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Applying the survey method to learning at work: a recent UK experience

Applying the survey method to learning at work: a recent UK experience
Applying the survey method to learning at work: a recent UK experience
The skills debate in many European countries has for many years been preoccupied with the supply of qualified individuals and participation in training events. This emphasis is reflected in the sources of systematic data currently available to policy-makers and academics in the field. However, recent case study work suggests that qualifications and training are partial measures of skill development as most learning arises naturally out of the demands and challenges of everyday work experience and interactions with colleagues, clients and customers. This paper argues that the ‘learning as acquisition’ and ‘learning as participation’ metaphors aptly capture these two competing intellectual traditions. Despite the substitution of the word ‘learning’ for ‘training’, the preoccupation with measuring exposure to conscious and planned events which are set up to impart knowledge and skills remains as strong as ever and typifies the ‘learning as acquisition’ approach. This paper outlines an experiment that was designed to give the ‘learning as participation’ metaphor a firmer survey basis than it has hitherto enjoyed. The resulting survey of 1,943 employees carried out in February 2004 in the UK highlights the importance of social relationships and mutual support in enhancing individual performance at work, factors which individual acquisition of qualifications and attendance on courses ignores. The paper also confirms the importance of work design in promoting and facilitating learning at work in all its guises.
3
Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester
Felstead, Alan
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Fuller, Alison
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Unwin, Lorna
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Ashton, David
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Butler, Peter
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Lee, Tracey
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Walters, Sally
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Felstead, Alan
514e6ef7-2443-49aa-883e-706911d9191d
Fuller, Alison
c6b47796-05b5-4548-b67e-2ca2f2010fef
Unwin, Lorna
8203040c-b1e8-4948-bc2e-4bb2db648720
Ashton, David
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Butler, Peter
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Lee, Tracey
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Walters, Sally
cffe5d20-3575-45d0-a40b-13d05a62cfb1

Felstead, Alan, Fuller, Alison, Unwin, Lorna, Ashton, David, Butler, Peter, Lee, Tracey and Walters, Sally (2004) Applying the survey method to learning at work: a recent UK experience (Learning as Work Research Paper, 3) Leicester, GB. Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester 35pp.

Record type: Monograph (Working Paper)

Abstract

The skills debate in many European countries has for many years been preoccupied with the supply of qualified individuals and participation in training events. This emphasis is reflected in the sources of systematic data currently available to policy-makers and academics in the field. However, recent case study work suggests that qualifications and training are partial measures of skill development as most learning arises naturally out of the demands and challenges of everyday work experience and interactions with colleagues, clients and customers. This paper argues that the ‘learning as acquisition’ and ‘learning as participation’ metaphors aptly capture these two competing intellectual traditions. Despite the substitution of the word ‘learning’ for ‘training’, the preoccupation with measuring exposure to conscious and planned events which are set up to impart knowledge and skills remains as strong as ever and typifies the ‘learning as acquisition’ approach. This paper outlines an experiment that was designed to give the ‘learning as participation’ metaphor a firmer survey basis than it has hitherto enjoyed. The resulting survey of 1,943 employees carried out in February 2004 in the UK highlights the importance of social relationships and mutual support in enhancing individual performance at work, factors which individual acquisition of qualifications and attendance on courses ignores. The paper also confirms the importance of work design in promoting and facilitating learning at work in all its guises.

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More information

Published date: September 2004
Additional Information: Learning as Work: Teaching and Learning Processes in the Contemporary Work Organisation. Paper presented to the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Rethymnon Campus, University of Crete, Greece, 22-25 September 2004 and to the Work, Employment and Society (WES) Conference, University of Manchester, 1-3 September 2004

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 63865
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/63865
PURE UUID: caf54aa3-b7e9-4d30-80c7-65939017a3f1

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Nov 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 11:44

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Contributors

Author: Alan Felstead
Author: Alison Fuller
Author: Lorna Unwin
Author: David Ashton
Author: Peter Butler
Author: Tracey Lee
Author: Sally Walters

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