longer courses can
change or establish central elements of teacher dispositions to their work and
learning, which can have a lasting impact. Courses outside the school can enhance
teacher learning by facilitating contact and exchanges with teachers beyond the
normal working community. These benefits of formal courses cannot be easily
identified through learning outcomes measurement, which is normally too specific
and too short-term in its focus.
Our overall conclusion was that teachers are constantly learning, often
subconsciously. The most effective ways of improving teacher learning are through
enhancing existing professionalism. Such enhancement should include challenging
and expanding current working practices (see also Engestrom, 2001), either through
major innovations (which can be internally or externally initiated) or engagement with
different ideas. As Helsby (1999) implies, too much externally imposed change can
impede learning through teacher overload and demotivation. Too narrow a focus on
21
prescribed learning outcomes can be counter-productive. Involvement in research,
attendance at longer courses and engagement with new teaching materials are ways
of challenging current working. The most effective learning took place in departments
where there was a strong collaborative culture and where continual sharing,
exchanging and mutual learning were integral parts of everyday practice.
Project Activities
As well as contributing to all Network and Programme activities, we conducted
workshops in the two partner schools, distributed two Briefing Papers to interested
practitioners and policy makers. We have established contact with teacher unions,
the General Teaching Council, the Teacher Training Agency, the Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development and parts of the DfES.
Project Outputs
Project outputs thus far include:
1. Four refereed journal articles and one academic book chapter
2. Three articles in newsletters and professional journals
3. Two briefing papers for practitioners and policy makers
4. Six papers presented at five international conferences (Working Knowledge:
Productive Learning at Work, UTS Sydney, 2000; the international workshop in
Northampton, 2001; International Conference on Training, Employability and
Employment, Monash/KCL, London, 2002; Researching Learning Outside the
Academy, Glasgow, 2003; Researching Work and Learning, Tampere, 2003). Six
papers presented at national conferences on workplace learning, adult learning and
education, including a contribution to the TLRP symposium at BERA 2003.
Project Impacts
There is evidenced of impact on the two partner schools, where the research has
influenced school and teacher approaches to teacher learning. Impacts beyond these
schools are developing organically, for example, findings are being used to structure
training for advanced skills for careers education teachers and to refine materials to
improve teacher learning in relation to Key Stage 3.
2.7 Ethics
Research was conducted in accordance with either British Sociological Association
or British Educational Research Association ethical guidelines. Access to the
research sites was negotiated on the basis of providing guarantees of confidentiality.
As a consequence, we will deposit data as ethically warranted with Qualidata. At all
times, care has been taken to protect research participants from harm and to
preserve their anonymity.
In Project 5, two ethical dilemmas arose. Firstly, the team were researching groups
of teachers who worked with each other, so it was important not to reveal things that
one interviewee said about another, either in interviews or in casual conversation.
This restricted the feedback that we could give to departments and schools to
general principles. The second concerned detailed stories published about selected
respondents. When presenting these data, we carefully edited out potentially
sensitive information and changed some minor details, to preserve anonymity. In one
particularly sensitive case, we consulted the teacher concerned about any concerns
with its publication. It is for both these reasons that the data from this project cannot
be lodged with Qualidata.
22
ANNEXE 1: NETWORK ADVISORY GROUP
T. L . R . P
Teaching & Learning
Research Programme
ESRC Research Network Advisory Group Improving Incentives to Learning in the Workplace Members:
Mr Richard Banks
Mr Donald Cameron
Mr Ian Carnell
Mr Bert Clough
Professor Karen Evans
Dr Alison Fuller
Ms Helen Hill
Mr Peter Hill
Mrs Heather Hodkinson
Professor Phil Hodkinson
Ms Maria Hughes
Dr Natasha Kersh
Mr John Monniot
Dr Anne Munro
Professor Helen Rainbird
Mr Andrew Schumm
Professor Peter Senker
Mr John Stevens
Mr Jim Sutherland
Professor Lorna Unwin
TOPSS England
UNISON
Engineering and Marine Training Authority
TUC
Institute of Education, University of London
University of Leicester
NUT
Steel Training Limited
University of Leeds
University of Leeds
Learning and Skills Development Agency
Institute of Education, University of London
Teaching Company Directorate
Napier University, Edinburgh
University College Northampton
Swindon Pressings Limited
University College Northampton
CIPD
University College Northampton
University of Leicester
23
ANNEXE 2: BIBLIOGRAPHY
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People Management No. 18. Institute of Personnel and Development. Evans, K. P. Hodkinson and L. Unwin, Eds., 2002 Working to Learn. Transforming
Learning in the Workplace. London, Kogan Page. Evans, K. 2002a. The challenges of making ‘learning visible’ :problems and issues in recognizing tacit skills and key competences in Evans, K., P. Hodkinson and L. Unwin Eds. Working to Learn: Transforming Learning in the Workplace, London, Kogan Page. Evans, K., N. Kersh, and A. Sakamoto, 2004a, ‘Learner biographies: exploring tacit dimensions of knowledge and skills, in Rainbird, H., A. Munro and A. Fuller, Eds., Workplace Learning in Context. London, Routledge. Evans, K., Kersh, N., Kontiainen, S. 2004b. ‘Recognition of Tacit Skills: Sustaining
learning outcomes in adult learning and work re-entry, International Journal of
Training and Development, 8, 1(in press). 24
Evans, K., and N. Kersh, 2004c. ‘Recognition of tacit skills and knowledge: sustaining
learning outcomes in workplace environments’, The Journal of Workplace Learning,
Vol. 16, Nos.1-2. (in press).
Evans, K and N. Kersh, 2004d. ‘Tacit skills and occupational mobility in a global
culture’, in Zajda, J., K. Freeman, G-J Macleans, S. Majhanovich, V. Rust, and R.
Zajda , Eds., International Handbook of Globalisation and Education Policy
Research. Kluwer, Dordrecht. (accepted for publication).
Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. 2003a. Creating a 'modern' apprenticeship: a critique of the
UK's multi-sector, social inclusion approach, Journal of Education and Work, 16, 1: 5
25. Fuller, A. and L. Unwin, 2003b. ‘Learning as apprentices: creating and managing expansive learning environments’, Journal of Education and Work, 16, 4. Fuller, A. and L. Unwin, 2004a ‘Expansive Learning Environments: integrating personal and organisational development’, in H. Rainbird, A. Fuller and A. Munro, Eds., Workplace Learning in Context, London: Routledge. (in press) Fuller, A. and L. Unwin, 2004b ‘Young people as teachers and learners in the
workplace: challenging the novice-expert dichotomy’, International Journal of Training
and Development, 8,1. (in press) Fuller, A., L. Unwin, with K. Evans, H. Hodkinson, P. Hodkinson, N. Kersh, A. Munro,
H. Rainbird and P. Senker, 2003. ‘Expansive and restrictive workplace learning:
towards an overarching conceptual framework’ paper presented at the Netwrok/SKOPE workshop, Cable and Wireless College, Coventry, March, 2003. Grugulis, I., S. Vincent and G. Hebson, 2003. ‘The rise of the “network organisation” and the decline of discretion’, Human Resource Management Journal, 13,2: 44-58. Guile, D. and M. Young, 1999. ‘Beyond the institution of apprenticeship: towards a
social theory of learning as the production of knowledge’, in P. Ainley and H.
Rainbird, Eds., Apprenticeship: Towards a New Paradigm of Learning. London,
Kogan Page. Helsby, Y. G., 1999. Changing Teachers’ Work. Buckingham, Open University Press.
Hodkinson, H. and P. Hodkinson, P. 1997. ‘Micro-politics in initial teacher education:
Luke’s story’, Journal of Education for Teaching, 23, 2:119-129. Hodkinson, H. and P. Hodkinson, 1999. ‘Teaching to learn, learning to teach? School-based non-teaching activity in an initial teacher education and training partnership scheme’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 15, 273 - 285. Hodkinson, H., and P. Hodkinson, P., 2002. ‘Supporting effective secondary school teachers’ learning’. The school as a site for work-based learning project
briefing/consultation paper 2. Leeds, the Lifelong Learning Institute, the University of
Leeds. Hodkinson, H., and P. Hodkinson, 2003a. ‘Improving the learning of secondary
school teachers: supporting an expansive learning environment’, TLRP symposium, British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Heriot-Watt University,
Edinburgh, 11th – 13th September. Hodkinson, P. and H. Hodkinson, 2003b Individuals, communities of practice and the
policy context: school-teachers learning in their workplace, Studies in Continuing
Education, 25, 1: 3-21. Hodkinson, P. and H. Hodkinson, 2004a ‘The complexities of workplace learning: problems and dangers in trying to measure attainment’, in H. Rainbird, A. Fuller and
A. Munro, Eds., Workplace Learning in Context, London: Routledge. (in press) Hodkinson, P.and H. Hodkinson, 2004b ‘The significance of individuals’ dispositions in workplace learning: a case study of two teachers’, Journal of Education and Work.
8,1. (in press) Illeris, K. 2002. The Three Dimensions of Learning. Frederiksberg, Roskilde
University Press. 25
Jobert, A., A. Munro and H. Rainbird (f/c) ‘Social institutions, training and workers’ competence: different roads to work intensification in cleaning services in Britain and France’ paper to be submitted to the European Journal of Industrial Relations.
Keep, E. and K. Mayhew, 1999. ‘The assessment: knowledge, skills and competitiveness’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 15,1;1-15. Molander, B. (1992) ‘Tacit knowledge and silenced knowledge: fundamental problems and controversies in Goranzon B and M. Florin, Eds., Skill and Education.
Reflection and Experience. Berlin, Springer – Verlag. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. 1991. Situated Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. Kontiainen, S. (2002), Dynamic Concepts Analysis (DCA): Integrating Information in
Conceptual Models, Helsinki University Press, Helsinki (book and a computer programme available at http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/DCA/). Moustakas, C. (1990) Heuristic Research: Design, Methodology, and Applications, London: Sage. Pedlar, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, 1991. The Learning Company. London, McGraw-Hill. Rainbird, H., A. Munro and L. Holly, 2004 ‘Exploring the concept of employer demand
for skills and qualifications: case studies from the public sector’ in C. Warhurst, E,
Keep and I. Grugulis, Eds., The Skills that Matter, Basingstoke, Palgrave. (in press). Rainbird, H. J. Sutherland, P.K., Edwards, L. Holly and A.Munro (2003) Employee
Voice and Training at Work: Analysis of Case Studies and WERS98, Department of
Trade and Industry, Employment Relations Research Series, No. 21. Senge, P. 1990. The Fifth Discipline. The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organisation. New York, Doubleday. Sfard, A. 1998. ‘On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one’ Educational Researcher, 27,2:4-13.
Streeck, W. 1989. ‘Skills and the limits to neo-liberalism. The enterprise of the future as a place of learning’, Work, Employment and Society, 3,1:89-104. Thornley, C. 1996. ‘Segmentation and inequality in the nursing workforce: re
evaluating the evaluation of skills’ in R. Crompton, D. Gallie and K. Purcell, Eds.,
Changing Forms of Employment. Organisations, Skills and Gender. London, Routledge. Unwin, L. and Fuller, A. (2003) Expanding Learning in the Workplace: Making more
of individual and organisational potential, Leicester: NIACE. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wolcott, H.F. (1994) Transforming Qualitiative Data: Description, Analysis and Interpretation, London: Sage. ANNEXE 3: WORKPLACE LEARNING IN CONTEXT
Edited by Helen Rainbird, Alison Fuller and Anne Munro
To be published by Routledge, January 2004.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction and overview
A. Fuller. A. Munro and H. Rainbird
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The context of workplace learning
2. The political economy of workplace learning
D. Ashton
3. The employment relationship and workplace learning
H. Rainbird, A. Munro and L. Holly
4. The quality of work and the quality of learning: the case of Italian small firms.
S. Meghnagi
5. The context of learning in the professional work environments: insights from the
accountancy profession.
K. Hoskin and F. Anderson-Gough
6. The Assessment of Workers’ “Basic Skills”: A Critical Examination of Late
Twentieth Century Trends
S. Hoddinott
The workplace as a learning environment
7. Learning through work: workplace participatory practices
S. Billet
8. Expansive Learning Environments: Integrating organisational and personal
development
A. Fuller and L. Unwin
9. The new generation of expertise: seven theses
Y. Engestrom
10. Supporting learning in advanced supply systems in the automotive and
aerospace industries.
A. Brown, E. Rhodes and R. Carter.
Skills, knowledge and the workplace
11. Conceptualising vocational knowledge
M. Young
12. Transfer of knowledge between education and workplace settings
M. Eraut
13. Learner biographies: exploring tacit dimensions of learning and skills
K. Evans, N. Kersh and A. Sakamoto
14. The conceptualisation and measurement of learning at work
P. Hager
15. The complexities of workplace learning: problems and dangers in trying to
measure attainment
P. Hodkinson and H. Hodkinson.
Research and Policy
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16. The relationship between research and policy: the birthpangs of a new workforce
development policy in Britain
F. Coffield.
17. Conclusion
A. Fuller, A. Munro and H. Rainbird.
ANNEXE 4: TLRP GATEWAY BOOK PROPOSAL
Improving Workplace Learning
The Network team, with Phil Hodkinson, Lorna Unwin, Karen Evans and Helen Rainbird as coordinators. In writing this summary proposal, we have accepted all the principles of style, format, purpose etc. as agreed between the TLRP and RoutledgeFalmer. The suggested contents summary, below, was planned to fit within the Series structure, as set out by
Andrew Pollard. Chapter 1: Learning in the Workplace (8,000 words)
This chapter will set out the background to the research, covering three areas: • The reasons why workplace learning is currently high on the agendas of policy
makers, employers, trades unions and other organisations. This will question
some major assumptions in the current discourse, such as that workers and
employers interests are always the same; that improving workplace learning
always contributes to economic success; and that workplace learning always
results in learning ‘good’ practice.
• An outline of key existing knowledge about workplace learning, identifying gaps
and omissions that our research addressed. These include tensions between
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participatory and acquisition views of learning; the lack of engagement between
work on learning processes and work on inequalities of access to learning; the
failure to combine organisational, individual and wider social/economic
perspectives in much current theorising and practice; and a need to incorporate
both on and off the job learning.
• The nature of the Network and the aims of the research. The chapter will give clear pointers to further reading, for those wishing to delve more
deeply into the complex issues raised. Chapter 2: Expansive and Restrictive Learning Environments (15,000 words)
This chapter will establish
• The existence of workplace learning environments that are more or less
expansive/restrictive
• The significance of these differences for effective learning
• The implications of this analysis for improving workplace learning
This will draw upon data from all five projects, showing the nature and significance of
these issues in a range of workplace contexts, and with novice workers, experienced
workers and workers who change jobs. The chapter will give clear pointers to further
reading, in relevant Network publications, and in other key texts.
Chapter 3: Workplace Practices and the Learning of Individual Workers (15,000 words)
This chapter will demonstrate the different ways in which individual workers contribute to and learn from workplace practices. These include: • The prior skills and abilities (often tacit) that workers bring to the workplace
• The significance of individual dispositions in responding to learning opportunities
• The ways in which individual workers co-construct learning environments
• The significance of workplace learning in constructing individual identity.
This will be followed by a section addressing the implications of this analysis for
improving workplace learning. The chapter will draw upon data from all five projects,
exploring these issues in differing workplaces and for workers of differing age and
status. The chapter will give clear pointers to further reading, in relevant Network
publications and in other key texts.
Chapter 4: The direct and indirect impact of policy interventions (15,000 words)
This chapter will examine blurred divides between public , private and voluntary
sectors, and the ways in which the UK government intervenes in all three. Key
issues include:
• the spread of government influence into parts of the private and voluntary
sectors,
• the increasing privatisation of much government funded public service,
• tensions between unwillingness to challenge employers, and strong control
approaches through the audit culture.
There will be a more detailed examination of the role of policy in relation to workplace
learning, in those sectors/ areas where government intervention is more direct, such
as the learning of schoolteachers, the modern apprenticeship scheme, and the
introduction of compulsory NVQs into the care sector. The chapter will give clear
pointers to further reading, in relevant Network publications, and in other key texts.
The chapter will conclude by examining the implications of the analysis for the
improvement of workplace learning.
Chapter 5: Improving learning in the workplace (5,000 words)
This chapter integrates issues from the previous three chapters. It clarifies where
this research adds to existing knowledge about workplace learning, and sets out an
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holistic approach for improving learning in the workplace. Key principles of our
approach include:
• Improving workplace learning involves cultural change. This means many
factors have to be considered together
• The needs of learning have to be balanced against other priorities, for employers, Trades Unions and workers • Policy can help to construct more expansive learning environments,
especially in public, or partly public sectors. This would need radical changes from many currently restrictive practices • Constructing more expansive learning environments can enhance
opportunities to learn, and increase the likelihood of workers taking
advantage of those opportunities. This is particularly important for lower
status workers.
• Benefits for and engagement of workers will depend significantly upon wider
issues of status, employment and working practice
• Workers individual dispositions, actions, needs and interests must be recognised and acknowledged • ALL attempts to improve workplace learning will be partial in their effects.
This should be recognised as an opportunity, not a problem.
The chapter concludes by warning that workplace learning is neither an inherent
good, nor an automatic high priority. More careful attention should be paid to the
relative priority of learning in relation to other issues, and the ways in which effective
learning can be made more valuable. This reminds us that improving workplace
learning is a matter for legitimate contestation and for subjective value judgements,
not a simple technical process. The chapter will give clear pointers to further reading,
both in relevant Network publications, and in key texts elsewhere in the literature.
Method Appendix (5,000 words)
This appendix details the methods adopted by the Network as a whole, in its ground-
breaking work on integrating findings from five different projects, and for each project individually.
With the addition of acknowledgements, contents, and bibliography, the overall length should be the permitted 65,000 words.
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